CAS: Creativity, Activity, Service

CAS is organised around the three strands of creativity, activity and service defined as follows: 

Creativity: exploring and extending ideas leading to an original or interpretive product or performance 

Activity: physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle 

Service: collaborative and reciprocal engagement with the community in response to an authentic need

A good CAS programme complements a challenging academic programme in a holistic way, providing opportunities for self-determination, collaboration, accomplishment, and enjoyment. It is a personal journey of discovery of self and others. For many students, CAS experiences include ones that are profound and can be life-changing. For student development to occur, CAS should involve real and purposeful experiences, personal challenge, thoughtful consideration, and critical reflection.

This is supported by your advisor who will check in with you at three key points over the 18 months. You will build your portfolio with reflections, photos and documents of the experiences. This is shared with your parents and UAC advisor so they can see the whole of you as you grow. From August onwards you will plan a series of experiences in clubs, sports, performances and local service that will challenge and develop you individually and collaboratively. You will be able to meet all of the IB guidelines through the different opportunities available in the activities and service programmes at UWCSEA East combined with Project Week, a compulsory and exciting part of our learning programme, which is arranged around the CAS elements of creativity, activity and service. 

Over the break, consider the following questiions:

What are my top 3 qualities? What are my top 3 skills? Which one skill and quality do I want to develop further?

What do I care about? (specific human needs, environment, nurturing others)

What does the community need? (Grade level, school, local, global) How can I make a difference? (to a team, NGO, environment)

How can I make a change in myself? (organisation, self-awareness, communicator)

How can I foster well-being through CAS?

ToK: Theory of Knowledge

ToK encourages critical thinking about knowledge itself, to try to help young people make sense of what they encounter. Its core content is questions such as: What counts as knowledge? How is it produced and how is it used? 

ToK links to ‘Service’ by asking what judgements we make that we may not be aware of? What language do we use to describe the groups we work with different communities? Do we use the phrases“Underprivileged” or “Differently Abled”?  Knowledge is transformative and therefore we should feel responsible for the knowledge we create and share. What you need to be able to do is to have an interest in things you have previously taken for granted and think about things in a new way. 

There are plenty of resources online. You could start by watching Richard Feynman (Science), Hannah Fry (Mathematics), Great Art Explained ). Or just watch the excellent documentary “The Last Artifact”. For books, it would be a good idea to get the preview on Kindle of any of the following: War: How Conflict Shaped Usby Margaret MacMillan, The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf, The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee, Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist by Frans De Waal  All are demanding reads but dipping into the first dozen pages of each will introduce you to some ‘big’ ideas.

EE: Extended Essay

The Extended Essay is an in-depth study of a focused topic chosen by you. It is intended to promote high-level research and writing skills, as well as intellectual discovery and creativity. It provides students with an opportunity to engage in personal research in a topic of their own choice, under the guidance of a supervisor (a teacher in the school). 

This research leads to a major piece of formally presented, structured writing in which ideas and findings are communicated in a reasoned and coherent manner. After the completion of the written essay, a short concluding interview, or viva voce, is conducted with the supervisor. 

There is no work that needs to be done with regard to the Extended Essay during the school holiday: just think about areas you are passionate about.

So, what exactly will you study in Systems Transformation?  Isn’t the study of systems the study of everything?  In a sense, yes; but we will also ground our study in specific knowledge and skills related to systems thinking, project management, design, and leadership. The course looks at how changemakers put their plans into action. Reading about people and organisations that have created change in the world is a great starting point. We will be learning about the specific tools successful changemakers use. If you want to get familiar with some of these tools in advance you can work through the resources below. 

These resources can help you think about the intersection of these skills, and we will excerpt and return to some of these resources throughout our two-year course:

• Reset:  How to Change What's Not Working by Dan Heath. A great summary of many of the skills from Systems Transformation

• How to Have Good Ideas A podcast episode focussed on how Design Thinking can be a tool to solving complex problems. 

• Design Systems Change A great resource for understanding how changemakers use Systems Thinking and Design tools 

• What are Systems and What is Systems Change?  A video that gives a brief overview of how changemakers use systems thinking.

