The Integrated Science course aims to prepare students for the science subject they choose in the IBDP. At the end of the course, students should have a broad understanding of the individual Sciences, allowing them to start their subjects at IB with confidence.
Biology course content
This is taught in three units, which are closely related to the IB course:
Building blocks of life: The topic includes the structure and function of cells, the factors that affect the rate of photosynthesis and how molecules are moved in and out of plants.
Energy in biology: The topic includes how chemical reactions of respiration support life, are catalysed by specific enzymes and that enzymes are sensitive to changes in their environment.
Inheritance: The topic includes how genes can cause variation, how mitosis and meiosis create new cells and how the inheritance of phenotypes can be predicted by the genotype of the parents.
Chemistry course content
This is taught in three units, which are closely related to the IB course:
Particles and the periodic table: The topic includes structure of the atom, an introduction to moles and physical and chemical trends in the Periodic Table.
Bonding, acids and moles: The topic includes the nature and types of bonding, reaction of acids, quantitative analysis and calculations of reacting masses, reacting gases and of reactants in solution.
Rates and organic chemistry: The topic includes the factors that affect the rate of a reaction and a study of the major homologous series in organic chemistry.
Physics course content
This is taught in four units, which are closely related to the IB course:
Mechanics: The topic includes linear motion, forces, Newton’s laws, moments, energy and work.
Thermics: The topic includes the properties of matter, heat transfer, gas laws and pressure.
Optics and waves: The topic includes optics, longitudinal and transverse waves, wave properties, sound and the electromagnetic spectrum.
Electricity and magnetism: The topic includes basic electric circuit theory, Ohm’s law, series and parallel circuits, magnetism, electromagnetism, electromagnetic induction and an introduction to electronics.
Skills developed
The course allows students to explore and develop conceptual understanding of the key ideas at their own pace. Through experimentation, students develop the practical skills required for their transition to the IBDP.
Assessment
Students will sit two papers during their internal examinations in April.
paper 1 – a written paper consisting of multiple-choice, short-answer and structured questions; some questions will be based on the experimental skills and investigations
paper 2 – a written paper consisting of short-answer and structured questions on the electives studied after Easter
During the final term, in groups of two to four, students will research, plan and then carry out an experiment in either Biology, Chemistry or Physics (or another Group 4 subject). The group will prepare a 10-minute presentation, which they will deliver to the FIB cohort during the final week of term.