Biology and ESS
For Biology and Environmental Systems and Societies Discussions
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Menu Exam Tips Data-Analysis Questions Revision Links Exam Tips These are some tips to tackle Biology questions with respect the action verbs. (BTW, this is taken from the Oxford Biology Study Guide pp.178). Before we start with this, you need to know that there are three types of examination questions; - Multiple Choice Questions (Paper 1): You choose the answer from four possible choices. Read them all, eliminate any unwanted answers to narrow them down. Always give answers and never leave questions empty. Leave the hard ones till the end and focus on the straightforward ones. - Structured Questions (Paper 2 + 3): Each question is broken down to sectio…
Last reply by IBsciencewhiz, -
I keep getting the same question, about how to do well in HL Biology, so thought I should just put it out in a topic. Remember that this is what I am predicted, not sure what the real one is. From what I have seen these are the important points. 1) TRY to like it..and find interest in it. It really helps. If you do like Biology then that’s a bonus! 2) NEVER EVER go to a lesson before you are certain you understand the things covered in the previous one. A main factor of doing bad is keeping things to just gather up on you, and before an exam you struggle to unerstand soo many things when you should be doing past papers. Do whatever it takes to understand something, trust …
Last reply by IBsciencewhiz, -
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Since no one seemed to be offering help in biology, I am. If anyone needs help with any topic in Biology, that is Higher and Standard Level. Including the following options: Cells and Energy (for SL, which is aHL topic) Microbes and Biotechnology Further Human Physiology I'm here to help. I enjoy Biology *bio-freak yes* This doesnt take much of my time and I'm doing it willingly. Before you ask a question about a certain topic, make sure it's not listed below. *TOPIC 2 (2.1.9-10)---*Stem cells and therapeutic use* (Second part of the post-scroll down) *TOPIC 2 (2.4.8) -- *Endocytosis and Exocytosis* *TOPIC 2 (2.5) -- *Cell Division (Interphase and Mitosis)* *TOPIC 2 …
Last reply by JaneJy, -
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Okay, so I found a bunch of notes I took when my teachers were giving us IA tips and format..etc. Some of the below I had to copy of the board, so you may find these in the books. So, Biology IAs should follow this general format: DESIGN 1)Research Question 2)Hypothesis/Predictions 3)Variables 4)Apparatus 5)Method/procedure DCP 1)Collected data 2)Data processing 3)Data presentation CE 1)Conclusion 2)Evaluation Design Research question: This should be a clear focused question that says exactly what you are investigating. It shouldn't be too long and it must include the dependent and independent variables. Eg. What is the effect of pH on the activity rate of salivary am…
Last reply by Amina Tabakovic, -
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Hi everyone! I was just wondering if anyone had a digital copy of the Pearson biology textbook that you could send me? If so, could you please let me know? Thank you!
Last reply by Khuslen, -
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Hello! So I have been brainstorming about what kind of experiment I could do for my biology IA for a couple of months now, and yesterday I had an eureka moment and figured out that I could do it about yeast. We brew a national Russian drink (kvass) at home and it hit me that we actually use yeast for that (I just never thought about it before). Since it's a biological process I could write an investigation about it, and the fact that yeast fermentation is something that my family deals with quite often and that it produces one of the most beloved drinks in my country, would make the investigation more personal and get me a better grade. So now I know that I want to d…
Last reply by Zoee, -
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Helloooo I am really new to this but I really need help. I need to get my IA proposal done by this week but I'm still struggling. For my IA, I am planning on doing 'How does soil salinity affect the growth of mung beans?' I was going to collect soil from 5 different areas then calculate the ECe to determine the soil salinity then start planting. However, after I talked with my teacher, he suggested that there are too many uncontrolled variable and that I should just start out with the same soil then use salt water to increase the salinity. My problem is that I tried to search up how to make salt water and the amount needed for it to be normal but I am getting no…
Last reply by ariadnaantolin, -
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SO tomorrow is My Bio IA first draft submission, which i have to present to my Biology teacher, Principal, Group 4 Faculty and DP coordinator. My topic is the effect of different auditory stimulus (in my case music) on the focus and concentration of a person (students). I came up with this idea 2 days ago and my teacher just approved it and asked me to prepare the required document. But I have no idea what I have to write in the first draft since I havent done my experiment yet so no result or anything. Kindly help me and lemme know what exactly a Biology IA first draft should contain.
Last reply by VIBHA06, -
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Hi, I am in the process of writing my ESS IA at the moment. I've conducted my fieldwork and testing my soil samples and am now going through and doing the writing. I've come to the realization that there's not many connections that can be made between my data and the RQ/Environmental issue and I'm not sure what to do, I feel like I have almost nothing to write about......... Any suggestions??
