SL Detailed Scheme

A Detailed SL Scheme

It is a really nice moment when you begin to feel you have come to know a course well. The change to this new course was a bit jarring but I am now getting to the enjoyment phase when I feel I have a better handle on it. This is resulting in some detailed schemes and unit plans that I have tried out now. This page outlines the scheme and links to separate unit plans that I am building as I go this year.

Key features I want to have in my new scheme

  • Regular opportunities to see and work with possible exploration topics
  • A long spread out IA process that sees it grow in stages over about year
  • A little bit of mixing of topics
  • Coordinated focus on applications
  • Some well defined units with all the elements.

Overview

I have based this on a 62 week course accepting that much of that time will be lost to exams, trips, school events and public holidays. Here you can see an overview of the plan.

Internal assessment

This is always a tricky one and I definitely don't advocate a best strategy. I had some considerations I had to work towards.

  • I want to give students as much exposure to topics and ideas as possible to facilitate a range of possible ideas.
  • To help with managing workload across the DP, we have tried to put all our mathematics IA deadlines in the same place
  • I want to get to the idea very early and have students thinking about it for a whole. This will give me the opportunity to introduce tasks through year 1 that are exploration style or have the potential to be.
  • I want sufficient time to help students in class and sufficient time between stages to help keep students on track. (this year I have a class of 20 and it can be hard to manage turn around.

As such I have the following in place

  • Introducing the idea from the start in lessons and activities with little 10 minute sessions here and there making use of these  Internal Assessment pages. 
  • Week 26 - This when I will formally introduce it as an idea for students to be working on. It will be followed with a series of assignments from this  Internal Assessment Center - For students page
  • Week 36 - Following these assignments and some exposure to examples in the last unit, we will begin the process of pinning ideas down. The  My Exploration Ideas and  What do I need? assignments will come in to play here and I will have the summer break to peruse these and help steer students in productive directions.
  • Week 1 (Y2) - We will get properly stuck in to the  Planning phase here and subsequent assignments will ask students to make progress. There is then quite a long break before the first writing period to allow for students to do data collection as required and collect information and some of the tasks that need to spread out over longer periods of time.
  • Weeks 11 and 12 (Y2) - Various progress has been made on the IA since the planning week and now these two weeks are put a side for proper writing of first drafts. What follows is a mock exam period. The two weeks of revision allowed, also allow me to chase down missing work on the first draft.
  • Weeks 17 and 18 (Y2) - The mock exam period and the Christmas holidays create time for me to give detailed, formal feedback on the first drafts ahead of these 2 weeks when students will take action and complete final drafts. There is then time for me to do final marking before Internal school due dates for submission of these marks.

Unit 1 - Numbers & the world around us

This unit is right at the start of the first IB diploma year and designed as a short 'induction unit' that introduces students to the course. In practice we know there is likely to be movement between...

Unit 2 - Growth and Decay

In unit 2 we will get a good look at the ideas of linear and exponential growth through the study of arithmetic and geometric sequences. These are key ideas that link well with experiences that students...

Unit 3 - Relationships

In unit 3, we build on the work with sequences in unit 2. From arithmetic sequences to linear models we look at variables varying with a constant rate of change and the significance of that rate. We move...

Unit 4 - 1 Variable data

In unit 4 we get stuck in to the world of statistics and probability. This feels quite different mathematically than the previous units and there is an obviously strong focus on applications. As ever,...

Unit 5 - Hypothesis testing

Duration 6 weeks

After the IB1 exam session, we extend the statistics in to hypothesis testing. These are sophisticated ideas and so I felt it wise to keep them together as one unit. They also provide ample opportunity think about exploration ideas.

Unit 6 - Shape, space and optimisation

Duration 9 weeks

Volume, surface area and trigonometry all got looked at in the introduction to functions unit and so there will be a lot of review here as well as the perpendicular bisectors and Voronoi diagrams. the plan is also to extend from geometry problems modelled as functions and into optimisation as a concept.

Unit 7 - Calculus

By this stage, I have looked at lots of ideas behind calculus so this is not a cold start, but a necessary period to tick off some of the finer details and more difficult problems. Something always has to go last and it is always hard. Next year I'll try tackling calculus along the way...

...

All materials on this website are for the exclusive use of teachers and students at subscribing schools for the period of their subscription. Any unauthorised copying or posting of materials on other websites is an infringement of our copyright and could result in your account being blocked and legal action being taken against you.