Chinese A Literature SL and HL

大家可以利用暑假开始阅读老师推荐的文学作品，在阅读的同时也可以做阅读的笔记。

• 《大淖记事》汪曾祺短篇小说精选

• 《无声告白》伍绮诗

• 《日出》曹禺

• 《洛夫诗选》洛夫

• 《厨房》吉本芭娜娜

• 《台北人》白先勇

文学理论课程

Chinese A Language and Literature SL and HL

文学作品：建议大家自己购买纸质书，自己的书，记笔记比较方便。

• 郝景芳《人之彼岸》、《北京折叠》

•  白先勇《台北人》           余华《第七天》

• 【美】伍绮诗《无声告白》

• 【美】阿瑟米勒《推销员之死》（暂定）

非文学文本：

• 电影、电视、纪录片——关于移民、种族、科技、教育、家庭关系、女性、等级……，多看几部，回来可以分享，作为口试的预备材料

• 广泛阅读与搜集：可以用扫描、拍照、剪报、下载等方式加以存档：

  • 专栏/评论

  • 新闻

  • 杂志文章

  • 公众号文章

  • 博客

• 摄影、图片

  • 广告（平面图文广告、视频网络广告等）

English A SL and HL

What kind of reading should I do?

 As part of your school holiday reading, it would be beneficial if you try to read widely. We would recommend at least one longer fictional text, such as a  novel or play, but longer non-fiction texts such as memoir or biography are also great.  Regular reading of various non-fiction publications is crucial to success in these courses. We’d also like you to venture into multimedia types of texts: speeches, adverts, reviews, films, songs, photographs—anything that communicates meaning! Try looking at our reading infographic for inspiration. 

If you already have a personal reading list for the break then you can incorporate these into your school holiday reading and find interesting connections between them. Even better would be if you could bring in works related to subjects you feel particularly passionate about. 

How should I record my reading experiences?

You should keep a record of what you’ve read (see example) so that you can reflect on your reading experience later. Highlight or bookmark quotations that resonate with you.

Over the two years of the course you will keep a record of your personal and critical responses to texts in your Learner Portfolio; your school holiday reading will form the foundation of this.

We hope you “Read. Read, Read.” – William Faulkner (American novelist, screenplay writer and essayist)

Español Literatura NM/NS

En el programa de literatura estudiarás diferentes movimientos literarios y leerás obras escritas originalmente en español, inglés, francés, árabe e hindi. En este programa se abordarán diferentes géneros literarios: novela gráfica, cuentos, leyendas, poesía, teatro y canciones. Para ello es aconsejable que en preparación al curso de Bachillerato Internacional revises los siguientes materiales:

Cuentos y fábulas:

Renacimiento – El Conde de Lucanor de Don Juan Manuel. Trata sobre las relaciones humanas y se observan los siguientes valores: Solidaridad, compañerismo, generosidad, educación para la convivencia, sinceridad, honradez, aprendizaje, conocimiento y sabiduría.

Siglo XIX - Elege entre estos cuentos del siglo XIX y completa algunas de las actividades para comprobar tu comprensión (Actividades):

• El Café (Larra)

• El Pastor Clasiquino (Espronceda)

• Pulpete y Balbeja (Estebañez Calderón)

• La Cruz del Diablo (Bécquer)

• La Hija del Sol (Fernán Caballero)

• La Mujer alta (Pedro Antonio de Alarcón)

• La Leva (Pereda)

• La Rosa de Oro (Clarín)

• El Tranvía (Pardo Bazán)

• El Contador (Emilia Pardo Bazán)

• ¿Dónde está mi cabeza? (Pérez Galdos)

• El Maestro Raimundico (Juan Valera)

• Golpe Doble (Vicente Blasco Ibáñez)

• La niña Chole (Valle-Inclán)

Teatro: 

Romanticismo – Don Juan Tenorio de José Zorilla.

Esta obra sucede en Sevilla, durante el Siglo de Oro. Un año después de hacer una apuesta para ver quién podría ser más malvado y mujeriego, don Juan Tenorio y don Luis Mejía se reúnen en un mesón para comparar sus hazañas. Tras contar los muertos en batalla y mujeres seducidas, está claro que don Juan es el ganador. Pero ambos rivales deciden hacer una nueva apuesta, y don Juan asegura a don Luis que le quitará a su prometida, y que además conquistará a una monja.

Poesía y canciones: 

Durante este curso analizaremos canciones actuales y poemas modernistas y vanguardistas.

• Elige un artista que te guste escuchar y después lee la letra de sus canciones, ¿sabes si usa sobre todo versos de arte mayor o menor? ¿los versos tienen rima? ¿qué tipo de rima usa?

