Jump to content

I've been thinking about doing an EE in Biology


Guest thoughts13

Recommended Posts

Guest thoughts13

Like I said, I have been thinking about doing the extended essay in biology.

The issue I have is that I took regular (non-IB) Biology, and not IB.

I realize that since there is an IB biology I will be allowed to do it,

I just don't want to be at a disadvantage when doing it.

Is there somethings that you know that the IB curriculum covers

and the Halton (a region in Canada) doesn't?

For those who have no idea what I am talking about vis-a-vis halton

I mean that is there more to IB biology than the non-IB biology that your respective schools offer?

I thank you in advance.

If it turns out that I will be at a serious disadvantage,

I am thinking of doing a Geography EE,

I have the following topics:

- The socio-economic effect of Hurricane Katrina on Louisiana

-Impact of Global Warming on Polar bears (inspired by an inconvenient truth, I think its too broad though)

-The impact of global warming on the intensity of sever weather events

If you could please comment as to what you think about these topics

I'd appreciate it.

I am also open to English and Philosophy suggestions,

If I do decide on doing it in English, I really want to work in Lord oF the Rings into it

- perhaps the similarity of characters in LoTR with those in El Senor Presidente (The President) by Miguel Angel Asturias

although I might find the Philosophy difficult

as I have not taken it in one form or another.

Edited by thoughts13
Link to post
Share on other sites

I would definitely recommend doing EE on Biology. You have more potential to make an interesting and original experiment that most people would enjoy reading than some long Geo stats, or English Lit analysis. We done those already in Geo fieldstudies and English Worldlit papers, so why repeat it?

As for the differences in IB Bio and regular, it does not matter. Your EE requires you to do your own research anyway, and the school materials usually won't be relevant.

Go Bio! <_<

Link to post
Share on other sites

Guest thoughts13

Thanks, I just wasn't sure if I wanted to do a

4000 word lab report

because that's what I've heard described as being.

It's a relief that not taking IB biology

won't hamper me in the future

<_<

another quick question

do you know if any courses I have done in Summer School

show up as being done in summer school?

I've heard that university's think less of summer school marks

because the course is easier

I curse my school's unfortunate IB schedule

a thousandfold.

(didn't let me take IB Bio T_T)

Link to post
Share on other sites

If i read it properly, you took bio but not IB bio, which doesn't put you at too much of a disadvantage (mostly depends on what you want to do your EE on), but I would advise talking to some IB biology teachers at your school who would be prospective mentors. Also yeah i think they do see which courses are summer school and which aren't (date completed is on transcript)

Link to post
Share on other sites

You have more potential to make an interesting and original experiment that most people would enjoy reading than some long Geo stats, or English Lit analysis. We done those already in Geo fieldstudies and English Worldlit papers, so why repeat it?

This logic doesn't follow.

Examiners who mark the Bio EE would be Bio teachers trained to mark Bio EEs so that is all they will see - Bio EEs one after another.

A literature EE or a Geo EE is an extended version of the IA in those subjects, just as an extra long Bio lab (EE) would be an extension of something like the Group 4. I don't see how they are different. Additionall, while on one hand it might seem that you can be more original in your Science EE experiment, but due to limited means like materials and time etc chances are you'll be modeling your experiment on previously-done ones anyway. There's only so much room for creativity in IB EE.

Link to post
Share on other sites

This logic doesn't follow.

Examiners who mark the Bio EE would be Bio teachers trained to mark Bio EEs so that is all they will see - Bio EEs one after another.

A literature EE or a Geo EE is an extended version of the IA in those subjects, just as an extra long Bio lab (EE) would be an extension of something like the Group 4. I don't see how they are different. Additionall, while on one hand it might seem that you can be more original in your Science EE experiment, but due to limited means like materials and time etc chances are you'll be modeling your experiment on previously-done ones anyway. There's only so much room for creativity in IB EE.

