ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS AND

SOCIETIES
ESS IA CRITERIA
 ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS AND SOCIETIES

• Paper 1 - 35 Marks (25%)

• Paper 2 - 65 Marks (50%)

• IA - 30 Marks (25%)

• Criteria terminology is explained in glossary of the ESS subject

guide
2
 INTERNAL ASSESSMENT
• Why
• to focus on a particular aspect of an ESS issue and to apply the results to a broader environmental and/or
societal context.

• When
• End of Year 1

• How
• Lab studies, Primary data, Secondary data, surveys

• Word limit
• 1500 – 2250

• Assessment :
• Best fit approach
• Effective communication and not grammar

3
 IDENTIFYING THE CONTEXT (CXT) – 6

5-6 :
• States a relevant, coherent and focused research question

• Discusses a relevant environmental issue (either global or

local) that provides the context for the research question

● Explains the connections between the environmental issue

(either local or global) and the research question (IB ESS
guide)
4
 CONTEXT & RESEARCH QUESTION (RQ)
Steps:
• Identify the context and Environmental issue (EI)

• A feasible RQ

• Think of research question and the focus area

• Formulate a focused research question

• Establish a connection between RQ and EI (must)

• Explain the context both at global and local level

• Show all knowledge about the EI and evidence of research

• Good place to add some maps and pictures

• What do you aim to achieve from the RQ 5

If possible avoid :

• If any, what if in RQ

• Too vague or too broad (>10 hrs) in the scope of the study

• Making general statements on the EI

** A clear RQ is one with the location of the study, dependent (what is

being measured) and independent (what is changing)

6
 SAMPLE RQ
• To what extent do different volumes of inorganic fertilizer impact the quality of water
from river and tap water measured via Ph level and dissolved oxygen?
• To what extent does vehicular pollution in xxxxxxx affect the soil quality in terms of its
pH, conductivity and heavy metal concentration?
• What is the impact of eutrophication in ________ on water quality of the ___________
• How does various concentrations of acidified water effect the gemination of _________
seeds
• How does the environment values taught in school effect the usage of plastics by the
school community
• To what extent does the GDP of a country influences its ecological foot print or in other
words how is economic growth related to environmental impact (IBESS annotated
work)
• What is the relationship between age and environmental value systems in Riyadh?
(IBESS annotated work)
7
 SAMPLE RQ
• To what extent do different volumes of inorganic fertilizer impact the quality of water
from river and tap water measured via Ph level and dissolved oxygen? (Vague and
broad)
• To what extent does vehicular pollution in xxxxxxx affect the soil quality in terms of its
pH, conductivity and heavy metal concentration? (looks broad but feasible)
• What is the impact of eutrophication in ________ on water quality of the ___________ (vague
but good when factors like pH, DO, BOD, Fertilizers etc are specified)
• How does various concentrations of acidified water effect the gemination of _________
seeds (good)
• How does the environment values taught in school effect the usage of plastics by the
school community (survey based good question)
• To what extent does the GDP of a country influences its ecological foot print or in other
words how is economic growth related to environmental impact (IBESS annotated
work) Vague and broad
• What is the relationship between age and environmental value systems in Riyadh?
(IBESS annotated work) Simple but focussed 8
 PLANNING (PL) - 6
5-6 :
● Designs a repeatable method appropriate to the research question that allows for the collection of
sufficient relevant data

● Justifies the choice of sampling strategy

● Describes the risk assessment and ethical considerations where applicable (IB ESS guide)

9
 PLANNING
• Repeatable method

• Variables not necessary (optional)

• Justification of the strategy

• Minimum 5 repeats or sets of data (best fit approach)

• Surveys must have a minimum of 6 – questions other than the personal information.

• 20 – 30 survey sets/ Secondary data are advisable (not a must)

• Verify the reliability and validity of secondary data

• Safety and ethical considerations must be mentioned. These include privacy issues for
surveys 10
 RESULTS, ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION (RAC) - 6

5-6 :
● Constructs diagrams, charts or graphs of all relevant quantitative and/or qualitative data
appropriately

● Analyses the data completely so that all relevant patterns are displayed

● Interprets trends, patterns or relationships in the data, so that a valid conclusion to the research
question is deduced (IB ESS guide)

11
 RESEARCH, ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION
• Quantity and Quality of the data

• Qualitative data only where relevant to RQ

• Raw data in the main body and not in appendix

• No graphs and charts without raw data

• Screen shots of online surveys with raw data should be legible

• Accuracy in calculations, units, graphs titles and axis labels, appropriate graphing techniques and
consistency in decimal places.

