Chemistry HL IA ideas?

[bumblebee29]

Hi everyone,

Right now I'm starting to think about my Chemistry IA, and it would be great to have at least some ideas before summer break. I want to study Pharmacy or Bioengineering at university, so I thought of doing something along those lines for my IA. Also, my friend is writing her EE in Chemistry, and she is comparing the effectiveness of different stomach antacids. I really like this idea, but, obviously, I can't steal it, so I have to come up with my own idea..

Could you please help me with this?

Thank you in advance!

[KATHERINEwjw]

I don't think it's stealing. Academic honesty in IA is about not having same/similar topics with your classmates. Your friend obviously can't do an IA about that anyway. Besides, her exploration will be much more in-depth than yours. 

[DrW]

Hey bumblebee29, I think it is awesome that you are excited about the IA and are brainstorming ideas.  It is important to remember that IB only awards 2 points for the personal engagement part of the individual investigation.  The first point is awarded if you show that you have researched the topic well and have plenty of references.  The second point is awarded if you indicate a good reason why you are interested in the particular topic.  Now, any given topic that you do should be vetted by finding other similar types of investigations so you will get that point with good background research.  That means that only 1 point is earned by finding that "perfect" topic that you can gush about.  The easier and more stress free route is to find a lab in a lab book and tweak it so that it is "yours."  This will guarantee that the experiment is sufficiently focused and that you will be able to get data.  I would be happy to discuss you IA topics with you further if you desire.  Here is my website (4to7.net).  Cheers!

PS - Here is a blog post with 50 IA topic ideas.