I think that there is more potential in any science EEs to be creative and original than English, History or Geo, because you design your own experiment based on your observation on life and come up with your own inquiries, whereas in English or Geo, you refer to books and stats that fill your head with preconceptions and then you come up with what you want to do as EE. The language and cultural backgrounds in those subject areas create more biases than Science EE do (I think), because I think that observation on anything not man-made is unbiased, but the way you interpret them makes them biased. For example: person A writes a book about X, you read X, and you come up your topic based on A's language and depiction of X. You have come up with a topic based on preconceptions from the writer. On the contrary, scientists start their research based on preconceptions about how this would work, and why it would work based on logical reasoning. But those could also be wrongbecause of wrong premises. i.e. Earth is flat, round.

I guess creativity depends your ways of knowing and areas of knowledge. My topic, summarized in 2 key words, Spiders, Vibration, which not many people(IB students) have done is considered an intriguing topic than something like: The extent to which X had on society. But then how do I know that? I can't justify it... T_T I guess I am just a fanatic on science and think more creatively when observing life than other people who think more creatively when reading and come up with their own interpretations on X.

BTW I did have enough materials and test subjects, though not enough time since I am wasting some more here instead of doing EE, I did not refer to any previously done ones, as I did not find any.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Guest thoughts13

@ IBSquared: You are absolutely correct, that was indeed the situation, and thank you for responding to my summer school question :P It is good to know, and I am going to go talk to the IB Bio teacher as soon as he gets back (his wife just had a baby!) and will probably post what he says here, if only to let you guys know.

@HMSchoclate: Thanks for those interesting bits of advice, limitations of material etc, as well as the fact that people are trained in which EEs they mark

@Oryxy: You have an interesting way of looking at things, and while I may not agree with all of them, but your thoughts on creativity are duly noted :) good luck on your EE

I had no idea this would turn into a little clash between sciences and arts, but then its like mixing oil and water at times. Those who know more chemistry than I would probably know some way to combine the two, but I digress.

Thank you all for your help,

and while I haven't decided on a topic yet,

I will be thinking of your replies.

The EE is due in three days as of this post.

I wish you all the very best!

and if you can bear to look at it again

I'd appreciate it if anyone sent me a copy

Having an example would be great :P

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

hi, I would recommend doing a EE in Bio, the only thing is that your school needs to have IB experience. This basically means that the mentor you choose for your EE has to be familair with the Ib marking system of the EE. In our school this is a major problem as many of our teachers do not know the IB expectations for EE's in subjects that are unfamilair to our school (at a point I was thinking of doing philosphy, but the only probelm was that our school didnt have a teacher that had IB experince in Philosophy, so I stayed away from it). And, since you mentioned that your school didn't let you take IB Bio, there must be a downside in the experience at your school.

Also, it is recommended that you do your EE on one of our higher level courses, just because you learn a lot more about it altogether. We, as grade 11 students (only taking one semester of our higher levels feel that picking an EE from the higher levels doesn't really matter, but while talking to the grade 12 IB's they say that it would be a lot easier if you stick to your higher levels).

Another thing I would like to mention is that there are IB course companions avaialable that help IB students with writing their EE's. So that's one thing that you might want to consider investing in.

GOOD LUCK and HAVE FUN writing your EE:P

Link to post
Share on other sites

All I can tell you is that the Extedned Essay guide for teachers say that students who didnt take HL chem or BIO didnt score high as a overall generalization (I weas looknig into a chem and bio EE). It is very difficult to score high marks on the sciences, because the issue has to be VERY up to date (considering the grading time, when it actually will be read), and whether the experiment has potential.

For my EE, right now in biochemistry process, yet to take on Bio or Chem perspective, ahd to be approved by published scientists.

So jsut make sure u read the teachers manual on the EE for the specific topic. It really says what they expect of you. Ask your teacher..

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
Guest thoughts13

Thank you all for your wonderful posts.

I felt it was my duty to provide some closure.

I have chosen an EE topic.

It is in English

and does not involve Lord of the rings.

however it does involve an authour I greatly admire.

My topic is.

Individuality in Ayn Rand's Anthem, The Foutainhead, and Atlas Shrugged.

Thank you all again.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Oohhh, Halton. Loved that place.

I finished my EE last month and tbh, it doesn't really matter. As long as you know the basics of bio (since you took the regular course, you should) then you'll be fine. You'll be doing a lot of research and basically self-teaching. Pretty much nothing in my EE was directly related to the bio syllabus, so yeah, doesn't really matter. ;)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...