• ¿Qué figuras literarias son las más comunes en poesía o en canciones? ¿Qué tópicos literarios son los que más se usan en las canciones que escuchas?

French A SL and HL

Le cours comprend des œuvres (9 en SL et 13 en HL) francophones ou traduites en français et appartenant à quatre formes littéraires : prose fictionnelle, prose non-fictionnelle, théâtre et poésie. Il est donc vivement conseillé de lire des œuvres appartenant à plusieurs de ces formes avant de commencer le cours. Voici une liste de lectures conseillées, dans lesquelles des auteurs francophones abordent des thèmes universels  (questions mondiales) qui sont également développés dans les oeuvres au programme :

Bande dessinée/roman graphique:

• Aya de Yopougon, de Marguerite Abouet et Clément Oubrerie

• Persepolis, de Marjane Satrapi

Théâtre:

• Le dieu du carnage, de Yasmina Reza

• Rhinocéros, d’Eugène Ionesco

Prose fictionnelle: 

• Une vie, de Guy de Maupassant

• Le ventre de l’Atlantique, de Fatou Diome

• Ni d’Eve, ni d’Adam, d’Amélie Nothomb

• La plus secrète mémoire des hommes, de Mohamed Mbougar Sarr

• Un chant écarlate, de Mariama Bâ

• L’élégance du hérisson, de Muriel Barbery

• Plonger, de Christophe Ono-dit-Biot

Poésie: 

• Cahier d’un retour au pays natal, d’Aimé Césaire

• Chants d’ombre, de Léopold Sédar Senghor

School Supported  Languages

First Challenge: Read one novel in your Language A. Choose a novel which is considered a classic in a country where your Language A is spoken. Typically it would be a novel that students your age study at school in a country where your Language A is spoken. You may need to ask your parents to advise you on a book choice. After having read the book, answer the questions in the following book report template. You may need to look up the following terms in your Language A: narrator, protagonist, context, plot, theme, climax, imagery, symbolism.

Second Challenge: Watch a film originally made in your Language A. Based on the film paradigm above, provide a description of the plot. Integrate this description in a film review. Use the following structure for your book review:

• First paragraph: introduction of the film, the director, the actors etc.

• Second paragraph: description of the plot (refer to the film paradigm below)

• Third paragraph: your opinion on the plot, the actors, the music etc.

• Fourth paragraph: your recommendation

Students in ab initio language courses are expected to be complete beginners: no preparation is needed before the start of the course, but you are welcome to explore the resources below!

Chinese B SL and HL

Reading comprehension and vocabulary

Vocabulary practice

Online Reading Practice: Chinese Reading World

Suggested reading for Higher Level students: 

• 《亲爱的安德烈》 龙应台

• 《美国老爸台湾妈》 赵映雪

• 《北京折叠》郝景芳 

• 《城南旧事》林海音

Video Learning Materials: 

• China Focus

English B HL 

Reading, listening and writing journal

Keep a journal on your school holiday reading/listening and respond to each piece of text.

For each reading or listening, your journal should include:

1. A short summary (one paragraph of about 75 words).

2. A list of new vocabulary (at least 10 words) from each piece of text and a sentence written from each new word (a sentence of your own making—not from a dictionary)

3. A new piece of text but of a different type (for example you read a news article and write a blog entry) about that topic. Use some of the new vocabulary you have found in the original text.

4. Include both readings and listening from various sources.

5. Include the printed text or a link for each text type.

6. Include some of the following text types (and any others you may find):

   • 1. • news reports

        • magazine columns

        • editorials

        • blogs

        • pamphlets/brochures/flyers/leaflets

        • essays

        • articles

        • television documentaries

        • spoken or written interviews

        • movies

        • movie/restaurant/book reviews

        • diaries

        • biographies

        • travelogues

        • guides

        • information report

        • recount

        • narrative

Grammar

It is important to maintain and improve your grammar. Please consult appropriate websites or books and try to self-correct.

