Biology and ESS
For Biology and Environmental Systems and Societies Discussions
1,489 topics in this forum
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Hi everyone, I'm in a pretty small IB program and taking ESS. I need more data for my ESS internal assessment and I was wondering if people could take the time to fill this out? It's a quiz about your lifestyle to calculate how many earths we'd need if everyoe lives the way you do. Please post the link at the bottom of the result page and also tell me your gender and if you are taking ESS or not It would be of GREAT help if you could do this, my class is really small and it's not enough for just them to fill them out. Here's the link http://myfootprint.org/en/ Thank you so much!
Last reply by pinkhoodie, -
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Can anyone explain what is action potential is? I honestly need to know this because my class is doing a design IA for this. We are doing on what factor affects water potential. Please help.
Last reply by Shankstar6560, -
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Hi, I downloaded the above past paper from ____ and have completed it, but realised there is no mark scheme. Can't find it on Google. Does anyone have the markscheme? Thanks.
Last reply by Gaby, -
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In IB-1(last year) I submitted an IA on "how does temperature affect the rate of reaction for Amylase". Can I submit another Design IA on "how does temperature affect the rate of reaction for Protease"? I would change lots of things, including citations, substances, reagents, and equipment. But alot of it would be very similar. Is this allowed?
Last reply by Nabz, -
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Hey, I need to finish up and hand in my Biology SL Portfolio but I'm still not sure what should be included in it. Our teacher wasn't able to explain it clearly to us and I couldn't find it online neither. So, could you tell me how many Labs, how many design labs and etc. should be included in Portfolio for a decent mark. Is there a minimum requirement? Is there a maximum? Basically, all you know about Biology SL portfolio requirements is welcome. Thanks in advance
Last reply by lilianna009, -
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Yeah, I wanted to know if knowing the exact values of comparative cell sizes was mandatory in the syllabus. Also, any tips on studying Units 2, 3, 4 (reference videos, notes online, animations? ) Any kind of help would be appreciated
Last reply by nuby, -
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I'm currently doing 4 HLs: Bio, English, Art, and Geography. After doing loads of research however, I've began to understand how useless it is to do 4 HLs and put myself through all the time and effort it takes to get good grades. Since I'm not planning on doing anything related to science (hoping to study Int. Relations at LSE), I've been thinking about dropping HL bio (also because I'm not getting the best grades at the moment). Plus, I know that if I go to standard, I'll easily be able to get 6's and 7's. However, I know that LSE and loads of other universities have Art on their list of 'non preferred' subjects, putting me in a bit of a corner. If I do drop Bio, there'…
Last reply by Sandwich, -
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Does anybody please have the marking schemes for Biology HL topics? Answers to particular past paper questions? it'll help tremendously
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I'm putting it here although I'm not sure if it's not maths HL students that would be helpful.. anyway, does anyone know whether it's better to have the test result closer to the critical value or to 0? like here: 1.43<3.84 0.36<3.84 Apart from the fact that both results accept the null hypothesis (no significant difference), which one is like.. better? Which value should be interpreted as closer to the expected results? I hope I made it clear enough, any help would be appreciated!
Last reply by maereth, -
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Guys, please help me! pH range of HCl? is it (-1 to 1) (0 to 1)? pH range of NaOH? is it (12-14) (13-14)? if you have a site to refer to please do share as well! Thanks in advance!
Last reply by Brenda Wijaya, -
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Hey fellow biologists I was making note for 2.4.5 using Pearson Book and the Oxford study guide and both are giving me contradictory explanations for facilitated diffusion. Oxford says: Facilitated diffusion is when for substances to pass between phospholipid molecules, channel proteins are need Pearson says: Simple diffusion --> substances other than water move between phospholipid molecules or through proteins which possess channels Facilitated diffusion --> Non-channel protein carriers change shape to allow movement of substances other than water Which one is correct or are they both correct and I am just interpreting the language wrong?? I know it's an easy que…
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Hi everyone! As you are aware, we are nearly done with the IB. I am finishing my IAs for biology but I have a problem with my bio teacher. She is TOO harsh at marking my lab reports. Therefore, I am getting EXTREMELY low grades for my lab reports. When I ask her to explain why I deserve only one point for design, not only does she digress but also she yells at me for not studying and understanding the IB. Then, she questions me if I am well suited to IB. Basically, my biology teacher is CRAZY. I am scared because there are ten students in my biology class and only five samples are sent to the IB to be moderated. If my sample is not sent, I am basically f***ed. Is there an…
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Hi guys, So right now I'm working on my second IA for Biology..... i was thinking about making agar solutions with different household cleaners mixed into them, and then adding E. Coli to each plate to see which cleaner is most effective in killing 50 percent of the population. I'm thinking of using: Vinegar Baking Soda Bleach Rubbing Alcohol Ammonia Do you think i would need to just focus on just one solution, and make different concentrations of it? That way i would be testing one cleaner and trying to determine what concentration it takes to kill 50 percent of the E. Coli sample (LD-50) OR Should i do 5 trials of each different cleaner and just test which cleaner is …
Last reply by Raquel Cato, -
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We have to check anyone of the factors affecting cell membrane permeability. I have chosen the change in pH. Could you suggest a good experiment to show how does the changing pH affect the membrane permeability? Thanks a lot!