Last reply by Kaz, -
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For my IA I am conducting a lab experiment. I was wondering how many trials and conditions are required? I tried asking my teacher and she was unsure. She said just enough to get a sufficient amount of data. Would 4 conditions ( 1 control and 3 experimental conditions) and 5 trials of each be sufficient?
Last reply by lilly64, -
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Hi. I need some advice. My IA is about fungi so I have some data for growth over time for two conditions of one abiotic factor. The groups of the fungi in one of my two conditions (they took 2 months to grow bc of various reasons) have no growth of the fruiting body (thus no data). Thus it seems silly to use a statistical test since I know which condition was the *best ( growth was limited by lack of control of other variables) Any advice? Will this limit my chances of getting 7? I worked too much on this and now there is no data for 1 condition, just a load of qualitative observations. Help Greatly Appreciated
Last reply by Kiwi_Kay, -
I am a IB yr1 student, and I am confused with the topic of ESS IA since I need to find a topic that one independent variable influences the other dependent variable. for example, I want to research the air pollution in Beijing, China, there are many factors that intervene it, such as combustion of agricultural residue, private transportation and industrial pollution emission, etc. they all plays a great role on polluting the air. so a suitable topic is difficult to determine... I want to use some data and do data analysis and get the conclusion... is it possible idk... thanks for your advise!!ESS IA .pdf
Last reply by ALEZZZZ, -
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I want to do my IA seeing that enguage bocal helps fight bacteria in the mouth better, but my teacher is worried that the IB won't let me use saliva. Does anyone know if there is anything that says I can't use it?
Last reply by octavea2323, -
Be grateful for everything:)
Last reply by Flowgrape, -
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I have three ideas for my Biology IA, and I was wondering if anyone could give an opinion on which one might be best or easier to conduct? 1. Investigation of the competitive inhibitor ONPG on the activity of the enzyme lactase in breaking down lactose, as measured by glucose concentration. IV = diff. concentrations of ONPG 2. Investigating the ability to retain water and moisture of different moisturisers on gelatine, as a model for human skin. I would spread the moisturiser on top of the gelatine (which are in petri dishes) and measure any changes in mass as indication of water evaporation. Moisturisers would be lotion, creams and ointments, with lotions havin…
Last reply by Dreamilyy, -
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Hi guys, my class just started on brainstorming ideas for our Bio HL IA. However, i'm stuck on what to do as my teacher wants a good HL standard IA... are there any good suggestions on what topic i should do?
Last reply by v10, -
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I have to do a IA on the germination of seeds. I have my independent variable which is salinity. I am looking at it effect on the time it takes for a seed to germinate. I have a few questions, What is a good range of concentrations? How much of the concentration should I add? What is the best way to get my concentration? Should I add the concentration to the soil and add the salinity of the soil on top, or change the salinity of the soil to a fixed point? E.g. add 1% to soil or make the soil have 1% salinity. All help would be great! Thanks!
Last reply by ke_mi, -
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I am doing my IB Biology IA on milk spoilage. Which IDV is better: Temperature/Light variation/Different types of milk (Soy milk etc/ Different fat variation)?
Last reply by Elma, -
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I want to do a Biology Extended Essay on Bacteriophages, something about the use of bacteriophage therapy as an alternative to antibiotics due to most antibiotics being made redundant by the rapid mutation of most pathogens. Would such a topic be feasible? And if I did pick such a topic, what kind of experiment could I do to showcase it?
Last reply by aadityaganesh, -
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Looking ahead to next year, I'll be taking Bio HL and Comp Sci HL and will therefore be doing IAs for both classes. I have a couple of ideas that would include both comp sci and bio elements, and was wondering if I could produce one IA for both classes. Like an interdisciplinary IA or something?
Last reply by faten, -
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Hi guys, I've been trying to come up with an ia topic (biology hl) for the past few weeks and I honestly have no idea of what to do. I know that I want to do something related to "pollution" in general, but I can't seem to develop this into a specific research question. Do you guys have any ideas or tips? :(( Thank you!
Last reply by Nancy_chen, -
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URGENT, Guys, can anyone tell me the word count for ESS IA, or how much can be the appropriate word count for it??
Last reply by alligatorgiraffelollipop, -
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Hi guys! I live in Singapore, but I don’t really know the answer to this question. I think it’s because of our history. Every reply helps me a lot. Thanks!
Last reply by Jyothi, -
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Does anyone a rough percentage of the question-share of topics in the IB bio exam? Or which are the most tested topics? Anything I should study extra hard for? Thank you!
Last reply by chaddeus, -
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Hi so I am looking at doing a bio IA on stomatal openings and different wave lengths of light on broad beans Research Question: The effect of different wavelengths of light on the opening of stomata please let me know ASAP if this is a decent topic and a method I could possibly look at, I'm stressing!!