12
• Evidence of processing the data and the tools used

• Complexity in analysis does not get more marks if not clear

and relevant

• Most common techniques is mean, average, standard

deviation and diversity index.

13
 RESEARCH, ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION

• Correct tabulation with appropriate titles

• Notice the anomalies to explain in discussion

• Full calculations not mandatory, specify the calculation

• Surveys must include the tabulated responses (raw data),

example of questionnaire in appendix

14
• Conclusion must follow the analysis

• Conclusion should connect with the RQ

• Conclusion must relate to the data presented

• Conclusion not agreeing with RQ is possible, discuss the

reasons in discussion and evaluation

15
 DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION (DEV) - 6

5 -6 :
● Evaluates the conclusion in the context of the environmental issue

● Discusses the strengths, weakness and limitations with the method used

● Suggests modifications addressing one or more significant weaknesses with large effect and further
areas of research (IB ESS guide)

16
 DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION

• Separate conclusion and evaluation. Do not merge. Use

proper subheadings if needed
• Reference to context and RQ (must)

• Evaluate the conclusion in discussion

• Cite the secondary data where available to support or

reject your conclusion

17
• Evaluate the method for its strengths and limitations

• Use the reliability of the data as a strength

• Highlight the limitations and how it effected the data or conclusion and
identify the source of the limitation

• Suggest modifications related to limitations to the method to improve the

quality and reliability of the data.

• Areas of further research should be going beyond the method followed

18
 APPLICATIONS - 3

3:
● Justifies one potential application and/or solution
to the environmental issue that has been discussed
in the context, based on the findings of the study

● Evaluates relevant strengths, weaknesses and

limitations of the this solution (IB ESS guide)

19
 APPLICATIONS / SOLUTIONS

• A valid application connected to the EI and RQ

• Justification of the application

• Evaluation of application with strengths and limitations

20
 COMMUNICATION - 3

3:
●The report is structured and well organized

●The report makes consistent use of appropriate terminology

and is concise

●The report is logical and coherent (IB ESS guide)

21
 COMMUNICATION
• Structured presentation (follow the order)

• Clear headings and subheadings

• Appropriate usage of images and graphs

• Established connections within RAC and DEV

• No need of full calculations

• No credit to appendix contents

• Bibliography (MLA) is advised but not must. 22

 GENERAL DO’S AND DON’TS

• No more than 2250 words

• Do not stray from the EI and RQ

• To be concise and not descriptive

• Appropriate use of scientific terms, units etc.

• Use SI units only

• Citing sources is advised to avoid plagiarism

• Teacher comments matter! Give a justification why the mark has been given
23
 SAMPLE RQS’ / TOPICS WITH POTENTIAL TO GET HIGH SCORES

• To what extent does decaying organic matter contribute to

decreasing DO in lake _____ contributing to eutrophication?

• What is the impact of individual practices (transport/

consumption/ MSW/fossil fuels) in XXXXX on quality of air / water
/ soil in XXXXXX?

• Impact of agriculture/ tourism/ urbanization and loss of

biodiversity
24
• To what extent does Air act / Water act / Forest act/ Wildlife act /
Population policies help in control of _________ pollution / levels of
concentrations of pollutants / particulates / numbers of a particular
species/ extent of forests / loss of biodiversity

• Correlation between growth in GDP and consumption of resources

• Correlation between mortality / rising health costs and growing air

pollution in a particular country / countries

25
 STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

• No complex analysis required

• General methods include

• Average

• Range

• Mean

• Frequencies and counts (Chisquared)

• Measurements ( Graphs)

• Correlations 26
• Standard deviation ( Measure the spread of the data and helps
in plotting error bars
[Link] )
• [Link]
• [Link]

27
 STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
• Chisquared
([Link] )
• to study patterns of different variables (frequencies and counts)

• observed vs expected

• Corelations :
• Pearson’s corelation coefficient (Normal distribution of data)

([Link]

• Spearman’s rank corelation coefficient (not normal distribution of

data)
([Link]

• Helps to identify the positive or negative corelation between two

variables 28
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

• IB ESS guide

• [Link]

• Examiner training module (IBESS)

• [Link]

• Students of Beacon Academy

29