Last reply by Rohandhamsania, -
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Last reply by Boltone, -
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I have my second IA due in a few weeks, i really need ideas and i cant think of anything good to do! If anyone has any ideas for interesting and not to complicated ideas i would really appreciate it! Thanks!
Last reply by Sandwich, -
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Okay so I'm pretty stuck on what improvement I can give for this weakness : The experiment using reagents such as Biuret, Benedict, Iodine, Ethanol can only determine what type of macronutrients is but not the amount and concentration of how much its presence in the food sample is. Thus, this hinders the researcher’s ability to determine whether a food sample contains a desirable amount of nutrients or not. ANY IMPROVEMENT PLEASE? :'( I've tried to find the answer on the net, saw a recommendation on protein testing about protein assay standard curve but what about the other nutrients such as fats, sugars, and starch? Is there any specific one lab tool (be it electronic,et…
Last reply by Brenda Wijaya, -
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Guys, will these weakness and improvement will be marked right and sensible? Because I'm confused whether this can be counted as a limitation and improvement or not. Extracting solid food samples using mortar and pestle consumed a relatively long and tiring process and time as a limitation and to give an improvement: The researcher could use a juicer to extract solid food samples especially for fruits to save time and energy Thanks in advance!
Last reply by jonnaht15, -
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I am new to here and thought I will share some HL Biology notes that I found on the internet. They are only for the core topics, not options but are really helpful. My main revision method for my end of year exams was this and I came out with a 7. I would suggest using these notes with maybe a revision guide to fill in the gaps; most things are covered though. Hopefully, it can help some of you too HL Biology Notes .pdf
Last reply by Egos, -
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So my school is starting mock exams on Monday and so far I've studied Topic 1 out of a total of 7 topics for ESS and I'm wondering if you guys have any tips on how to study for this subject? I've done pretty well in it but I'm more good at memorizing and such and as we all know the exams are more about the application of the information and I have trouble with this. Any thoughts? Advice?
Last reply by Tess TheBest, -
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I was wondering which sort of calculations are necessary to be shown in an IA. For example, is it really necessary to show how you calculated an average? Seems basic enough to be able to leave it out. Should standard deviation calculations be walked through at all? Thanks!
Last reply by Lero, -
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Hello everyone, I have a question... And I'd REALLY appreciate any help! I have a task to write IA from Biology (design). The only thing our teacher told us is the topic: polygenic inheritance. I've looked everywhere for some ideas or examples but couldn't find anything useful. The deadline is this Friday and right now I'm really starting to panic... Any ideas? Anyone? Maybe even a small hint?
Last reply by Sandwich, -
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I have to write a design lab (a good one preferably) and as biology is not my strongest subject I need some advice. Our teacher recommended to focus on physiology and I was thinking about the effects of moderate physical effort on blood pressure. However, I found out that it should not vary that much in healthy people and I guess I can't make someone get like really tired can I? So would my hypothesis that effort increases blood pressure be valid in the first place? Or maybe I should assume that in healthy people it doesn't affect blood pressure and make it my RQ? Or both, one being research hypothesis, the other null hypothesis. Plus, if it's a design and I don't need to…
Last reply by Pallavi, -
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I'm in standard level biology and I am working on my IA with the physiology/health topic. My proposed topic is: the effect of different movie genre clips on pulse rate My 5 variables would be a control group (who didn't want a clip), an action clip, a comedy clip, a romance clip, and a documentary clip. These movie genres would be determined by the IMDB for constancy. Is this an acceptable topic? Will it interfere with IB's ethical guidelines? All of my movie selections will be PG or PG-13 and my partcipants are all over 16 years of age. If this is not acceptable, is it salvageable (is there anything I can do to make it acceptable)? THANK YOU
Last reply by Lero, -
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So, right now in ESS we are starting the "Planning Lab" , our teacher said we'll never actually go to the field and our tables are gonna be empty. Its the writting of the plan that will be graded. I go to Angola, Africa in the IB school. He told us that we have to come up with some research question, and he said it should be simple and easy...Could someone possibly give me some ideas of some easy, simple research question that they have done in their ess course.. I am reallly lost.......... thanks very much ALL HELP WILL BE APPRECIAtED!!
