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Biology Extended Essay on How Fear has Developed and Enhanced our Survival Over Time


supkylejohnson

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Hi everyone! I am new to the forums here, but I have a question that I have been pondering for a while. 

 

The topic that I am going to be looking at is fear and how it has been developed overtime to enhance the survival of the human species. I am going to compare the biological/physiological evidence to the evidence from theories in evolution to determine which one supports my essential question more. On the evolutionary side, I will search up theories and genetics (How fear is synthesized from our adrenal glands and how the proteins are synthesized, so this incorporates DNA Replication, Transcription, and Translation), whereas on the biological and physiological side, I am going to be talking more about the physiology of fear and its anatomy (i.e. Where it’s located, its importance, etc). In addition, the data that I am going to collect is not from an experiment that I have designed myself, but I am going to look for archival data and manipulate it to a hypothesis that I will need to have created. I am going to focus the paper on the physiology and anatomy of fear and be careful not to focus too much on the cognitive and psychological parts of it.

 

My general topic/title would be the Evolution of Human Beings, and my more precise research question/thesis statement is: To what extent (Possibility that I may change this to the command term ‘examine’ so that I can look at the interrelationships of the issue and be able to keep everything intertwined) is fear a product of evolution by natural selection?

 

Can an effective argument and ultimately a full sized extended essay be developed on this topic? Or are the two sides of the argument not clearly stated and if so, what should I change in order to make it clearer?

 

Thanks so much!

 
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Well, I used to do my EE on Bio. 

 

According to my teacher, you need a "really good" experiment to score high, which in your case, is really hard to carry out a proper experiment. Just think of the control variables that you need to govern, their gender, ages, adrenaline level, how you measure fears and so forth...... It is gonna be hard and time consuming u need a a large sample size ( large large) and repeat . Also you have to consider ethical issues......

 

Generally, I do find it really interesting, but it would be better to do something easier.

 

So be careful with your experiment, you might lose some points if it is not well controlled. 

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Thanks Lovelife! My teacher told me that I would not actually perform the experiment myself, but look up archival data that would be consistent with the point that I am trying to convey (So essentially, I am looking up someone else's experiment because like you said, there are too many variables to control and because of ethical issues). Do you think that that would still be appropriate?

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According to the head of the science department at my school Science EE's, which are not based upon experiments do not tend to score high. Thus, it might be wise to consider a new RQ where you can do an experiment, or change EE subject 

Edited by Djsporting
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Ok, I am considering a new RQ, but I also have another question. I read some of the examples of the Extended Essays for Biology and they are all research based. If I were to do an EE in Biology, would I have to perform the entire experiment by myself? 

Sorry for the late reply.

 

Ideally, yes. Carrying the experiment on you own is your best bet. 

 

Oh, and I have some biology EE samples, tell me if you need them. :)  

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