02 Sep What to Expect in an IB Environmental Systems and Societies (ESS) Class
What to expect in an IB Environmental Systems and Societies (ESS) Class
You might just about to start with IB Environmental Systems and Societies course or you are in the process of choosing your IB DP subjects and you are wondering if you should take Environmental Systems and Societies (ESS). Students are wondering if it is going to be hard and challenging. You are unsure if there is too much science or is it something more like societies. Are you going to do much laboratory work and practice?
Environmental Systems and Societies (ESS) is a modern day subject that brings together scientific approach with more social subjects. The topic of the environmental systems and societies is one of the crucial aspects of today’s world – relationship of humans and ecosystem and their mutual influence.
A mixture of humanities and science
The most important feature of Environmental systems and societies is that interdisciplinary nature which suggests that it is a blend of science such as Biology and Chemistry and Societies such as Ethics, Politics and Geography. ESS is a Group 3 and Group 4 subject which allows IB students higher possibility to mix it up with other subjects. In this subject you will learn about the biodiversity loss in tropical rainforests, protected animals and plants and national parks. In addition to this you will explore the topics of population dinamics and climate change. You will think about the environmental situation in your own country and city and globally. Sounds interesting?
ESS topics
Environmental systems and societies cover a range of important topics so students understand deeply how our planet works. Some of the most essential topics you will encounter in ESS are:
- Foundations
- Ecology
- Biodiversity and Conversation
- Water
- Land
- Atmospheric systems and society
- Natural resources
- Human population and urban systems
The topics are designed in a way that the students understand how Earth systems are connected and how they influence each other.
Practical work
The amount of practice in ESS is not that big as in some other IB subject. However, you still need to write your ESS IA therefore you can expect that there will be some percentage of practice as well. You can perform a field work, lab experiment or even conduct a survey. In some other cases, you can collect secondary data in order to complete the IA.
Some of the possible IA examples could include:
- Effect of the air pollution on asthma incidents
- Measuring water pollution levels
- Analysis of the food waste in your school
- Measuring the CO2 emissions from the traffic
The information you get from conducting field and lab work helps you in understanding the environment and human activities even more.
Is ESS a good choice for you
The Ess is offered in both SL and HL and it can also count as Group 3 or Group 4 subject. This way ESS offers great frexibility for students. It is wonderful choice if you are:
- Worried about environmental situation in the world
- Are motivated to go green
- Nature lover
- Like both science and social studies
- Need a balanced subject between solutions and environment issues
- Like to travel and discover other cultures
- Recycling is your thing
Ethical dilemma
Environmental systems and societies doen not just offer a scientific approach to environmental problems. Many times you will be asked to concider different environmental views about one environmental issue such as urban air pollution. How will different environmental groups view this project? And what is the government have to say about it? What about different local NGOs? What is the view of science when it comes to this problem? In the end you will be asked to elaborate your personal view point on this environmental issue.
ESS Internal Assessment
In ESS students have to complete one research project – your IA. It is an individual work about one topic in ESS that you find interesting. Your IA is worth 25% of your final ESS grade for a SL student and 20% of your grade for a HL student. For example, your IA data collection could be coming from your field work or lab experiment or even secondary data collection (students use somebody else’s data).
Some of the possible IA examples would be:
- Cities and water quality
- Effect of agriculture on biodiversity
- Recycling systems at school
- Measuring CO2 levels in several locations in a city
- What is the effect of nitrites on a local pond
- Soil composition and vegetation growth relationship
- How does the soil pH affect the germination of a local plant
- Micro plastics presence in water samples
- Energy saving using different bulbs
- Carbon footprint of students in your school
- Sustainable products in your local market
Here you have a wide selection of topics and it is a possibility for you to research your favorite environmental topic.
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