BIO IA

[YourPrincess]

For my bio ia I was thinking of doing something relating to human physiology, I wanted to compare the hearts of two different animals such as a rabbit or a sheep but I am unsure of how to carry this out as an ia. Like I am not sure what I should be comparing in the heart, should I be comparing the blood flow, the structure of it or what? And I am also unsure if this is a viable experiment to do and if it is acceptable in the IB.

Please helppp, any suggestions or ideas will be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you so much!  

[Oscarthecat3]

Hi there,

Complicated one. How are you planning on getting data for a human a heart; if you are planing on doing human physiology? You could look at blood flow but it is hard as you would need a beating heart, and making the heart beat with your hand would be unwise. I guess you could use electrical impulses to mimic the role of the  sinoatrial node and cause the heart to beat. However this would only work shortly after death. So you would also encounter an ethical issue. 

I don't know the rules at your school, but I doubt you'll be allowed to kill an animal just for this purpose.

With regard to structure, you could explore evolutionary paths, and how one animal heart has changed in accordance with its adaptations and compare it with humans. This would be acceptable and ethically moral, as you could get a heart from the butchers.

Maybe look at Blood pressure instead, variables could include physical activity etc. and you can use a monitor. but you may also encounter ethical issues, but they could be overcome. 

Good luck with the IA. 

Edited July 11, 2016 by Oscarthecat3

[YourPrincess]

11 hours ago, Oscarthecat3 said:

With regard to structure, you could explore evolutionary paths, and how one animal heart has changed in accordance with its adaptations and compare it with humans. This would be acceptable and ethically moral, as you could get a heart from the butchers.

 

Do you reckon that comparing the structure of the heart of an animal with a human heart is necessary? Can I not just compare two different animals? Also, I fear that is this more of a research based ia rather than a hands on one. 

 

Thank you so much for the reply though! 

 

[TheEnthuGroup4Student]

1 hour ago, YourPrincess said:

Do you reckon that comparing the structure of the heart of an animal with a human heart is necessary? Can I not just compare two different animals? Also, I fear that is this more of a research based ia rather than a hands on one. 

 

Thank you so much for the reply though! 

 

you probably need to if you are doing an IA on human physiology

considering the fact the topic is human physiology related. However I recommend (because group4 IA's are not subject bound from what i know) that you do look at what you are interested in but make sure to keep it within reason of ethics and your school lab.  

so if its cardiovascular system, the IB does not let you experiment on animals more complicated than a small fish, so you may want to study the cells ex vivo instead.  

I don't know if this applies to every school, but I am also starting my IA proccess for bio and this is what my teachers have told me

[YourPrincess]

55 minutes ago, TheEnthuGroup4Student said:

you probably need to if you are doing an IA on human physiology

considering the fact the topic is human physiology related. However I recommend (because group4 IA's are not subject bound from what i know) that you do look at what you are interested in but make sure to keep it within reason of ethics and your school lab.  

so if its cardiovascular system, the IB does not let you experiment on animals more complicated than a small fish, so you may want to study the cells ex vivo instead.  

I don't know if this applies to every school, but I am also starting my IA proccess for bio and this is what my teachers have told me

Hello and thank you so much for replying!

I thought about my IA for a while and I have come to a conclusion that I don't reckon this idea would be successful. I have, however come up with another topic which seems more reasonable. 

For this one I will be determing how temperature effects the permeability of membrane. So basically the effect that temperature has on the structural
integrity of the plasma membrane. By observing the amount of the betalain pigment released from beetroot cells as temperature increases. 

So you reckon this is better than the animal physiology? 

 

Thank you!  

[TheEnthuGroup4Student]

4 minutes ago, YourPrincess said:

Hello and thank you so much for replying!

I thought about my IA for a while and I have come to a conclusion that I don't reckon this idea would be successful. I have, however come up with another topic which seems more reasonable. 

For this one I will be determing how temperature effects the permeability of membrane. So basically the effect that temperature has on the structural
integrity of the plasma membrane. By observing the amount of the betalain pigment released from beetroot cells as temperature increases. 

So you reckon this is better than the animal physiology? 

 

Thank you!  

Seems good

However you may want to be careful

Here where I live, all the schools do beetroot memebrane as a inclass experiment

 

This means we are NOT allowed to do it as an ia

Because its mandatory

So you may want to check with your teacher

[YourPrincess]

3 hours ago, TheEnthuGroup4Student said:

Seems good

However you may want to be careful

Here where I live, all the schools do beetroot memebrane as a inclass experiment

 

This means we are NOT allowed to do it as an ia

Because its mandatory

So you may want to check with your teacher

Oh... but I thought we are able to do an IA on anything as long as it's not in one of the prescribed topics...?? 

[TheEnthuGroup4Student]

1 hour ago, YourPrincess said:

Oh... but I thought we are able to do an IA on anything as long as it's not in one of the prescribed topics...?? 

Yes we are...however

Beetroot memebranes is used to teach diffusion and properties of membranes as u mentioned yourself  

However you can actually use a "prescribed topic" assuming that you do it another method 

For example I am planning my IA on enzymes which are mostly very generic I can do it but I wont get my personal engagement points (or at most ill get half)  

However If i take a creative spin on it I will get the marks for personal engagement

So originality does get you points but its not that much...im addition its hard to keep it simple and go beyond the syllabus by great lengths (although its advised...which is why I am doing enzyme inhibitos --although this is in the Hl syllabus-- to my teacher its considered not mainstream and therefore I will get a mark for orginality (although its not much)

By prescribed content I presume your teachers mean 

Practicals you HAVE done in class...so if you havent done the beetroot experiment in class then it is fine but be warned you will probably not be able to get 24/24

 

 

[Oscarthecat3]

14 minutes ago, TheEnthuGroup4Student said:

Yes we are...however

Beetroot memebranes is used to teach diffusion and properties of membranes as u mentioned yourself  

However you can actually use a "prescribed topic" assuming that you do it another method 

For example I am planning my IA on enzymes which are mostly very generic I can do it but I wont get my personal engagement points (or at most ill get half)  

However If i take a creative spin on it I will get the marks for personal engagement

So originality does get you points but its not that much...im addition its hard to keep it simple and go beyond the syllabus by great lengths (although its advised...which is why I am doing enzyme inhibitos --although this is in the Hl syllabus-- to my teacher its considered not mainstream and therefore I will get a mark for orginality (although its not much)

By prescribed content I presume your teachers mean 

Practicals you HAVE done in class...so if you havent done the beetroot experiment in class then it is fine but be warned you will probably not be able to get 24/24

 

 

Yeah, so there are 7 main practicals that you will do in class, but you could alter them slightly to get the marks for originality as you said.

Here's the link for the practicals: =) https://ib-biology-roundtable.wikispaces.com/2016+Required+Practicals