Easiest IB SL Science?

[dubyawhy]

Okay so I'm preparing for a giant crapstorm of the likes I've never seen before. I've signed up for 7 subjects against everyone's advice. So I'm basically trying to make everything easier for me on the other side of the spectrum so I don't commit suicide somewhere along the path.

I have A*s in all 3 IGCSE sciences. So assuming I'm equally good in ALL THREE sciences, which is the easiest. At Standard Level of course.

I am looking at:

1. Difficulty of getting a 7 in course

2. Difficulty and complexity of IAs

3. Amount of practical work and experiments (I freaking suck at those, especially writing them up)

4. Amount of homework that will need to be set/ anticipated to be set

5. Course based on deep profound understanding vs rote memorization

6. Correlation between teacher's skill and grade achieved (My bio teacher sucks, so if I do bio I'll probably have to self study at least 1/3 of the material)

7. Potential for last-minute studying (will probably neglect science)

so basically, which is the science that I can neglect the most while still getting a 7? That's all it comes down to.

THANKS!

[Cynthia]

The usual consensus is that Biology is the easiest science (which is the reason I took it), and it at least seems that the Biology group is struggling the least in my school in comparison to the other Sciences. Someone doing more than one will probably be able to comment on the difficulty level in more detail.

HW depends on your teacher, and the Group IV IAs are fairly easy (as long as you learn a certain structure they should be very easy to do). Biology is very much about memorization which also means that the teacher matters less; there is very little that I've found difficult to understand, and my teacher is not the best to put it mildly. The importance of memorization does mean that a lot of revision is needed. I wouldn't see learning the entire SL syllabus in a month's study break as impossible, but this is not the case for getting a 7 for any IB subject through last minute studying the night or a few nights before after neglecting it for two years

[Keel]

Just to add, because people find biology easy for the reasons Cynthia stated, you will find that getting a 6 is fairly easy. However, getting a 7 is slightly harder than the other subjects because the mark boundaries are slightly higher; each year a lot of students do very well in biology which means they try to raise the boundaries and make the exams slightly harder. If you enjoy maths then physics would seem a logical move. I'm not sure what the other subjects are like, but personally I really enjoy chemistry.

[Insomnia]

I agree with the two comments above. Biology SL is the easiest subject. It is a lot of memorizing of things, but the syllabus is fairly simple and not too much in detail. The syllabus provides you with what you need the most and it is very easy to study for Biology SL. Since I take Biology SL as my 6th subject, I will try to answer your questions (although I don't know how helpful it will be).

1. Difficulty of getting a 7 in course: if you study properly for the subject, it is fairly easy to get a 7.

2. Difficulty and complexity of IAs: they are not very difficult as long as you know how to write them up/follow the guidlines of IAs

3. Amount of practical work and experiments (I freaking suck at those, especially writing them up): you have 40 hours of work that need to be completed in the two years. About 10 of these will go to Group 4 project which leaves you with 30 hours and it is really not that much, and the experiments are not that difficult.

4. Amount of homework that will need to be set/ anticipated to be set: this really depends on your teacher. for me, there isn't a lot of homework but in your school you might. if you can, talk to the people who are already in the first year of IB taking bio SL. they will be able to provide you with a better idea on the amount of homework.

5. Course based on deep profound understanding vs rote memorization: as i said before, the syllabus is easy, and does not require in-depth study

6. Correlation between teacher's skill and grade achieved (My bio teacher sucks, so if I do bio I'll probably have to self study at least 1/3 of the material): because the syllabus is very specific in what you have to study, i think it is very easy to do self-study in this subject (from my own experience)

7. Potential for last-minute studying (will probably neglect science): possible, as long as you pay attention in class and take necessary notes.

I hope that helped a little bit Good Luck!

[dubyawhy]

GREAT. Okay so what about ESS? Does ESS have alot of practical work and experiments? Is it easier/harder than bio?

[Insomnia]

GREAT. Okay so what about ESS? Does ESS have alot of practical work and experiments? Is it easier/harder than bio?

Sorry if this sounds a little bit stupid. But what does the abbreviation stand for? ^^

[Summer Glau]

GREAT. Okay so what about ESS? Does ESS have alot of practical work and experiments? Is it easier/harder than bio?

Sorry if this sounds a little bit stupid. But what does the abbreviation stand for? ^^

Environmental Systems and Societies. It's one of the few IB subjects that can count as two groups. It counts as a group 3 and 4 subject and rumour has it that it's easy But since I don't take it I don't know for sure.

In response to the original question I think biology is the easiest SL science. However if you're mathematically minded then maybe physics would be a good option. Chemistry SL isn't bad either from what I hear.

[Insomnia]

Environmental Systems and Societies. It's one of the few IB subjects that can count as two groups. It counts as a group 3 and 4 subject and rumour has it that it's easy But since I don't take it I don't know for sure.

In response to the original question I think biology is the easiest SL science. However if you're mathematically minded then maybe physics would be a good option. Chemistry SL isn't bad either from what I hear.

I have no idea as well. They don't offer it at our school so I can't help you out there.

[kiwi.at.heart]

I have no idea as well. They don't offer it at our school so I can't help you out there.

We have ESS at our school so I know a bit about it and I don't think it is that hard of a subject, however I know some universities don't see it as a "proper science" so I would only recomend it as a Group 3 or 6 subject. If you put effort into it a 7 it is easy but at our school the record isn't very good because people generally choose it as a bludge science and therefore put hardly any effort in and just dont end up getting very good marks. Basically if you want to do it, go for it, but do it because you want to do the subject, not just becasue you want a easy science.

