Biology

The smallest free-living organism in the World is the Mycoplasma genitalium bacteria with a diameter of only 0.0000007m (source) and the largest is  Armillaria solidipes (Humongous fungus) which covers a staggering  10 square kilometres! (source)

The biologist’s realm covers both of these and everything in between as well as how all of these living organisms interact with each other and the non-living parts of our little blue planet. We cover the whole story of life from birth to death and even beyond (decomposition).

People develop an interest in biology for all sorts of reasons. Nature documentaries, hiking trips, books, medical TV dramas, topical news about new discoveries and countless other stimuli have been seen to spark an interest in Biology for our students. Our job is fan the flame of curiosity and guide it so the study can be done in a scientific, systematic and meaningful way.

This course helps students to better understand themselves and their place in the natural world. It allows an in-depth study of a wide range of biological concepts as they apply to biological molecules, cells, organisms, populations and interacting communities. This course is suitable for any student with good scientific ability plus a genuine interest in the living world.

Both SL and HL students study concepts in the core syllabus components organised by concepts.

The core Biology syllabus components are:

• Unity and diversity

• Form and function

• Interaction and interdependence

• Continuity and change

HL students study additional related material in each component.

Grade 11 units

• The Evolution of Life

• The Chemicals of Life

• The Building Blocks of Life

• The Energy for Life

• The Cycles of Life

Grade 12 units

• The Molecules of Inheritance

• From DNA to Protein

• Transporting the Essentials for Life

• Responding to change

• Reproduction and Inheritance 

• practical skills (experimental design, data collection and processing, concluding and evaluating)

• data analysis

• internationalism and Theory of Knowledge aspects of Biology

• presentation skills

• appreciation of the nature of science in every unit

• application of concepts to near and far contexts

SL external assessment – 80%

• paper 1 (1 hour 30 minutes) – 36%

  • • paper 1A: Multiple-choice questions

    • paper 1B: Data-based questions (four questions that are syllabus related, addressing all themes) 

• paper 2 (1 hour 30 minutes) – 44%

  • • Data-based and short-answer questions 

    • Extended-response questions 

HL external assessment – 80%

• paper 1 (2 hours) – 36%

  • • paper 1A: Multiple-choice questions

    • paper 1B: Data-based questions (four questions that are syllabus related, addressing all themes) 

• paper 2 (2 hours 30 minutes) – 44%

  • • Data-based and short-answer questions 

    • Extended-response questions 

HL and SL internal assessment – 20%

• Individual investigation of 10 hours in duration - more details below.

Time allocation for practical work

The internal assessment component comprises experimental work and fieldwork. 

Students at SL are required to spend a total of 40 hours, and students at HL 60 hours, on practical activities (excluding time spent writing up work). These times include 10 hours for the Group 4 project and 10 hours for the internal assessment investigation.

Field trip

All Biology students will have an exciting opportunity to participate in a four-day residential trip to Tioman Island, Malaysia to carry out potential internally assessed ecological fieldwork. The cost of this trip was approximately S$950 per student. We always intend to take all students but if logistics restricts numbers, the Higher level students will be given a preference.