Last reply by AngryEngie, -
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Hi, im an IB Bio HL student struggling to find a decent topic that will get me a high mark. If any of you have ideas please do let me know :)
Last reply by katya2004, -
I was investigating the effect of varying carbohidrate concentrations on the Co2 production during yeast fermentation. Each flour represented a carbohydrate concentration, but each flour also has a number of other variables I can control (like pH, damaged starch content, etc) which is why my data does not fit my hypothesis. Can I still perform any sort of correlation (or any other) test for the analysis? Can I sitll get a good mark If my results are terrible?
Last reply by magda2164, -
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Hello everyone, I've been working on my bio IA lately and I need two ways in which I can grow two different species of mold. For the first one I thought about the typical experiment you do as a child to grow mold in a peace of bread you leave somewhere moist and after some days it starts getting greener and greener. But I cannot think of, neither find, any other species of mold that I could grow easily. Any ideas???
Last reply by Frich1983, -
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Hey all, I'm investigating the effect of substance x in varying concentrations on either of these: ONLY the seed germination in plant y OR the seed germination AND subsequent growth of plant y. I've received conflicting feedback with people saying one DV will give sufficient data whereas the official IB exemplars investigate both germination and growth. I would much rather investigate both DVs than 1 DV as I would find the entire experiment much more interesting and I'd have more fun writing the report, I also believe I can comfortably fit all the data I need from 2 DVs within the page limit. What do you think?
Last reply by bush, -
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hello! i'm planning to do a biology ia on effect of pH on enzyme activity. the enzyme is bromelain, which i'll obtain from literally juicing a pineapple. i'm going to test out the enzyme activity by rate of hydrolysis of a gelatin cube. i was planning on altering the solution's pH by adding different amounts of vinegar to the pineapple juice, but my teacher advised that that'll react with the glucose causing fermentation which it will make it hard to measure this bromelain. how else am i supposed to change the pH of pure pineapple juice?
Last reply by peachkyseo, -
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Hi all! I'm in the process of choosing an EE topic, but I'm not sure if basing it off a political premise will have a potential negative effect on how it is graded. I know IB examiners are made to be quite impartial, but I wouldn't want to catch one on a bad day where they let their personal beliefs inhibit that quality. Does anyone have any anecdotes about this sort of thing that could tell me whether this is an OK idea? The two prompts I'm currently thinking of would be in Philosophy and ESS: The Confused Ethics of Modern Capitalism; the Promised Fantasy of Prosperity Astronomical Cost; a Plunge Into the Environmental (and/or Biological) Impacts of…
Last reply by nikor, -
Hello. I am currently doing my IA in Biology and my research question is "What is the correlation between the use of snuff and the incidence of oral cavity cancer?". I have found the relevant sources and I have the raw data necessary to conduct my investigation. The only problem is that my teacher does not really know how to do statistical analysis and therefore have been unable to help me in my investigation. My own knowledge of statistical analysis is quite bad and I have not found out how to do a proper statistical analysis in relation to this question. Do you guys have any tips?
Last reply by Kaito, -
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So I'm in the later stages of writing my IA for SL Bio and had heard a variety of things regarding the allowed fonts. My teacher had said that only Arial and Helvetica were allowed, but most other sources say that either Arial, Helvetica, or Times New Roman are okay. I prefer to use Times New Roman, but if that font is not allowed that would've been nice to know beforehand. Anyway, I'm writing my IA on Google Docs, so in terms of Helvetica fonts, I only have access to Helvetica Neue, instead of the standard Helvetica. Would this be okay to use? TL;DR What fonts are okay to use on an IB Bio SL IA? Is Helvetica Neue okay to use instead of Helvetica?
Last reply by Evyn, -
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Hello guys. Does anyone know any useful sites to collect data for free? I need it urgently to do my IA but i cannot find it anywhere.... Please help me!!!!!!!!
Last reply by fslkd17061234, -
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Hey, does anyone have any tips for setting up potometers? anything and everything is ultra helpful. Thanks!
Last reply by tired_with_full_battery_, -
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My IB coordinator just informed me that there were a few biology IAs with human participants in our school in the past, and all of them got really bad marks, he said that whilst checking it was good but when it was given back it was bad marks, that's what he observed.. but my biology ia isn't hardcore testing on humans or making them do something they will just sit down comfortably and I'll do some tests to check their sympathetic and parasympathetic reactions, and the test itself isn't anything discomforting at all? So will I lose marks for having human participants and should I change my biology ia? I really don't want to because I like this biology ia
Last reply by Carpetburn, -
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Is it true that the paper 3 is back for M22 students?
