ESS Online Lessons Are a Game‑Changer for IB Students

03 Dec ESS Online Lessons Are a Game‑Changer for IB Students

The IB DP is known as a very demanding, difficult and sometimes hard to follow programme.  Environmental systems and societies (ESS) is one of the most unique IB DP subjects. It is an interdisciplinary subject as it is a mixture of humanities and sciences. ESS is a combination of Geography, Chemistry, Biology and little bit of Physics. In ESS course, students study ethics, law and politics as well. It is difficult to combine the completely new unfamiliar subject such as ESS with other IB subjects therefore many students and their parents view ESS online lessons as great help.

Why are ESS online lessons so very effective? Why have they become a game changer for many ESS students and their parents?

If you keep on reading this article you will find out the answers to these and other questions.

Interactive learning in ESS

ESS being the trans-disciplinary subject, it requires the understanding of graphs, charts and diagrams. The ideas such as energy flow models, climate models, cycles, systems and ecosystems are easy to grasp with visual representation. Using some visual tools during ESS online lessons is more than beneficial.

ESS lessons include animations and videos, so we can explain more difficult concept such as:

• Food chains and food webs
• Pollution and its strategies
• Successions and seres
• Population Pyramids
• Demographic transition model
• Nutrient cycle
• Eutrophication

This is more than a typical lesson which often doesn’t involve any visual tools to help the students. Students don’t just reproduce knowledge and definitions, but they are actually able to see how the system function. Therefore, they are able to understand it. This is essential for questions based on a Case study or essays. The deeper knowledge gained is then reflected on a long-term learning.

Flexible Timetable for lessons

Many IB students are very busy trying to follow all of their obligations such as Theory of Knowledge, CAS projects and many IAs.  Environmental systems and societies (ESS) is quite complicated subject unlike any of other IB subjects. There are many unfamiliar concepts that are completely new to our students. It takes lot of time to learn the ESS course, practice and prepare for the tests and exam. Having ESS online lessons at the times when they are available means a lot.

How can online lessons help students?

• Every student has his own pace of learning.
• There are other IB obligations, you can study when you are free.
• Review difficult ESS concepts and terms when you want.
• You can fit lessons even during a busy day.
• No need to travel to your tutor and waste more time.
• Boost your confidence and ESS skills.

Great ESS experts just a click away

Your school may be small, so not many skilled ESS teachers or a teacher may be new to ESS and unexperienced. With our ESS lessons you will get a highly experienced ESS teacher, tutor and examiner that knows and breaths ESS.

ESS experts and examiners:

• Understand ESS deeply
• Provide real life Case studies
• Know past paper questions and possible future exam questions
• Comprehend ESS examinations
• Help the student improve for their final exam

The right guidance can improve the student’s performance and make a great impact on their final grade. Also, it comes handy when needed ESS IA support or essay writing skills.

Customizable ESS support

During any standard lesson a student has to follow the curriculum at one pace. However, in ESS online lessons students have their own pace of learning. One of the best advantages of online lessons is that they are tailored to an individual’s needs.

Examples include:

• Visual student may need some extra support when it comes to graphical representations of ecosystems and diagrams.
• Science-based student will want to deepen it’s ecological understanding.
• More humanities oriented student will need further understanding of the laws of thermodynamics.
• A week math student would need some extra attention when it comes to calculations etc.

ESS examinations

ESS exams consist of several types of questions. In ESS there are:

• Short questions
• Essay questions
• Case study related questions

With tutoring you can practice strategies related to Paper 1 and Paper 2. You can focus on your answers and where you make some common mistakes. It is often timed, so you know exactly how much time it takes you to answer certain types of questions.

All of this can help students being more confident with their ESS exam. Often times students can be anxious before the exam, so practicing regular ESS lessons is recommended.

ESS is not like any other IB exam, it is not just another science course. It is about the world as we know it and society and what are the next big steps to be taken in order to improve our future. Online platforms help ESS students learn and care more about our planet and its environment.