Subject areas to read/write/listen about:

1. Identities

2. Experiences

3. Human Ingenuity

4. Social Organisation

5. Sharing the Planet

Grammar, vocabulary, reading: www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/ 

Grammar quiz: www.englishclub.com/grammar

Listening 

www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/eslvideo

Text types 

http://portfolios.uwcsea.edu.sg/ealatuwcseaeast/2019/06/15/welcome/  (PATHWAY: Students - Text Types - IB Text Types)

All skills and test preparation

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/skills/listening

French B SL and HL

Grammar

Choose your verb(s) and your tense(s) then practise online:

• https://www.languagesonline.org.uk/Hotpotatoes/frenchindex.html (great to revise vocabulary as well)

• Free online grammar exercises to revise key points

• It is essential that you start the French B course with a solid knowledge of the imperfect, perfect, present, and future tenses. This is a great presentation which consolidates some basic grammar points.

Reading comprehension and vocabulary

• Vocabulary practice: http://quizlet.com/subject/french

• Great reading exercises: http://1jour1actu.com

• A bank of articles sorted by topics relevant to the French B curriculum. Choose articles that you are interested in and note down new vocabulary.

Listening

• Explore the TV5 Monde website to boost your listening skills while diving into the richness of Francophone culture!

• Check out the RFI website to learn French through engaging and up-to-date news content!

• French news in French but at a slow speed—you can also access the transcripts: www.newsinslowfrench.com

• Video listening practice with transcripts: www.laits.utexas.edu/fr

• Video clips of French songs and transcripts. Practise French while listening to music: http://chansonsfle.blogspot.sg

Films

Students are encouraged to watch at least two films in French with French subtitles; they should write down key phrases and colloquialisms.

• This free streaming platform TV5MONDEplus (by TV5 Monde) offers French-language films, series, and documentaries with subtitles. Available worldwide and legal.

• Watch the new Astérix & Obélix : the Big Flight on Netflix (watch it in French and set French subtitles)

• Watch Lupin on Netflix (watch the series in French with French subtitles)

Other French movies that you could watch: L’auberge espagnole ; Intouchables ; Bienvenue chez les Chti’s ; L’Arnacoeur 

Spanish B SL and HL 

Grammar

Grammar is fun. If you want to revise concepts or try some tenses, this website will help to quiz yourself and read about all aspects of Spanish grammar: studyspanish.com/grammar/

Reading comprehension and vocabulary

• The best place to start is the BBC’s languages web-pages. Choose the ‘reportajes’ link to find articles from the former ‘Semanario Internet’ with a variety of reading exercises. The articles are archived into topic areas. www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/news 

• Newspapers: www.elmundo.es

• Spanish daily newspaper. The website gives you access to all of the day’s news articles. www.elpais.es

• On-line Spanish daily news: www.estrelladigital.es

• Reading cultural activities:  espanol.lingolia.com/en/reading (Select levels A2 and B1)

Listening

• Listening cultural activities online:  espanol.lingolia.com/en/listening Select levels A2 and B1

• Search for ‘4 minutos’ within this site and then listen and try to pick out the main stories (www.rtve.es)

• 10 short films to improve your listening skills in Spanish: https://infoeducacion.net/cortos-educativos/#10_cortos_educativos_para_ver_online_que_te_sorprenderan

• Spanish News (www.euronews.net)

• Select language ‘español’ and then choose from a variety of listening activities 

• Songs and exercises: Practise Spanish by listening to music (lyricstraining.com) or through its app (lingoclip.com/es)

Films

Students are encouraged to watch as many short movies “cortometrajes” en español (YouTube link) or at least two films or series in Spanish with Spanish subtitles; they should write down language phrases and colloquialisms. There are a wide range of films and series in Spanish language on Netflix, Prime, Max and other platforms. 

Business Management

As a customer or consumer, you interact with businesses and organisations daily. As such, you already have an applied knowledge of the Business Management course. You will likely be aware of some marketing strategies used by global organisations and will even have been influenced by these strategies, you will have heard people speaking about their jobs and what makes them happy or unhappy at work, and you will know that organisations are likely driven by the goal of making a profit or surplus and you will have had experience of good or poor quality service. This course will delve deeper into such examples so you can understand the theory behind them. Units of study include Introduction to Business Management, Human Resource Management, Finance & Accounts, Marketing and Operations Management. Additionally, a set of situational, planning and decision-making tools are studied to analyse and evaluate different disciplinary and interdisciplinary contexts. Four conceptual lenses underpin the course, and provide the framework for deeper study: change, ethics, creativity and sustainability. 

These books and clips cover different aspects of business and the people that run them.