Last reply by procrastination27, -
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hey guys, as ib students, you all know how painful it is to do both ias and ee in such little time. so help out a fellow student. and fill out this survey for my ess ia i need responses from people between the age group 30-35 and 45-55, so if your parents or family members fall under this category please request them to fill it out as i need it urgently. or maybe just fill it yourself but choose the older age group option cuz i have no other choice. below is the link to the survey. https://forms.gle/QVDkYeYDVrfvNCdZ9 i need all the help i can get, so any help is appreciated and it would mean a lot. pls thank u sm:)
Last reply by xyzblahblah, -
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Hey Everyone I'm doing my Biology IA over the summer, and i was wondering if there is a standard uncertainty value for absorbance (when using a colorimeter)? Absorbance doesn't really have units (only 'absorbance units') so i'm unsure. Our colorimeter didn't specify if there was an uncertainty, and all the info online about it (Vernier) doesn't say anything. I can't message my teacher about it because she left and we're getting a new one next year :/ So, if anyone did a colorimetry IA or prac, is there an uncertainty for absorbance? Thanks!!
Last reply by bigcauliflower, -
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Hi, just need some clarificarion with my ESS ia. My research question is about relationship between gender and attitudes relate to meat consumption. Should I do like that (correlation) or how gender affect attitudes relate to meat consumption? And also should I change any variables to make it clearer? Thanks very much for the advice.
Last reply by jesselingard0987, -
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Hi everyone! I would be really grateful if you could take a minute to fill out this survey It’s for my Biology IA where I’m looking at the correlation between blood groups and Covid-19 symptoms. (All responses are anonymous and no personal information is collected) https://forms.gle/KcW89YXLdKGMrz8Z6 Thank you so much!!
Last reply by mazzie04, -
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Hi I’m supposed to start my Biology IA but I still didn’t choose the topic or form a research question. I want to do something with animal tissue obtained form a safe source (butchers) like muscle tissue, bones or other organs available. I already have an EE topic about the influence of alcohol on the liver but now I can’t find any interesting research that I can conduct on other animal tissue. If u have any ideas I would really appreciate any type of help. 😊
Last reply by IBBio4Evr, -
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I am doing an ANOVA test for a lab report where I test ethanol on bean sprout growth. Some sprouts with higher concentration of ethanol did not germinate, and their growth was zero. Should I include the data with 0cm growth as part of the mean of that batch when I am doing an ANOVA test? Or should I omit it from the calculations so that I can get stronger statistics
Last reply by IBBio4Evr, -
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Hi guys! I chose the research question "How does the change in temperature affect the vitamin C level of orange juice?" fro my Biology IA and my teacher said it sounds a bit like chemistry too, but he said it should be fine. Do you think it's more chemistry than biology? will I lose points if I choose this topic?
Last reply by louisa03, -
hello! I am planning on doing an IA on the environmental impact of food delivery in Singapore. Would it be a good and suitable topic? and if anyone has any tips or suggestions on how to get around this, I would appreciate it very much.
Last reply by tofufu, -
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Basically I’ve been procrastinating so I’m wondering if it is possible for me to pass bio HL even if I only cram SL? I’ve done good on my other HL exams and should have at least 12 points in HL already so I only need to pass biology. Also I think my IA will be a 4. thanks in advance
Last reply by sonnysonnysonny, -
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Hi, is this RQ good for my IA? What factors contribute to the wastage of lunch food at AIS’ cafeterias and how can food waste be reduced?
Last reply by jesselingard0987, -
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A student has identified that lots of food is wasted at lunchtime in the cafeteria. She has also noticed that younger students don’t seem to throw away as much as the older students. She thinks she could link this to her ESS IA What topic would this fall under in the syllabus? Suggest a question that could be asked about this scenario? Try to make it focused, relevant and coherent. Outline a short methodology that would allow her to obtain sufficient and relevant data to enable her to answer the question you have proposed Can anyone help me with this. This can be very vital to help me develop my research question.
Last reply by jesselingard0987, -
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Why does the volume and surface area decrease when the cell gets bigger? Shouldn't it increase? Thank you for respond!
Last reply by LeonardoHerrmann, -
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I was wondering what are some of the labs that you have completed to turn in as your Biology IA's? Can you also explain some of what the experiment is? It is getting pretty close to deadline time and so far my class has only completed one Biology IA and that was done last year with our old teacher. Our new one has not even discussed IA's in detail. Sometimes she gives suggestions on the little labs we do to turn it into our IA's, but honestly, those labs are really stupid. Some of my classmates were thinking about taking some other IA ideas and do all of our IA's on our own. Any suggestions? Well, the one lab that we completed last year was on measuring the densit…
Last reply by LeonardoHerrmann,
