The Group Four Project (G4P) is a graduation requirement for the IB diploma programme which aims to nurture the personal skills that our students will need as potential future scientists. For the G4P, students had the task of designing their own research projects and carrying them out to collect data and then presenting their findings to a real audience.

From May 17 to June 6, YCIS Chongqing Year 12 students have completed ten hours of exciting laboratory work for their G4P. In this edition of the project, for the second year in a row, our students have worked in collaboration with students from one of our sister schools YCIS Qingdao over the internet.

For the G4P, students are given a theme to investigate, this year’s theme was plastics. Students worked in groups and had fun while exploring plastics in a multidisciplinary way. Groups were as diverse as possible and included students from different subject areas and from the two participating schools. The topics explored by our students ranged from identifying microplastics in classrooms, and tap water, to measuring the strength of different types of plastics, using recycled material for insulation, and also making their own biodegradable version of plastics.

After such an enriching collaborative experience with our YCIS Qingdao friends, we excitedly look forward to next year’s version of the G4P.