1. Yr11 IB BIOLOGY 2019
Ms Werba

2. Why study Biology?
The study of Biology has an immediate relevance to our daily lives.
It is important for you to develop an informed sense of how we may individually and collectively fit into the ecology of our planet without rendering horrible destruction.

3. IB Biology – Standard or Higher?
Common elements to both levels:
CORE CURRICULUM
6 topics
INTERNAL ASSESSMENT
1 BIG report
NATURE OF
SCIENCE
OPTIONAL UNIT
1 option
GROUP 4
PROJECT

4. IB Biology – Standard or Higher?
Differences between the levels:
CORE + AHL
CURRICULUM
extra 5 topics
INTERNAL ASSESSMENT
60hrs for HL
(40hrs for SL)
The distinction between SL and HL is one of breadth and depth.
OPTIONAL UNIT
extra content for HL

5. IB Biology – CORE Cell Biology Biochemistry Genetics Ecology Evolution
& Biodiversity
Human Physiology

6. IB Biology – AHL Nucleic acids Plant Biology Genetics & Evolution
Metabolism,
Respiration
& Photosynthesis
Genetics
& Evolution
Plant Biology
Animal
Physiology

7. IB Biology – OPTIONS TO CHOOSE FROM
Option A
Neurobiology
& Behaviour
Option B
Biotechnology
& Bioinformatics
Option C
Ecology
& Conservation
Option D
Human
Physiology

8. IB Biology – EXPERIMENTS & IAs
7 set practical experiments will be completed during the course (one this week!) - will be used to develop your lab skills can also be assessed in the exam
1 Internal Assessment (IA) to be completed in Term 2 of Year 12 (earlier if you are ready)
SL & HL marking criteria are the same:
Personal engagement (2)
Exploration (6)
Analysis (6)
Evaluation (6)
Communication (4)

9. IB Biology – EXPERIMENTS & IAs
What does this mean for you?
Every prac counts – they may not contribute to your final IB grade but the skills you develop definitely will.
Be thorough – check criteria as you complete each report & apply any feedback from your past reports. I can give you lots of help on these pracs but very little on the real IA..
Learn how to use your device – Facebook, Snapchat and Spotify will not help you complete an awesome report. MS Excel, MS Word, Numbers and Pages will!

10. IB Biology – Yr11 & Yr12
All students will complete most of the SL syllabus in Yr11
This will allow all of you to choose your level at the end of year, thus keeping your options open.
In Yr12, we will still have a bit to do:
Complete Topic 5
Begin and complete the 5 HL topics
Begin and complete the Option
Begin and complete the IA
While HLs are learning their content, SLs will remain in class and be given a specific topic to revise for a Revision Test

11. IB Biology – HOW TO STUDY
Keep up – don’t let yourself fall a topic (or more) behind!.
Keep ahead of your cocurricular commitments – you are all amazing and incredibly talented people who will end up being over-committed at various times of the year. Work ahead of these times, using the holidays prior to these periods to get ahead.
SS play = term 1, week 11
SS musical – term 2, week 4
House Music – term 3, week 5

12. IB Biology – HOW TO STUDY
Find your groove – work out how you study best and keep trying new techniques until you find the one that works best. This may include written/electronic flashcards, summaries, online quizzes, practice questions, etc.
Be active in your revision – the more you need to do to revise, the better it will stick. Just reading your notes or textbook is not always the best option.
Communicate – I need to know how to help you as an individual, not just you as a class. Come to Tuesday BioHelp armed with the questions/topics that you need help with.

13. IB Biology – ADVICE FROM YEAR12
If I could give some advice to the new Year 11s, it would have to be:
Take your pracs seriously, and take advantage of every opportunity you have to write them properly and get useful feedback. If you rush a prac, your feedback is going to be useless because you will have made silly mistakes that you already knew weren’t right. It’s a waste of your time and your teachers (this also goes for every other subject). You NEED these practices.
Don’t be disheartened if you aren’t getting the grades you usually got, especially with the prac. I think I usually got A’s on all my pracs in Middle School and then I started off with a 10/24. This also goes with tests and things. You need to figure out your study habits (preferably quickly) that work for bio because it is one of the harder subjects to study for because the scale of the content is like you’ve never studied before.
If you’re stuck, get help. I know this sounds stupid but your teachers will sit down with you anytime that you want and are willing to help. If you’re struggling with your prac, go see your teacher and ask for help on specific sections. A prac is so overwhelming at the beginning, and getting some help tackling a section that is your weakest is going to help you enormously. Similarly, sit down with your teacher if you need to go through a section of the content like the cell cycle. If you aren’t understanding something, pick up on it straight away instead of waiting until you get a 3 on a test to take initiative.