slothlife Posted August 11, 2016 Report Share Posted August 11, 2016 So I'm in Math SL and my initial IA idea to investigate the cardiovascular health/cardiac parameters of continents was a bust so can someone please give me a good idea? Preferably related to cardiology and/or BMI but I'm honestly so desperate that I'm willing to try anything, just nothing that involves circular trigonometry! Thanks in advance! 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IB Math Helper Posted August 12, 2016 Report Share Posted August 12, 2016 If you're looking for something simple, I recommend using statistics. For example, you could find if there is a correlation between BMI and the time taken to run one loop around a 400m at your school. Or choose any other two variables. This is really easy to get data for by convincing your friends to do on an afternoon after school. Then you could plot this data, get the correlation co-efficient, comment on your independent-dependent variables etc. Seriously, statistics involving linear correlation is the easiest topic to start with (I feel that's why they included it in the curriculum since May 2014 when the IA format changed). Just pick two variables that may be seemingly correlated and comment on their fit with the data and explore why it happens. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
slothlife Posted August 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2016 On 13/08/2016 at 0:55 AM, IB Math Helper said: If you're looking for something simple, I recommend using statistics. For example, you could find if there is a correlation between BMI and the time taken to run one loop around a 400m at your school. Or choose any other two variables. This is really easy to get data for by convincing your friends to do on an afternoon after school. Then you could plot this data, get the correlation co-efficient, comment on your independent-dependent variables etc. Seriously, statistics involving linear correlation is the easiest topic to start with (I feel that's why they included it in the curriculum since May 2014 when the IA format changed). Just pick two variables that may be seemingly correlated and comment on their fit with the data and explore why it happens. Thank you so much for responding! The thing is, my teacher advised us to stray away from topics such as statistics because it may be too easy/simple and may result in us getting a lower grade... Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNintendoChip Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 3 hours ago, slothlife said: Thank you so much for responding! The thing is, my teacher advised us to stray away from topics such as statistics because it may be too easy/simple and may result in us getting a lower grade... My teacher said the exact opposite (granted, I didn't take her advice...). So long as it's a part in the curriculum, you're good. To quote IB (https://ibpublishing.ibo.org/live-exist/rest/app/tsm.xql?doc=d_5_matsl_tsm_1205_1_e&part=1&chapter=8), Criterion E: "Students are expected to produce work that is commensurate with the level of the course. The mathematics explored should either be part of the syllabus, or at a similar level or beyond. It should not be completely based on mathematics listed in the prior learning. If the level of mathematics is not commensurate with the level of the course, a maximum of two marks can be awarded for this criterion. " Statistics is fully within the SL syllabus. According to the syllabus (which can be found here: http://highered.colorado.gov/academics/admissions/PLA docs/Mathematics (GT-MA1)/IB – Mathematics SL Curriculum Guide.pdf), under Topic 5, you can see that it covers: Data, data processing (mean, median, mode, etc.), correlation, and more. Keep in mind that if you do correlation, you must talk about the correlation coefficient and its meaning. A personal friend of mine wrote their IA solely on the probability of winning different lotteries, and got 20/20. My IA was a proof far beyond the SL scope, and I got 20/20 too. So long as you're in the SL curriculum, it doesn't matter what you choose. What matters is how well you explain the math, how sound/logical it is, and that you reflect on it well. An example IA that my teacher gave us (that our previous IB teacher graded) was on Euler's Column formula and measuring load, and it got something like 11/20. Of course this was far beyond the SL level, but they barely explained anything and it didn't really make sense overall. For an example of how to NOT do an IA on BMI, see: https://ibpublishing.ibo.org/live-exist/rest/app/tsm.xql?doc=d_5_matsl_tsm_1205_1_e&part=2&chapter=21 Also, understand that you can still score well in Criterions A-D (Communication, Presentation, Personal Engagement, and Reflection) even if you do choose something below SL, as you'll only be penalized once (i.e., the max score of 2 in Criterion E). Recall that even in Criterion E, you're being graded on how well YOU understand the topic -- it's worse to choose something hard and not understand it well than to choose something easy and understand it spectacularly. 2 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
slothlife Posted August 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 14 hours ago, TheNintendoChip said: My teacher said the exact opposite (granted, I didn't take her advice...). So long as it's a part in the curriculum, you're good. To quote IB (https://ibpublishing.ibo.org/live-exist/rest/app/tsm.xql?doc=d_5_matsl_tsm_1205_1_e&part=1&chapter=8), Criterion E: "Students are expected to produce work that is commensurate with the level of the course. The mathematics explored should either be part of the syllabus, or at a similar level or beyond. It should not be completely based on mathematics listed in the prior learning. If the level of mathematics is not commensurate with the level of the course, a maximum of two marks can be awarded for this criterion. " Statistics is fully within the SL syllabus. According to the syllabus (which can be found here: http://highered.colorado.gov/academics/admissions/PLA docs/Mathematics (GT-MA1)/IB – Mathematics SL Curriculum Guide.pdf), under Topic 5, you can see that it covers: Data, data processing (mean, median, mode, etc.), correlation, and more. Keep in mind that if you do correlation, you must talk about the correlation coefficient and its meaning. A personal friend of mine wrote their IA solely on the probability of winning different lotteries, and got 20/20. My IA was a proof far beyond the SL scope, and I got 20/20 too. So long as you're in the SL curriculum, it doesn't matter what you choose. What matters is how well you explain the math, how sound/logical it is, and that you reflect on it well. An example IA that my teacher gave us (that our previous IB teacher graded) was on Euler's Column formula and measuring load, and it got something like 11/20. Of course this was far beyond the SL level, but they barely explained anything and it didn't really make sense overall. For an example of how to NOT do an IA on BMI, see: https://ibpublishing.ibo.org/live-exist/rest/app/tsm.xql?doc=d_5_matsl_tsm_1205_1_e&part=2&chapter=21 Also, understand that you can still score well in Criterions A-D (Communication, Presentation, Personal Engagement, and Reflection) even if you do choose something below SL, as you'll only be penalized once (i.e., the max score of 2 in Criterion E). Recall that even in Criterion E, you're being graded on how well YOU understand the topic -- it's worse to choose something hard and not understand it well than to choose something easy and understand it spectacularly. Thank you very much! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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