Information Systems for you

Things To Do (page 189)
1(a)		Easy to vary the number of tills and the frequency at which people join the queues to see what happens. Manual calculations involve a huge amount of work and are therefore off-putting.
(b)		Since there are so many temperatures which could be tried it would take too long to put them into the calculations manually.

2		See the examples contained in the chapter.

3(a)		No need to travel to the area where the animals live. Can build up the model on a computer in your own home or school.
(b)		Would be both expensive and dangerous.
(c)		Spreadsheet or specialist model building package.

4		See chapter.

5(a)		Various options could be investigated using the model without going to the effort and expense of doing it for real so that the best solution could be found.
(b)		The arrangement of the road junction ( e.g. how many roads, lanes etc) to enable an accurate model to be created. Data can be collected on current traffic flow using a data logger. Information obtained from similar layouts on speeds through the junction could be added to the model to give a realistic picture.
(c)		See 5(b)
(d)		See 5(b)

Examination Questions (page 346)

1(a)

Used to provide tax advice based on questions asked by the computer to the user.

(b)

Cheaper than using the services of a real tax expert.

2(a)

Relatively replicate formula down column D. Highlite the formula and while keeping your hand on the mouse button, drag it down the column. Release mouse button.

(b)

Could use the data in columns B and C to produce bar charts next to each other for each month over the whole year.

(c)

(i)

(ii)

Working out how many items of a certain produce need to be sold before the costs are covered (i.e. working out the break-even point).
You can see the effect of increased costs on the break-even point. You can see how many items need to be sold to realise a certain amount of profit.

3(a)

The weather; The number of predators (e.g. ladybirds); The type of crop; The method used to apply the insecticide; When in the growing season the insecticide was applied.

(b)

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

It would be hard to determine whether they died as a result of the first dose or the extended dose.

T	V	N
1300	4	1200
800	1	300
1000	3	900
700	3	700
400	2	600

IF T>V*300 THEN N=V*300 ELSE N=T

(c)

As the size of the insect population is reduced, then the crop yields will increase. The more insecticide, the more crop yield. If the growing conditions/weather is ideal then the crop yield will increase.

(d)

Compare the results from the model with the real situation. You would have to count/estimate the number of insects on the crop before and after addition of the fertiliser.