Last reply by Ollie Simbunga, -
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Hello, I was wondering how many practical writeups / IAs are sent to the IBO and how they are selected. I've done perhaps 8-10 writeups throughout my IB 'career' and have so far achieved perfect marks (I'm doing SL, perhaps that's why) for the three components for two writeups, while the rest are abysmal. How many are submitted and how are our marks (that contribute to the overall IB Biology SL grade) calculated? Thanks in advance. A.
Last reply by TykeDragon, -
For my group 4 project, we were testing to see which door handle at our school had the most bacteria, which types, etc. HOWEVER, the person in charge of collecting data killed all of the bacteria by spreading it on too thick and letting the slides sit for too long. We have very little data. I know that it is fine that it didn't work out, but I have no idea what to even put for the data collection portion. The lab is due tomorrow. help me please!
Last reply by Chicken_Jose, -
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This is a video series on biology. Although itn't just for the IB, it follows the biology syllabus. I find it useful for revision - its well made and gives you a fun, quirky way to remember. ]
Last reply by onur basman, -
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Video My group made last year, follows IB textbook and may serve as a quick study tool.
Last reply by PAIR360, -
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Hi! I'm starting my first IA for SL bio, and I have a question. On the rubric my teacher gave us, it says we need a "protocol diagram". My teacher said this is a flow chart of your procedure, but from looking at sample IA's online, this seems incorrect (and my teacher is kind of clueless). So can anyone explain to me exactly what a protocol diagram is? Thank you so much!
Last reply by Sandwich, -
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Can anyone confirm that this is the syllabus for those taking the exam in May 2013? http://highlandsr.spps.org/uploads/ib_biology_syllabus_2_2.pdf Thanks!!!
Last reply by cricketcrazynerd, -
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Hey Everyone I have a design lab due for biology and i'm a bit concerned as to how i'm supposed to properly write it up... I did not fare too well on my previous design lab :/ ..so I thought i'd just look for some help Does anyone know where I can find a sample biology design lab? or does anyone have a design lab that they've done really well on, and is willing to share it help would really be appreciated Thanks!
Last reply by khimberleigh, -
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I'm a Bio HL student and I'm really stuck trying to come up with an idea for my second Bio IA. For my first one, I investigated whether a subject's dominant hand had a quicker reaction time than their non-dominant hand using the ruler drop method. I really hate experiments using plants and stuff, and I'd prefer one that was using humans. I'm terrible with labs and I really struggle with understanding complicated procedures. I'd appreciate any ideas!Thanks!
Last reply by Sandwich, -
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How does soil moisture affect plant species diversity? Any links would also be helpful.
Last reply by alefal, -
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Hey fellow IBers As I'm sure some of you will know, he November exams are coming up. Thankfully, I'm in my first year of IB, and my only exam is for ESS. If anyone who has already done the course or is doing it right now can recommend some books, revision guides, or be generous enough to lend me some notes, I will thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Last reply by Aimv, -
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can someone help me with ideas for a design lab, i'm supposed to write one in two days, and carry out the experiment in about 6 days, and i have no idea what i can experiment.. i'm completely lost!!
Last reply by maereth, -
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So the dreaded photosynthesis lab is upon me, and I think i know what i am doing. I just need your guys's wonderful insight and review on my idea. So i will be manipulating the light intensity levels to see how it will factor the photosynthesis rate in Amazon Sword Echinodorus amozonicus). I will use sodium bicarbonate as a carbon source and will keep a controlled amount of 5g of baking soda in the experiment. Then i would carry out the lab, having 5 trials on a specific light intensity, then another 5 trials on another light intensity, and so on until i can get in 25 trials (5 different light intensities). Then, to measure the rate of photosynthesis, i would measure the …
Last reply by Lero, -
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I was wondering whether or not it would be worth my time to do a lab where I experiment with the color of light and its effect on photosynthesis. My idea is to take different coloured gels and place them in front of a lamp and see how long it takes for leaf discs to rise. I would probably use something like baking soda or dish soap to remove the oxygen from the leaf discs. My thought is that as the light from a controlled source passes through the different coloured gels, photosynthesis would occur and cause the discs to fill with oxygen and rise at which point I would record the data and move on. My question here is whether or not the gels would have as much of an effect…
Last reply by aperture, -
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As above. Finished the course (did it in my first year).
