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- analyse
- evaluate, and
- synthesize scientific information.
A compulsory project encourages students to appreciate the environmental, social and ethical implications of science. This exercise is collaborative and interdisciplinary: students analyse a topic or problem which can be investigated in each of the science disciplines offered by the school. It is also an opportunity for students to explore scientific solutions to global questions.
Biology SL
In Diploma Programme biology, 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.
Although the Diploma Programme biology courses at standard level (SL) and higher level (HL) have been written as a series of discrete statements (for assessment purposes), there are four basic biological concepts that run throughout:
i) 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.
ii) Universality Versus Diversity
At the factual level it soon becomes obvious to students that some molecules (eg 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.
iii) 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.
iv) 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 HL
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 higher level and standard level, and therefore accommodates students who wish to study science in higher education and those who do not.
Physics SL
Physics is the most fundamental of the experimental sciences as it seeks to explain the universe itself, from the very smallest particles—quarks (perhaps 10-17 m in size) which may be truly fundamental—to the vast distances between galaxies (1024 m).
The scientific processes carried out by the most eminent scientists in the past are the same ones followed by working physicists today and, crucially, are also accessible to students in schools. Early in the development of science physicists were both theoreticians and experimenters (natural philosophers). The body of scientific knowledge has grown in size and complexity and the tools and skills of theoretical and experimental physicists have become so specialized that it is difficult (if not impossible) to be highly proficient in both areas. While students should be aware of this, they should also know that the free and rapid interplay of theoretical ideas and experimental results in the public scientific literature maintains the crucial links between these fields.
At the school level both theory and experiments should be undertaken by all students. They should 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 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 endeavours 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 our students is our 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 amongst 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 need to be aware 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 milieux; and their challenges, disappointments and triumphs.