Options

HL & SL Options

Teachers need to prepare students for just one option which will be assessed in section B of the Paper 3 exam. The content of these new options broadly corresponds to options from the old guide. There are one or two new details, e.g. bioinformatics but most of the content is recognisable from the old guide.

SL students study three or four core topics and HL students study two or three extra topics.

The option topics are as follows:

Option A: Neurobiology & behaviour (15 / 25 hrs)

The core topics are neural development, the human brain and perception of stimuli.
The additional HL topics are innate and learned behaviour, neuropharmacology, and ethology.

Option B: Biotechnology & bioinformatics (15 / 25 hrs)

The core topics are micro-organisms in industry, biotechnology in agriculture and environmental protection.
The additional HL topics are medicine and bioinformatics.

Option C: Ecology & conservation (15 / 25 hrs)

The core topics are species, communities and ecosystems, impacts of humans and conservation of biodiversity.
The additional HL topics are population ecology and nutrient cycles (N & P)

Option D: Human physiology (15 / 25 hrs)

The core topics are human nutrition, digestion, the liver and the heart.
The additional HL topics are hormones and metabolism and transport of respiratory gases including control of breathing.

What will there be in this section?

During Spring of 2015 these options topics will be completed and they will contain the following:

Resources for teaching the new IB Biology Guide are organised by topic

Use the left hand menu to choose your topic.

Individual learning activities are listed once the topic is selected.

There are "planning pages" which relates the activities to the understandings and skills expected of students

There are also "lesson plans" which provide the activity details and worksheets etc.

An example of a planing page

An example of a lesson plan which give details of the activities for the lesson and resources for the teacher to use.

Selected Pages

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