Last reply by kim luffy, -
How to get a good score on a Biology HL IA?
by Guest Fiorella- 2 replies
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I just finished my IA and I noticed I only have 14 pages while most of my peers have about 22...I'm genuinely concerned I should have written more. Though, if I'm being honest I honestly thought I wrote a lot but apparently not as much as the others. I read through the rubric and the lab report format I should follow (which I did) and I think the part where I'm going to miss the most points is DATA PROCESSING just because I gave up on the graphs with excel x.x so I just got an online tool to do it for me lol. Anyway, so my question is, based on your current or past experience doing this IA what are some advices you can provide me so that I ensure a good quality IA? Thanks…
Last reply by drserosa, -
A question regarding my data collection for my Bio IA HL?
by Guest Fiorella- 1 reply
- 1.4k views
Hello everyone, so for my bio IA I decided to measure the forced expiratory volume of a person that has asthma and a person that doesn't (same weight, same height, same gender) and made both of them jog between trials (I did 5 trials). Now, I used the loggerpro vernier stuff that collects data by using an spirometer. I am VERY confused on how to find the forced expiratory volume...Say (this is NOT my real data just an example so you guys can sort of explain to me how to find this): Let's say a person did 3 different trials (3 for the person with asthma and 3 for the person that doesn't have astma). In these 3 trials, the vernier pro records flow rate, volume, and time. L…
Last reply by Sandwich, -
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I have a few ideas, very few ideas, of what I can do with my IA. My IA needs to have something to do with water, and I was wondering if anyone could help me. I just need a brief idea, not the entire IA. My teacher says she'll provide us with any necessary equipment.
Last reply by kim luffy, -
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Hey guys! does anyone know where can i find the 2011 and 2012 papers for biology HL? i cant find them :L if you have them as a pdf i can give you my email to send them. any help will be appreciated thank you
Last reply by Mahuta ♥, -
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Hey guys, okay so i completely suck at biology and i need some really good well-explained revision material because my end of year exams are coming up and they are past papers so its not the easiest. Please please please any revision material, books or any advice, pretty much everything is appreciated! Thanks x
Last reply by farooha, -
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Hi, my group did their project on the variation of pH of creek water in 3 different altitudes. I was wondering what sort of processing I can include in this section? Please help, it's due tomorrow! We didn't know we had to do a lab write-up until today. Thanks so much.
Last reply by Realnerd101, -
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In my I.B. Biology 20 class we are doing design labs using meal worms. Mine was debating whether or not mealworms like the light or not. The problem is that my teacher has asked us to do data processing and I have never done that! I was wondering if anyone could help me? I am really confused. Hehe. What I am wondering is how should I process the data? Do I take the average of each trial or do I take the average of each 2 minute recording? Should I take the mean as my average, or what else? Ahhhhh....help me!! I'm such a data processing noob.
Last reply by Sandwich, -
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So, I looked into labs and I think I found the right one or maybe created the right one.. So if you can, do you mind giving me your opinions on what you think about the idea? Measuring the varying cell sizes in different types of solutions (hyper-,hypo-,isotonic solutions) The effect on temperature on cell membranes That's all I have for now.. (:
Last reply by Sandwich, -
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I'm going to retake my biology IA, and I'm wondering if I can use my previous lab's topics or ideas, if not, how can I come up with any lab ideas without any supervisors?
Last reply by Sandwich, -
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i am doing my ESS IA right now and i would like to know if i can get old samples to look at... so that i can get a good idea of what i am doing?
Last reply by D.ThabetZ, -
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Hey guys, I was an IB student, but now I try fund college by making apps. I loved Biology all through Highschool so I decided to make an app to help students learn the material. I'm a IB 7 Biology student and the app is, essentially, a succinct compilation of all my notes. I've attached pics as well. https://itunes.apple...48117?ls=1&mt=8 Thanks IB Biology Guide
Last reply by kim luffy,
