A common curriculum model now applies to all IB science programmes. This model offers a parallel structure at both Higher Level (HL) and Standard Level (SL), whereby a core of material is studied by all students. The core material is called the Subject Specific Core (SSC) and consists of 80 classroom hours. All students are also involved in a Group 4 Project of 10 hours. The SSC material is supplemented by a study of various optional topics chosen from a list of options. At Standard Level, students must study two options of 15 hours each, while at Higher Level they must choose two options of 22 hours each. There are three kinds of options: those specific to SL students, those specific to HL students and those which can be taken in part by SL students and as a whole by HL students. HL students will also cover in depth additional HL material (AHL) which consists of 55 hours. Finally, SL students will conduct 30 hours of investigations and HL 50 hours of investigations.

Over a two-year course of study, the SL programme consists of 150 hours and the HL programme 240 hours of actual teaching time, including practical/investigative work (24%). Time for homework is extra and is not reflected in the above numbers.

HL Assessment

1. External Assessment – written papers (4.5 hours) – 76%

• Paper 1 (60 minutes) – 20%
  40 multiple-choice questions covering the core and AHL material
• Paper 2 (135 minutes) – 36%
  Section A: one data-based question and several short-answer questions on the core and the AHL material.
  Section B: two extended response questions on the core and AHL material (from a choice of four).
• Paper 3 (75 minutes) – 20%Several short-answer questions and one extended response question in each of the two options studied.

2. Internal Assessment – 24%
Project and laboratory investigations

SL Assessment

1. External Assessment - written papers (3 hours) – 76%

• Paper 1 (45 minutes) – 20%
  30 multiple-choice questions covering the core material
• Paper 2 (75 minutes) – 32%
  Section A: one data-based question and several short-answer questions on the core material. Section B: one extended response questions on the core material (from a choice of three).
• Paper 3 (60 minutes) – 24%
  Several short-answer questions in each of the two options studied.

2. Internal Assessment – 24%
Project and laboratory investigations

Group 4 Subjects at TISA:

Biology

Biologists have accumulated huge amounts of information about living organisms, and it would be easy to confuse students by teaching large numbers of seemingly unrelated facts. In the Diploma Programme biology course, it is hoped that students will acquire a limited body of facts and, at the same time, develop a broad, general understanding of the principles of the subject.

Four basic biological concepts that run throughout both the Higher and Standard Level programmes.

Structure and function

This relationship is probably one of the most important in a study of biology and operates at all levels of complexity. Students should appreciate that structures permit some functions while, at the same time, limiting others.

Universality versus diversity

At the factual level, it soon becomes obvious to students that some molecules (for example, enzymes, amino acids, nucleic acids and ATP) are ubiquitous, and so are processes and structures. However, these universal features exist in a biological world of enormous diversity. Species exist in a range of habitats and show adaptations that relate structure to function. At another level, students can grasp the idea of a living world in which universality means that a diverse range of organisms (including ourselves) are connected and interdependent.

Equilibrium within systems

Checks and balances exist both within living organisms and within ecosystems. The state of dynamic equilibrium is essential for the continuity of life.

Evolution

The concept of evolution draws together the other themes. It can be regarded as change leading to diversity within constraints, and this leads to adaptations of structure and function.

Chemistry

Chemistry is an experimental science that combines academic study with the acquisition of practical and investigational skills. It is called the central science, as chemical principles underpin both the physical environment in which we live and all biological systems. Apart from being a subject worthy of study in its own right, chemistry is a prerequisite for many other courses in higher education, such as medicine, biological science and environmental science, and serves as useful preparation for employment.

The Diploma Programme chemistry course includes the essential principles of the subject but also, through selection of options, allows teachers some flexibility to tailor the course to meet the needs of their students.

The course is available at both standard level (SL) and higher level (HL), and therefore accommodates students who wish to study science in higher education and those who do not.

By its very nature, chemistry lends itself to an experimental approach, and this will be reflected throughout the course.

Physics

Within IB Physics both theory and experiments are undertaken by all students. They complement one another naturally, as they do in the wider scientific community. The Diploma Programme physics course allows students to develop traditional practical skills and techniques and to increase facility in the use of mathematics, which is the language of physics. It also allows students to develop interpersonal skills, and information and communication technology skills, which are essential in modern scientific endeavour and are important life-enhancing, transferable skills in their own right.

Alongside the growth in our understanding of the natural world, perhaps the more obvious and relevant result of physics to most of students is the ability to change the world. This is the technological side of physics, in which physical principles have been applied to construct and alter the material world to suit our needs, and have had a profound influence on the daily lives of all human beings—for good or bad. This raises the issue of the impact of physics on society, the moral and ethical dilemmas, and the social, economic and environmental implications of the work of physicists. These concerns have become more prominent as our power over the environment has grown, particularly among young people, for whom the importance of the responsibility of physicists for their own actions is self-evident.

Physics is therefore, above all, a human activity, and students develop an awareness of the context in which physicists work. Illuminating its historical development places the knowledge and the process of physics in a context of dynamic change, in contrast to the static context in which physics has sometimes been presented. This can give students insights into the human side of physics: the individuals; their personalities, times and social milieu; and their challenges, disappointments and triumphs.