Sustainability of a solution

Name:

Date:

Class:

Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. Which best describes the sustainability of a digital solution?

A How fast it runs on the day it is first released

B How well it keeps meeting needs over time without unacceptable environmental, social or economic cost

2. A school app needs servers running 24/7 even though most students only use it for two hours a day. Which sustainability issue does this raise?

A Energy and resource use

B Colour contrast of the interface

3. A solution is cheap to build but needs expensive licence renewals and frequent paid updates every year. What does this affect?

A Its long-term running and update costs

B Its input validation

4. Which is an example of social impact when judging sustainability?

A An app that stores its data in a CSV file

B An app that only works on new phones excludes students who cannot afford them

5. True or false: a solution is sustainable if it meets today's needs, even if it will need to be replaced every year.

A False

B True

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1sustainability		AHosting $40/month + yearly licence $200 + 2 hrs/month updates
2energy and resource use		BSocial impact: app works offline for rural users and screen readers
3A sustainable solution keeps its long-term running and update costs affordable		CSustainability is not just current speed. It covers environmental, social and economic cost over time, such as energy use, update costs and social impact.
4Sustainability includes social impact, such as whether the solution is fair to and usable by its community		DRunning a server at full power all day for very few users wastes energy and money, so it is not sustainable. Resource use should match actual need.
5Sustainability = only how fast the program runs today		EThe environmental side of sustainability: how much power, hardware and materials a solution consumes while it runs
6Server runs at full power 24/7 for 3 users, so it is sustainable		FHow well a solution keeps meeting needs over time without unacceptable environmental, social or economic cost

Definitions

sustainability

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

______________ = energyOk and costOk

energyKwh = powerKw * _____

totalCost = setup + runningCost _ years

socialOk = accessible ___ affordable

withinBudget = energyKwh __ budgetKwh

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A watts = 50

B hours = 24

C kwh = watts + hours / 1000

D print(kwh)

Question 2

A kwh = 1.2

B rate == 0.30

C cost = kwh * rate

D print(cost)

Question 3

A def yearly_cost(monthly)

B return monthly * 12

C print(yearly_cost(40))

Question 4

A fee = 50

B years = 5

C total = 200 + fee * year

D print(total)

Question 5

A users = 500

B offline = 120

C share = offline / users * 100

D print(share + '% excluded')

Answer Key

Sustainability of a solution

Section A: Quick Questions

B — How well it keeps meeting needs over time without unacceptable environmental, social or economic cost

A — Energy and resource use

A — Its long-term running and update costs

B — An app that only works on new phones excludes students who cannot afford them

A — False

Section B: Match the Pairs

sustainability → How well a solution keeps meeting needs over time without unacceptable environmental, social or economic cost

energy and resource use → The environmental side of sustainability: how much power, hardware and materials a solution consumes while it runs

A sustainable solution keeps its long-term running and update costs affordable → Hosting $40/month + yearly licence $200 + 2 hrs/month updates

Sustainability includes social impact, such as whether the solution is fair to and usable by its community → Social impact: app works offline for rural users and screen readers

Sustainability = only how fast the program runs today → Sustainability is not just current speed. It covers environmental, social and economic cost over time, such as energy use, update costs and social impact.

Server runs at full power 24/7 for 3 users, so it is sustainable → Running a server at full power all day for very few users wastes energy and money, so it is not sustainable. Resource use should match actual need.

Section C: Definitions

sustainability — How well a solution keeps meeting needs over time without unacceptable environmental, social or economic cost, such as energy use, running and update costs, and social impact.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

sustainability = energyOk and costOk

energyKwh = powerKw * hours

totalCost = setup + runningCost * years

socialOk = accessible and affordable

withinBudget = energyKwh <= budgetKwh

Section E: Spot the Error

C — Energy use in kWh is power multiplied by time, so the line must use * between watts and hours, not +. Correct line: kwh = watts * hours / 1000.

B — == compares values and does not store one, so rate is never defined and the running cost line fails. Use = to assign: rate = 0.30.

A — A function definition must end with a colon. Without it Python raises a SyntaxError, so the running-cost function never works. It should be def yearly_cost(monthly):

C — The variable is called years, not year. Using an undefined name causes a NameError, so the long-term update cost is never calculated. It should be total = 200 + fee * years.

D — share is a number, and a number cannot be added to a string with +. This causes a TypeError when reporting the social impact. Use a comma instead: print(share, '% excluded').