IB Geography

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course.

Course Description

Geography is a dynamic subject firmly grounded in the real world, and focusses on the interactions between individuals, societies and physical processes in both time and space. It seeks to identify trends and patterns in these interactions. It also investigates the way in which people adapt and respond to change, and evaluates actual and possible management strategies associated with such change. Geography describes and helps to explain the similarities and differences between different places, on a variety of scales and from different perspectives.

Geography as a subject is distinctive in its spatial dimension and occupies a middle ground between social or human sciences and natural sciences. The course integrates physical, environmental and human geography, and students acquire elements of both socio-economic and scientific methodologies. Geography takes advantage of its position to examine relevant concepts and ideas from a wide variety of disciplines, helping students develop life skills and have an appreciation of, and a respect for, alternative approaches, viewpoints and ideas.

The aims of the geography course at SL and HL are to enable students to:

develop an understanding of the dynamic interrelationships between people, places, spaces and the environment at different scales
develop a critical awareness and consider complexity thinking in the context of the nexus of geographic issues, including:
- acquiring an in-depth understanding of how geographic issues, or wicked problems, have been shaped by powerful human and physical processes
- synthesising diverse geographic knowledge in order to form viewpoints about how these issues could be resolved.
understand and evaluate the need for planning and sustainable development through the management of resources at varying scales.

Curriculum Model Overview

Component	Standard Level	Higher Level
Geographic themes (SL- two options; HL- three options) Freshwater Oceans and coastal margins Extreme environments Geophysical hazards Leisure, tourism and sport Food and health Urban environments	✓	✓
Core Geographic Perspectives - Global change Population distribution- changing population Global climate- vulnerability and resilience Global resource consumption and security	✓	✓
Higher level Geographic perspectives - Global interactions Power, places and networks Human development and diversity Global risks and resilience		✓
Internal Assessment Fieldwork, leading to one written report based on a fieldwork question, information collection and analysis with evaluation	✓	✓

Assessment at a glance – SL

Type of Assessment	Format of Assessment	Time (hours)	Weighting Final Grade (%)
*External*		2.75	75
Paper 1	Geographic themes (SL- two options) Each option has a structured question and one extended answer question from a choice of two.	1.5	35
Paper 2	Core Geographic Perspectives - Global change Three structured questions on each core unit. Infographic or visual stimulus, with structured questions. One extended answer question from a choice of two.	1.25	40
*Internal*		20	25
Fieldwork	One written report based on a fieldwork question from any suitable syllabus topic, information collection and analysis with evaluation.	20	25

Assessment at a glance – HL