[dreamingonacloud]

A lot of people claim Bio to be the easiest science but kids at our school seem to struggle more at Bio. So I would say Chemistry. Because the syllabus does not contain so much extra topics. Physics, for example, is hard core.I would not advise you to take it if you aim for a 7, but still, I love it

[elmar]

To further the discussion, I know you're not allowed to take EES and Biology simultaneously, so there's a lot of Biology and natural science within EES.

I took Chemistry I in pre-IB at my school and I actually did well. My teacher later told us that Chemistry I is basically the Chemistry SL syllabus, albeit a few gas laws. I never went onto Chemistry and I wasn't a really good Chemistry student, thus why I chose Biology. Despite such, I think I could have gotten a 6 or, if I really tired, a 7 in Chemistry SL.

Many kids in my school opt for Biology SL after taking a year of Biology HL and they do a lot better, while Physics SL has the smallest amount of students in class and an even smaller high score. Based on this, I would say Biology SL and Chemistry SL are somewhat equal, it just depends on what you're more inclined to be better at studying for.

[Drake Glau]

1. Difficulty of getting a 7 in course - Chemistry>Physics>Biology (bio the easiest)

2. Difficulty and complexity of IAs - Physics>Chemistry>Biology (bio being the least complex)

3. Amount of practical work and experiments (I freaking suck at those, especially writing them up) - They're all the same amount of hours and 2 IAs

4. Amount of homework that will need to be set/ anticipated to be set - Physics and Chem will require practice, about equal amounts, bio you'll be ok with just studying honestly

5. Course based on deep profound understanding vs rote memorization - Physics has some thinking in it (derivation of equations), chem has some of both, bio has a crapton of memorizing.

6. Correlation between teacher's skill and grade achieved (My bio teacher sucks, so if I do bio I'll probably have to self study at least 1/3 of the material) - They all need a decent teacher, sorry =/ Depends on which one you understand the best. You only need the teacher when you don't understand stuff...

7. Potential for last-minute studying (will probably neglect science) - Last minute studying would be biology all the way, then chem/physics

All in all...of these 3 SL sciences SL bio is probably the easiest, hands down.

[Tom321]

ESS is nowhere as easy as it seems. I take it, it is difficult, only one person is on a 7, as the boundary is 83% I love the subject but be prepared to have to put in a lot of effort.

[moh'd]

You should go for Chemistry SL , even though Chem HL is also easy. I view Chem as being the easiet and a straight-forward subject. gd luck

[iber2011]

One word answer: BIOLOGY hope you make a wise choice....because it's very obvious!

[Connor]

Exercise and Health Sciences, take it as a home study. Its basically 2 biology options made into a class!

[jess1ca]

I disagree that biology is the easiest science. Come on, all that memorization, all those terms! I think all the sciences have their difficulties. It depends on you.

From what I hear (I'm only doing SL bio- chemistry is HL), all the IB SL sciences aren't so difficult, they prepare you really well when it comes to labs though.

I have to do a lot of bio self study too, my teacher has more of an independent learning philosophy, but that's ok with me.

Edited May 12, 2011 by SmilingAtLife:)

[Stereoisomer]

I'll only be able to comment on the 2 sciences I took.......

1. Difficulty of getting a 7 in course

2. Difficulty and complexity of IAs

This is entirely subjective and really depends on your interest, effort and aptitude. Try not to pick a subject just because it is generally considered to be "easy". Taking an "easy" subject will not guarantee a better score. In fact, quite the contrary. All markbands are scaled depending on the performance of all other candidates. Historically, biology always had a harsher mark band for 7 than say, physics or chemistry.

3. Amount of practical work and experiments (I freaking suck at those, especially writing them up)

I took HL chem and bio. The trend: whenever I had a biology practical writeup to hand in, I always seemed to have a chemistry writeup due too. So I would say the practical work involved for most group 4 sciences are pretty much equal. Biology experiments are generally less pecise and complex than chemistry/physics practicals. In terms of writing the actual experiments up, I found biology to be more demanding. Especially in the format and the way data is displayed and processed, etc.

4. Amount of homework that will need to be set/ anticipated to be set

This really depends on your teacher. But regardless, the amount of work you should put in for each group 4 subject at SL should be fairly similar. See syllabus and the hours attached.

5. Course based on deep profound understanding vs rote memorization

I am a little confused when you say "rote memorization". From experience, memorizing without actually understanding the concepts proved to be futile in nearly every single subject. I am just going to assume the word, "rote" does not exist and concentrate on memorization. xP

Chemistry: Mainly profound understanding and little memorization. Learn to use the data booklet reasonably well.

Biology: I would say about 1/2 and 1/2.

6. Correlation between teacher's skill and grade achieved (My bio teacher sucks, so if I do bio I'll probably have to self study at least 1/3 of the material)

I would say having a great teacher makes studying a lot easier than having a teacher who don't really know what s/he's doing. However, if you are a motivated individual then self - studying 1/3 of the material shouldn't be an issue. And I am sure your biology teacher does not "suck". Maybe he can't teach very well, but he must be qualified to teach you so ask him any questions you don't understand and I'm sure he'll explain!

7. Potential for last-minute studying (will probably neglect science)

Ah. hahahaha. Ahem.

Well the official version is: Blah blah blah, don't cram study, don't leave everything 'till the last minute.

But if you do end up in a sticky situation, I find biology to be the easiest to cram study and pass if you are insanely good at learning material off by heart.

[Rigel]

The answer would be Biology, but if you're good with numbers, Physics is not that hard.

[PerformanceArtist]

I seriously want to know , which is easier? Biology Sl Or Environemtal Systems and socities? I'm baffled. In IGCSE, i scored a B in Biology (Extended) and C in Environmental Management. But i really want to score a 7. which one you guys think had more chance for scoring a 7. Nevertheless, which has easier Final Papers? Bear in mind that i suck at experiments and logical reasoning.