• Toyota Production System (1988) by Taiichi Ohno

• No Logo by Naomi Klein

• Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us by Daniel Pink

 These business education websites  have interactive resources:

• www.tutor2u.net/business

• www.businessmanagementib.com

Economics

Watch this video which explores the issue of scarcity and resource allocation, the topic we will start the course with. Note down some observations and think about how you would answer this question: 

How is it that the first world has an oversupply of food, while 1 in 7 in the world are malnourished?

You could also explore the ‘A level and IBDP’ sections of the tutor2u.site. The home screen is regularly updated with new topics drawn from current news events, linked to parts of the IB/A-Level syllabus so that you can begin to understand how news events are analysed using concepts that you will come across in class.

If you are a newcomer to Economics, you could also view some of these short clips on YouTube that relate to micro and macroeconomics here. There are also some excellent documentaries that you could view such as ‘Before the Flood’, ‘Money for Nothing: Inside the Federal Reserve’, ‘Boom, Bust, Boom’ and, of course, “Freakonomics’. You can also access Kanopy resources using your UWC account to view these short documentaries:  

• The Economics of Daily Life

• The Economics of Happiness

• Sustainable

• The Cost of Living

• When China Met Africa

• Green Economics-Living Well

• Clothes to Die For

• Pricing: what hides behind a price?

• The invisible hand

• Free Markets, Capitalism, Neo-classical Economics: A focus on Joseph Schumpeter The Man who discovered capitalism 

• The Economics of Uncertainty (a series) including Game Theory, moral hazard and adverse selection, and the business cycle

Geography

Geography is a dynamic subject that is grounded in the real world and deals with some of the major concerns of our time. You will be studying contemporary issues like Poverty, Climate Change and Globalisation, and Geopolitical issues like conflicts over resources. 

To help you prepare for IB Geography, find out more about these global issues and get into the habit of regularly checking in with what is going on in the world by reading the news. 

Reputable sites to use include:

• http://www.bbc.com/news/science_and_environment/

• http://www.theguardian.com/environment/all

• http://www.scientificamerican.com/sustainability/

These recently published books are both relevant to several different aspects of the course, and are a fascinating, easy school holiday read. Pick one and think about the questions it raises for you about contemporary world issues: Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling and Prisoners of Geography or Power of Geography  by Tim Marshall.

Global Politics

IB Global Politics is a dynamic subject that is built around the unifying theme of ‘people, power and politics’. You will have the opportunity to explore the interactions of both state and non-state actors at various levels of analysis including community, local, national, regional, international, and global. As such, politics is happening all around you, and you should be aiming to spend part of your school holiday tuning into political ideas and discussions.

We will first frame the study of Global Politics by investigating the major elections of 2024 and their significance. We will then focus on the major concepts of 'power' and 'sovereignty' using China's increasing application of hard and soft power as a case study. Human Rights ' will be our next focus. We will use contemporary examples such the Russia Ukraine war and Israel's actions against Hamas in Gaza throughout the unit. Taking note of these political issues in particular will be most useful for your first semester of IB Global Politics.

Podcasts are an excellent source of relevant political information, including in-depth interviews and discussions. The following podcasts are recommended as a very good starting point for Global Politics students:

• Global Dispatches: Conversations on Foreign Policy and World Affairs

• The Daily: New York Times

• The Economist Radio

• Global News Podcast: BBC World Service

While there are literally thousands of books available that relate to the study of Global Politics, an interesting book to start with, as it deals with one of the major course concepts of ‘power’, is Is the American Century Over? by Joseph Nye. The Almighty Dollar by Dharshini David presents a fascinating account of globalisation at work, while Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall provides a description of various conflict ‘hot spots’ around the world.

History

The study of History comes with a great responsibility. Yes, we must learn from the past in order to understand who we are today. But we must also study History in order to speak for those without a voice. That said, there is also pure joy to be found in the wonderful, baffling, hilarious and sometimes terrifying stories from History. IB History hopes to immerse you fully in each of these vital elements. Your programme largely examines the social, political and economic history of the 19th and 20th century. We travel across continents to explore war, peace, revolutions, dictatorships, democracies, remarkable advancements and crimes against humanity. Units include Tokugawa and Meiji Japan, Castro’s Cuba, World War One,  Qing China, the Vietnam War, the Rwandan genocide and Nazi Germany. As such, we suggest you read some fascinating survey histories, and watch some films, to develop a feel for the themes and tone of the periods covered.

