Course map
Exams, data skills and the investigation
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How ESS is assessed: data skills, essays and the IA
SL and HL: Paper 1; Paper 2- Read the command terms and what each asks for: state, outline, explain, evaluate, discuss, to what extent
- Calculate from data: percentage change, rates, means, productivity, the Lincoln index and Simpson's diversity index
- Plan a structured essay that uses examples, weighs perspectives and reaches a supported conclusion
- Understand the individual investigation: a research question, a method, data, analysis, a conclusion and an evaluation
Topic 1: foundation
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Topic 1: perspectives, systems and sustainability
SL and HL: Paper 1; Paper 2- Explain environmental value systems and how worldviews shape responses to environmental issues
- Model systems: storages, flows, inputs and outputs, feedback loops, equilibria and tipping points
- Measure and evaluate sustainability: natural capital, ecological footprints, planetary boundaries and the doughnut
Topics 2 to 8
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Topic 2: individuals, populations and energy in ecosystems
SL and HL: Paper 1; Paper 2- Explain species, habitats, niches, population growth and the factors that limit it
- Explain energy flow, trophic levels, pyramids, productivity and biomass
- Sample populations and communities: quadrats, transects and capture-mark-release
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Topic 2: cycles, biomes and change in ecosystems
SL and HL: Paper 1; Paper 2- Explain the carbon and nitrogen cycles and how human activity alters them
- Explain how climate shapes biomes, and how biomes are shifting
- Explain zonation and succession, and how disturbance changes ecosystems
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Topic 3: biodiversity and conservation
SL and HL: Paper 1; Paper 2- Measure biodiversity and explain how it arises through evolution
- Explain human threats to biodiversity: habitat loss, invasive species, overexploitation, pollution and climate change
- Evaluate conservation and regeneration: protected areas, species-based approaches and rewilding
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Topic 4: water
SL and HL: Paper 1; Paper 2- Explain the water cycle, ocean circulation and how humans change water systems
- Evaluate water access, use and security, and responses to water stress
- Evaluate aquatic food production and water pollution, including eutrophication and its management
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Topic 5: land, soil and food
SL and HL: Paper 1; Paper 2- Explain soil formation, soil systems and soil degradation
- Compare food production systems and their sustainability
- Evaluate strategies for soil conservation and sustainable food supply
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Topic 6: atmosphere and climate change
SL and HL: Paper 1; Paper 2- Explain the structure of the atmosphere and the greenhouse effect
- Explain the causes and impacts of climate change, including feedbacks
- Evaluate mitigation and adaptation, and the recovery of stratospheric ozone
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Topic 7: natural resources, energy and waste
SL and HL: Paper 1; Paper 2- Classify natural resources and explain how their value and management change
- Evaluate energy sources and energy security
- Evaluate strategies for managing solid domestic waste
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Topic 8: human populations and urban systems
SL and HL: Paper 1; Paper 2- Explain population growth and change: rates, models and population pyramids
- Evaluate urban systems and sustainable urban planning
- Explain the causes, effects and management of urban air pollution
The HL lenses
- LessonPractice
HL lenses: environmental law, economics and ethics
HL only: Paper 1; Paper 2- Explain how environmental law works from local to international level
- Apply environmental and ecological economics: market failure, valuing ecosystem services and alternative models
- Apply ethical approaches to environmental decisions: intrinsic and instrumental value, consequences and rights
IB Diploma Programme Environmental systems and societies, SL and HL. The internal assessment, a research proposal, is not practised here.