Grounding

Group 2 — Labor Physicists

Your Research Question

How much energy — in kilowatt-hours — did an enslaved person expend in a typical day of labor, by role, crop system, and region?

You already know this formula.

In Sim 05, you were assigned a labor role and calculated exactly how many kilowatt-hours your body would have produced in a full 24-hour plantation day. That same formula is what your group will now apply at scale — not for one person on one day, but for every role, every crop system, across 18 states and 246 years.

The formula (unchanged from Sim 05):

kcal = MET × weight(kg) × hours

Wh = kcal × 1.163

kWh = Wh ÷ 1000

kWh/day = MET × weight × hours × 1.163 ÷ 1000 × seasonal factor

Your full Fermi chain

Step 1

Research MET values for each labor role (8 roles in your table)

Source: 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities — pacompendium.com/adult-compendium/

Step 2

Research average work hours per day by role and season

Sources: WPA Narratives, Olmsted, Solomon Northup, plantation records

Step 3

Research average body weight for enslaved adults and children

Sources: Daina Berry, plantation appraisal records

Step 4

Compute kWh/person/day for each role

Formula: MET × weight × hours × 1.163 ÷ 1000 × seasonal factor

Step 5

Research role distribution by state (% of population in each role)

Depends on crop economy of each state — cotton vs. tobacco vs. sugar

Step 6

Compute weighted average kWh/person/day for each state

Weighted average across roles × their % of population

Output

Hand your tables to Group 5

They multiply: population (Group 1) × your weighted avg × 365 = productive kWh

What you need to research

MET values for cotton picking, sugar cane cutting, tobacco harvesting, rice cultivation, domestic cooking, carpentry, blacksmithing, child labor
Average daily work hours per role — peak season and off-season
Average body weight for enslaved adults and children (plantation records and demographic studies)
Age distribution of enslaved population (% children, % adults, % elders)
Role distribution by state (what % worked in each labor category)

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