Read

• The Age of Extremes by Eric Hobsbawm

• A People’s History of the World by Chris Harman

• Civilisation: the West and the Rest by Niall Ferguson

• Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall

Watch

• Platoon

• Ghosts of Rwanda: Frontline

• Comandante

• Hitler: The Rise of Evil

• All Quiet on the Western Front

Psychology

As students of psychology, you will have a chance to learn more about the fascinating human species. Be aware, however, the explanations are often complex, and there are no definitive answers in understanding the human mind and behaviour. At the core of the DP psychology course are the three different approaches to understanding behaviour and thinking; the biological approach, the cognitive approach and the sociocultural approach. 

As an introduction to some of the topics we cover, students can go online to TED Talks and listen to and reflect upon the Fascinating psych experiments playlist (9 talks). Additionally, the psychology podcasts that we recommend include Invisibilia, All In The Mind,  Hidden Brain, Revisionist History, (S2, S3), Work/Life and Brains On.

Any of the following are books you may want to read over the break to give you a taste of what we cover in Psychology:

• Patient HM A story of memory, madness and family secret by Luke Diitrich

• Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan

• Crazy Like Us by Ethan Waters

• The Noonday Demon by Andrew Solomon

• How the mind works by Steven Pinker

• 30-second psychology by Christian Jarret (Editor)

• Outliers: The story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

• The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge

• Strangers to Ourselves by Rachel Aviv

• Behave by Robert Sapolsky

Science is both a process for generating new knowledge and for explaining the world around us. Over the long vacation, maintain your interest in science by visiting the following quality science websites to read articles and watch science videos. From your reading, consider problems that could form the basis of an extended investigation in your science subjects.

• www.guardian.co.uk/science

• www.guardian.co.uk/science/series/the-newton-channel-science-videos

• www.bbc.co.uk/science

• www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/

Biology

Biology is the natural science which is concerned with the study of life and living things. Amongst other topics, we will look at cell biology, molecular biology, genetics, ecology, evolution and the human body.

In preparation for your Biology course, you can consolidate your existing Biology understandings by engaging in some holiday reading to maintain your curiosity. The following books and websites are particularly good:

• Creation, the origin of life / the future of life by Adam Rutherford, concerning what life is, where it came from and where it is going.

• Gut by Giulia Enders, which reveals the latest science on how much our digestive system has to offer.

• What Has Nature Ever Done for Us by Tony Juniper, which links life, the planet and economics.

• CrashCourse Biology channel on YouTube is a great online resource.

• The Biology Department also likes A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson which describes the people behind the major findings in modern science.

Chemistry

Chemistry is the central science in that it is said to be the bridge between the physical and life sciences. Chemistry is concerned about the behaviour of matter—the stuff which makes up our world—and how it interacts together. In preparation for your Chemistry course, we ask that you consolidate your existing chemistry learning, but also that you engage in some vacation reading to maintain your chemical curiosity. The following websites are particularly good: 

• Napoleon’s Buttons

• The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) have a great ‘Learn Chemistry’ site www.rsc.org/learn-chemistry and a host of other interesting areas to help satisfy your chemistry cravings. Download The Mole student magazines and have fun with the award winning interactive periodic table.

• The periodic table of videos: www.periodicvideos.com. This is easily the most enjoyable journey through the periodic table on the Internet. 

Finally, an excellent and enjoyable account of the wonderful world of molecules is contained in P.W. Atkins’ Molecules. You can read most of this as a preview on Google books by searching for ‘Google books Atkins Molecules.’

Sports, Exercise, and Health Science

Sports, Exercise, and Health Science is an applied science course that investigates human performance and its adaptations to training programs. We focus on acquiring the knowledge and necessary understanding to critically analyse athletic pursuits- be it swimmers, rugby players, or skateboarders. We begin the course with basic anatomy, which some students can find particularly challenging. To prepare yourself for this, having a general understanding of the scientific names for muscles and bones will be particularly useful. 

Social media is also a great place to find up-to-date research in Sport Science, and those listed below are great resources for this:

• Science for Sport (@scienceforsport)

• YLM Sports Science (@ylmsportscience)

• [P]Rehab (@theprehabguys)

• Evidence Based Movement (@evidencebasedmvmt)

• OPEX Fitness (@opexfitness)

• BBC sport (@bbcsport)

Additionally, the following books, videos, and websites will help guide any preparations: 

• BBCbitesize: a great resource to improve your general knowledge and understanding of the skeletal and muscular systems.

