jmarie Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 I'm currently a junior in high school, and technically am in honors PreCal, and will take AP Calculus/IB Math SL next year, but we're coming up with topics for our IA already, and I'm lost at where to go. Some topics I have in mind: - Creating equations that model the spread of disease (I want to go into a career biology/medicine related) but I don't know what direction I would take with this kind of assignment... - Sine graphs and modeling pitch/chords - really wanted to do this as I'm a musician as well, but I looked at an online example of this type of topic that did poorly and I am concerned I will not be able to explain and incorporate good deal of math to get a very high score... - Something related to the Monty Hall problem also seems interesting, but it seems very statistics-based and while I am good at basic stat, I haven't covered many higher level stat-content in my classes. Any help/suggestions is greatly appreciated!! While I have managed to maintain high A's this year in math, I have no idea how to expand upon what I what I want to do with my IA. The IB life is just starting to catch up to me. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bizarreinertia Posted January 17, 2017 Report Share Posted January 17, 2017 Highly suggest picking something that you are comfortable with applying higher level math with. My friend wrote about dolphin pitches and had a hard time applying SL level math. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kw0573 Posted January 17, 2017 Report Share Posted January 17, 2017 What you can do is for each topic you come up with, make a 1-page summary of in detail of 1) how to approach the question 2) aspects of math involved (eg modelling, calculus, conditional probability, etc) 3) evaluating your math skills and devise a plan to score the highest mark. You should read appropriate sections in the Math SL guide (see below) for IA requirements. Other types of Math IA can involve different branches of math covered little in syllabus (eg matrices, prime numbers), math in other discipline (eg math in economics/physics/biology), or relationships between math concepts (such as geometry and series, trignometry and algebra). You current options are equally valid. As with all IAs, you want to explore multiple ideas during brainstorming and make detailed plans. It's often a good idea to write a practice or mini one (just 3-4 pages) to get the feel. In all written IAs, your teacher can proofread your work to be submitted only once, so it's best to get all the advice and tips from practice IAs. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmarie Posted January 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2017 On 1/16/2017 at 7:39 PM, bizarreinertia said: Highly suggest picking something that you are comfortable with applying higher level math with. My friend wrote about dolphin pitches and had a hard time applying SL level math. On 1/16/2017 at 8:42 PM, kw0573 said: What you can do is for each topic you come up with, make a 1-page summary of in detail of 1) how to approach the question 2) aspects of math involved (eg modelling, calculus, conditional probability, etc) 3) evaluating your math skills and devise a plan to score the highest mark. You should read appropriate sections in the Math SL guide (see below) for IA requirements. Other types of Math IA can involve different branches of math covered little in syllabus (eg matrices, prime numbers), math in other discipline (eg math in economics/physics/biology), or relationships between math concepts (such as geometry and series, trignometry and algebra). You current options are equally valid. As with all IAs, you want to explore multiple ideas during brainstorming and make detailed plans. It's often a good idea to write a practice or mini one (just 3-4 pages) to get the feel. In all written IAs, your teacher can proofread your work to be submitted only once, so it's best to get all the advice and tips from practice IAs. Thank you so much for your help. Fortunately, I got advice from a senior saying that the Math IA isn't really important until senior year, when I'm actually in IB Math, so there's plenty of time for me to decide, though I am thinking about a topic. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kw0573 Posted January 21, 2017 Report Share Posted January 21, 2017 11 minutes ago, jmarie said: Thank you so much for your help. Fortunately, I got advice from a senior saying that the Math IA isn't really important until senior year, when I'm actually in IB Math, so there's plenty of time for me to decide, though I am thinking about a topic. No worries. It's just that most teachers don't make their students do a practice IA, but it's highly useful as it's not usually something you would do. Unlike group 1, 2, most of 3 and group 4, the IA is usually something the student would typically do as a part of the course, whether it's a comparative essay or a lab report or a commentary, students have little exposure to an exploration so it's in your best interest to do a practice one in your junior year. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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