Course Description
The IB Geography course focuses on Geography as a multi disciplinary subject that asks fundamental questions about individuals and societies. Furthermore the Geography course focuses on the complex inter-relationships between human society and the physical environment. IB Geography students are required to develop a sense of place at a range of scales ranging from local to international and be able to evaluate and critically analyse spatial and temporal change.
The core topics offer the opportunity critically to analyse how physical environment determines the availability of resources and how these can be manipulated by human populations to satisfy needs and wants. Optional topics focus specifically on physical Geography so the course as a whole examines the interaction between physical and human Geography. The human side encompasses not just economic and political aspects but also social and cultural factors and these shape the landscape as well as the relationship between humans and that landscape.
Course content
Paper 1: The core (Patterns and change)
1. Populations in transition
2. Disparities in wealth and development
3. Patterns in environmental quality and sustainability
4. Patterns in resource consumption
Paper 2: Physical Geography Elements
1. Freshwater: issues and conflicts. Topics include drainage basins and flooding, management issues and strategies, competing demands for water
2. Oceans and their coastal margins. Topics include oceans and climate, value of oceans in terms of resources, geopolitics of oceans, coral reefs and mangroves
3. Hazards and disasters: risk assessment and response. Topics include characteristics of hazards, vulnerability of populations, risk and risk assessment, adjustment and response to hazards and disasters
Paper 3: Global Interactions (compulsory for Higher Level only)
1. Measuring global interactions
2. Changing space - the shrinking world
3. The processes and outcomes of global interactions
4. Global interactions at the local level
Assessment
External assessment
Standard level:
Paper 1 - students complete 4 short answer questions and one extended question - 45%
Paper 2 - students answer 2 of 7 structured questions based on stimulus material - 35%
Higher level:
Paper 1 - students complete 4 short answer questions and one extended question - 25%
Paper 2 - students answer 3 of 7 structured questions based on stimulus material - 30%
Paper 3 - Students answer 2 of 4 essay questions - 25%
Internal assessment
All students complete a written fieldwork report of 2500 words based on fieldwork carried out during the autumn term in the 1st year of the programme. This is worth 20% for all students.
International Baccalaureate Home
Updated March 2009