• Knowledge Encyclopedia: Human Body focuses on anatomy and physiology, two key components of this course and provides fantastic pre-reading information for the course.

• ESPN: Sport Science is an inquiry-based YouTube channel that explores current topics in sport science.

• Science for Sport is a website that provides articles, videos, and infographics on a variety of topics related to the field. 

• The Physical Educ8or has really useful YouTube videos that cover all core topics in the SEHS course. 

Finally, stay active with activities you love. Ask yourself questions while pursuing these activities, such as, what causes fatigue? What muscles am I using and how am I using them? What makes this skill particularly challenging? Or, what is actually happening to my body as I increase my fitness? Find answers to questions that genuinely intrigue you.

Physics

Physics is a science that makes meaning of physical phenomena by discovering laws and mathematical relationships from the outcomes of experimental investigations and careful observations. This course will allow you to investigate both the world of classical physics, its history and its development into the modern era of quantum physics and relativity. You will investigate the models that help us to explain the natural world from the smallest subatomic particles to the largest objects in the universe. You will also be able to make connections with modern technology and see how much of it is a result of the investigation into the strengths and limitations of these models.

There are many YouTube channels that give an accurate overview of the physics behind the headlines, clarify misconceptions and will introduce you to ideas you will encounter on the course. Those worth watching include: Veritasium, Minutephysics and Kurzgestagt.

The history of science is essential to appreciating the context in which scientists lived and how their work, and its results, were shaped by the times and places in which they lived. The Measure Of All Things by Ken Alder makes an excellent read and is also available as a three part documentary.

A good and brief introduction to many theories in physics can be found in the book 50 Physics Ideas You Really Need to Know by Joanne Baker.

A slightly more complex look at several key theories is given by Richard Feynman in his book, Six Easy Pieces.

Computer Science

Computer Science is the study of both theory and practical techniques that enable you to solve real-world problems with computers and design algorithms that open up new possibilities across many fields. Whether you're interested in virtual reality, animation, encryption, music, games, accelerated learning, or digital entrepreneurship - the same core tools and ways of thinking apply.

IB Computer Science is an ab initio subject, meaning no prior knowledge is required. All topics will be taught from beginner level. Students start the course with a wide range of programming experience - from complete novice to those already proficient in several languages. To help level the playing field and ensure a confident start, I recommend that students with little or no programming experience spend a few hours getting familiar with the basics of Python, the programming language we will use throughout the course.

An excellent starting point is the "Python Full Course for Beginners" by Mosh Hamedani, available on YouTube. The first 30 minutes of the course cover installing Python and writing simple programs. Completing the tasks in this first half hour of the video (which will take 2 to 3 hours in total) will be enough to prepare most beginners for the first month of IB Computer Science.

Design Technology

Design, alongside the development of new technologies, has significantly transformed society, impacting how we access information, adapt our environment, communicate, solve problems, and even how we work and live. Historically, materials were used for artefacts without a full understanding of their properties; however, in the modern world, designers must grasp the possibilities offered by science to realise the full potential of their designs.

Designing demands imagination and creativity. It is underpinned by a  substantial knowledge base and requires decision-making supported by research. Designers need to think "out of the box" for innovative solutions, whilst also thinking "in the box" to meet user needs.

Design occurs within a human context, often involving multidisciplinary teams and stakeholders. It is fundamentally a community of inquiry with shared beliefs and methodologies. Design is multidisciplinary, drawing from natural and social sciences, mathematics, and arts.

Design thinking involves the ability to understand users, challenge assumptions, redefine complex problems, and create innovative solutions that can be modelled and tested. It also involves utilising an experimental, inquiry-based approach to problem-solving, engaging with empathy, definition, ideation, prototyping and testing. During the course, students will develop a product design solution, which includes identifying a problem, designing, modelling, testing, and developing the solution by liaising with clients, target audiences, and end-users for evaluation.

To help you prepare for the IB Design Technology course, we suggest reading, watching documentaries and visits to websites like:

• http://designmuseum.org/design

• http://storyofstuff.org/movies/

• https://www.red-dot.org/

You could visit the National Design Centre in Singapore as well as the Red Dot Museum.

