Viren operates a greenhouse that grows herbs for local restaurants. Sensors measure air temperature every ten minutes. Instead of transferring readings from...
Question 1 Report
Viren operates a greenhouse that grows herbs for local restaurants. Sensors measure air temperature every ten minutes. Instead of transferring readings from each sensor to a desktop computer at the end of the day, Viren uses online spreadsheet software. The sensors send data through the greenhouse network to a shared spreadsheet. His assistant Camille checks the data from home, while Viren uses a smartphone to view it beside the plants. They want to spot a heater fault quickly and keep an accurate record for the whole growing season.
(a) State two items of information that each sensor record should contain, apart from the temperature reading. [2]
(b) Describe three spreadsheet features that could make an unusually low temperature easier to identify. [3]
(c) Which formula should be used to find the mean of the temperature values in cells B2 to B145? [4]
(d) Explain how sharing permissions could allow Camille to analyse the data without allowing her to delete sensor readings. [5]
(e) Explain two benefits and three limitations of using online spreadsheet software for this greenhouse monitoring system. [5]
Answer Details
(a) Each record should include a date and time, in addition to temperature. A sensor identifier/location or greenhouse/zone name are also valid, because they show where the reading came from. [2]
(b) Conditional formatting can colour readings below a selected limit. A line chart can show a sudden fall over time. Sorting or filtering can show the lowest readings, and an IF formula can flag a value below a threshold. Freezing headings keeps dates and sensor names visible. State any three features. [3]
(c) The correct formula is =AVERAGE(B2:B145). AVERAGE calculates the mean, and B2:B145 specifies every cell from B2 through B145. [4]
(d) Give Camille view/comment or restricted editing permission. She can open the shared spreadsheet from home and use permitted tools such as filters, charts, or comments to analyse it. Her permission level disables editing or deleting sensor cells. The owner can later change or remove her access. [5]
(e) Benefits include both users seeing the same current file from different locations, no manual file transfer, and automatic calculations or charts identifying trends quickly. Limitations include internet/network failure stopping access or new readings, sensor/network faults causing missing or incorrect data, poor account security allowing unauthorised changes, service outages, and possible subscription or data costs. Give two benefits and three limitations. [5]
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