Artefact projects · Solid · Artefact

An honest climate data visualisation: a maths EPQ idea

Why it works as an EPQ

The artefact is a visualisation; statistics and design research decide what makes it honest, and user testing evaluates it.

Scope and difficulty

Solid. Solid. One public data set, one visualisation, tested with users.

The maths

Builds on these A Level topics: Sampling and data · Hypothesis testing.

You would learn:

• Moving averages and anomalies
• Principles of honest graphs
• User testing

Learning maths beyond the course is expected in a maths EPQ, but you must understand and explain everything you use.

One possible plan

1. Research misleading and honest graph design.
2. Analyse a public UK climate data set.
3. Build the visualisation with clear choices about scales and averages.
4. Test whether users read it correctly.

Pitfalls

• Cherry-picking a start year.
• A design that looks good but misleads.

Where to start reading

• Met Office climate data (HadUK-Grid or station data)
• The Art of Statistics (David Spiegelhalter), on graphs

Prefer books, lecture notes, journal articles and official data to a single website, and record every source as you read (how to reference).

Making something? Read the artefact guide first: an artefact still needs a research-based written report.

Similar ideas

• A working cipher machineCan a working model cipher machine show why rotor ciphers were strong, and where they were weak?ArtefactsSolidArtefact
• A fractal art generatorHow can iteration with complex numbers generate fractal art, and why is the Mandelbrot set's edge so intricate?ArtefactsSolidArtefact
• Building a tuned instrumentCan the mathematics of vibrating air columns be used to build an in-tune set of pipes?ArtefactsSolidArtefact
• A Sudoku solverCan a program solve any Sudoku, and how does computer backtracking compare with human logic?ArtefactsSolidArtefact

All artefact projects ideas · all 93 ideas

Your EPQ must be your own work. These pages coach: ideas, structure, checklists and planning. Submitting text, proofs, code or analysis written by someone else or by an AI tool as your own is malpractice. How to use help and AI honestly.