The CAD software we use is Autodesk Fusion 360. You can sign up with your gapps account and look online for tutorials.  You are also encouraged to read the book The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman.

Environmental Systems and Societies

Environmental Systems and Societies (ESS) is both a Group 3 Individuals and Societies and a Group 4 Experimental Sciences course that offers a coherent perspective of the interrelationships between the natural and human systems. This perspective is one that enables us to adopt informed personal responses and sustainable solutions to the wide range of pressing environmental issues that we have inevitably come to face. Attention is constantly drawn to our own relationship with the environment and the significance of choices and decisions we make in our own lives. In ESS, we evaluate the scientific, ethical,economic and socio-political aspects of issues on a local scale which at the same time directly link and apply to the global context.

These articles from the following sites should get you excited about connecting with current environmental issues , strategies and solutions we will be studying in the course:

• https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/ 

• https://wildshores.blogspot.com/ - Singapore context of life examples

• https://www.greenfacts.org/en/index.htm - easy to read short factual life examples 

All courses at the IB Diploma rely heavily on technology and all students are expected to have the TI-Nspire CXII graphing calculator. This model is available at the school shop on East Campus and students should bring this calculator, along with the cables and packaging, to their first Mathematics lesson. You will need your licence key and activation code to be able to install the TI software on your laptop.

What better way to prepare for your IB Diploma than reading about mathematics, listening to stories about mathematics and doing mathematics. Please dip into any of these online resources and enjoy your school holiday. 

We also understand that some of you might want to see what the first few weeks of your new course may look like in August. Our unit by unit resources for each of the four courses can be found here:  SLAA & SLAI & HLAA & HLAI

Dance

Watch as much dance as you can, live and on video. While watching observe the following:

• movements used

• use of space 

• use of dynamics force/energy 

• use of dancers (number, gender, how they work together) 

• use of music 

• use of costume or props 

• reflective comments on how each dance compares to dances or dance styles you are already familiar with.

Film

Increase the range and style of films you watch. Experiment with different genres and films from different eras. Start to read film theory (not just reviews) linked with the films you watch and keep a journal with your titles, dates, thoughts and impressions. A ‘Film Diary’ will become a great resource for you.

Here are some sites that might help discovering new films, especially world cinema.  

• Mr Scott’s list of suggested films

• http://www.bfi.org.uk/https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/best-movies/

• https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/100-greatest-world-cinema-films/

Also, begin to consider the process of filmmaking and how we read and produce film. There are several well-made practical film production ‘schools’ online. Here are a couple:

• RocketJump Film School

• Every Frame a Painting

You will be making films early, so any hands-on time with a camera/phone capturing characters or interesting compositions will be beneficial. Holidays are perfect for this type of thing.

Music

Practise your voice/instrument as much as you are able. Listen widely. Seek out live music. Actively discover some unfamiliar music. Record your impressions in a notebook. 

Watch the excellent video content on these YouTube channels: Nahre Sol, David Bennett Piano and Adam Neely.

Theatre

See as much theatre as you can wherever you are in the world.. If you have no access to live theatre, you can access productions and information about productions digitally through sites such as:

Digital Theatre Plus

edu.digitaltheatreplus.com 

Username: uwcseadrama

Password: building@8896

Dramaonline

dramaonlinelibrary.com

Username: uwcsea

Password: research

Keep a record of your impressions of both the acting and direction as well as design choices you can see. You can make a short audio or video record of your thoughts or write/type them.

Visual Arts

The summer presents an opportunity for foundational preparation for Visual Art. Begin by immersing yourself in the art world through visits to galleries and museums, looking at artworks, and observing various techniques and styles. Document your experiences of the world around you through photography, capturing details and compositions that inspire you. Dedicate time to developing your drawing and painting skills, experimenting with different mediums and techniques. Use a sketchbook to serve as your creative journal, where you can sketch, brainstorm ideas, and record observations. Consider how different materials can be utilised to express your unique artistic vision, and experiment with a diverse range of mediums. Enjoy your artwork and observations as you get into the habit of documenting and recording.

The University Advising Centre is looking forward to working with you as you make the transition into Grade 11. With this in mind, we share here a link to the UAC website which has a multitude of resources if you are interested. We have a robust set of university advising programming available throughout the IB Diploma Programme; here is a timeline. All new Grade 11 students will meet with their assigned University Advisor at the start of the new academic year to review their IB course selection package.