IB Physics Overview

INTERNATIONAL

BACCALAUREATE

PHYSICS

The International Baccalaureate Diploma ... 3

The IB Physics Course... 4

Group 4 Curriculum Model, IA and Examinations ... 8

Physics Resources... 10

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NOT TO BE USED

IN WORKSHOPS OTHER THAN TRIPLE A LEARNING ONLINE PHYSICS WORKSHOP

Dr. Mark Headlee, Physics Department United World College USA Montezuma, NM 87731-0248

[email protected]

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE

DIPLOMA PROGRAMME

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is a rigorous pre-university course of studies, leading to examinations that meet the needs of highly motivated secondary school students between ages of 16 and 19 years. The IB Diploma Programmme is a comprehensive two-year curriculum that expresses a holistic view of the student, and which exposes students to two great traditions of learning: the humanities and the sciences. The curriculum is displayed in the shape of a hexagon with six academic areas surrounding the core.

Students select one subject from each of the six subject groups. At least three and not more than four are taken at higher level (HL); others are studied at standard level (SL). Candidates must meet three additional requirements. (1) They must take the interdisciplinary Theory of Knowledge course (which is designed to develop a coherent approach to learning, which transcends and unifies the academic areas). (2) They must prepare a 4000 word extended essay—an in depth investigation into one of their subject areas. (3) Students must participate in the creativity, action, and service requirements (CAS), which encourage them to be involved in artistic pursuits, sports and community service work.

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THE IB PHYSICS COURSE

Group 4 is the experimental sciences group of subjects, and this includes: biology, chemistry, physics and design technology. All courses are intended to be taught over a two-year period. Higher courses cover a minimum of 240 hours of class time, while standard courses cover a minimum of 150 hours of class time. For both standard and higher level courses, about 25% of class time is to be spent on practical work, including a group 4 project.

Higher Level Physics

Total teaching time in hours... 240 Standard Level Physics Total teaching time in hours ...150

Theory ... 180

Core (SL & HL)... 80

Additional HL... 55

Two Options (22 + 22 ≈ 45) ... 45

Internal Assessment (IA) ...60

Investigations...50

Group 4 Project...up to10 Theory...110

Core...80

Two Options (15 + 15) = ...30

Internal Assessment (IA)... 40

Investigations ... 30 Group 4 Project ... up to 10

The I.B. Physics Syllabus is a basic physics survey course. Students should be able to study IB physics with no physics background; only a knowledge of algebra and trigonometry is required. The CORE syllabus material is common to both SL and HL. Both levels study this material to the same depth. ADDITIONAL HIGHER LEVEL syllabus content expands the scope of the core. In

addition, all students must study two of a number of

optional topics. There are STANDARD LEVEL ONLY OPTIONS. This is because most of the material here is

common to the AHL material. There are OPTIONS FOR

SL AND HL, with higher level extension material. And

there are HIGHER LEVEL ONLY OPTIONS. A brief overview of the syllabus follows.

Core

SL & HL

AHL

HL = SL + AHL

d = depth: d

= d

C = content: C

> C

SYLLABUS OUTLINE

CORE TOPICS FOR STANDARD & HIGHER

PHYSICS AND PHYSICAL MEASUREMENT (range of magnitudes, SI units, errors and

uncertainties, graphs and gradients, vectors and scalars); MECHANICS (kinematics, equations of motion, graphs, Newton’s laws of motion, work, energy and power, momentum and uniform circular motion); THERMAL PHYSICS (temperature, heat and gas laws, the mole, Avogadro constant, specific and latent heat, the kinetic model of ideal gas); OSCILLATIONS AND WAVES (simple harmonic motion, forced oscillations and resonance, wave characteristics and properties, Snell’s law); ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM (voltage, current, resistance and circuits, emf, potential dividers); FIELDS AND FORCES (gravitational, electrical and magnetic); ATOMIC

AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS (the atom, radioactivity, half-life, nuclear reactions); and ENERGY, POWER AND CLIMATE CHANGE (power degradation and generation, world energy sources,

fossil fuel, non-fossil fuel, greenhouse effect and global warming). ADDITIONAL HIGHER TOPICS

MOTION IN FIELDS (projectile and orbital motion, gravitational field and energy, electric field

potential energy); THERMAL PHYSICS (thermodynamics and entropy); WAVE PHENOMENA (standing waves, Doppler effect, diffraction, resolution, polarization); ELECTROMAGNETIC

INDUCTION (induced emf, a.c., transmission of power); DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY (analogue

and digital information, data capture using charged coupled devices); and QUANTUM AND

NUCLEAR PHYSICS (photoelectric effect, de Broglie, atomic spectra, Schrödinger, mass

spectrometer, energy levels, radioactive decay). STANDARD LEVEL ONLY OPTIONS

SIGHT AND WAVE PHENOMENA (the human eye and sight, standing waves, Doppler effect,

diffraction, resolution, polarization); QUANTUM AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS (photoelectric effect, de Broglie hypothesis, atomic spectra and energy states, Schrödinger model, nuclear structure, radioactive decay); ANALOGUE AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY (analogue and digital signals, interference of light with CDs and DVDs, data capture with charged coupled devices, electronic with op-amps, the mobile-phone system); RELATIVITY AND PARTICLE

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PHYSICS (postulates of special relativity, time dilation, length contraction, elementary particles

and interactions, Feynman diagrams, quarks).

OPTIONS FOR BOTH SL AND HL WITH HL EXTENSIONS

ASTROPHYSICS (astronomical measurements, energy, Wien’s law, spectra, types of stars,

magnitudes, parallax, Cepheid variables, cosmology, Olbers’ paradox, the big bang, development of the universe), and the Astrophysics Option Higher Level Extension (including nucleosynthesis evolutionary path of stars, H-R diagram galaxies and the expanding universe, Hubble’s law);

COMMUNICATIONS (radio, AM and FM, bandwidth, sidebands, digital signals, analogue to

digital conversion, multiplexing, optic fibers, db, channels of communications, geostationary satellites), and the Communications Option Higher Level Extension (including electronics, amplifiers, Schmitt trigger, the mobile-phone system); ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES (the nature of light, dispersion, lasers, optical instruments and lenses, microscope and telescope, aberrations, two-source interference, diffraction grating), and the Electromagnetic Waves Option

Higher Level Extension (including x-ray spectrum and characteristics, x-ray diffraction).

HIGHER LEVEL ONLY OPTIONS

RELATIVITY (postulates, time dilation length contraction, twin paradox, velocity addition, mass

and energy, experimental evidence, momentum and energy, general relativity, equivalence, space-time, black holes and gravitational lensing); MEDICAL PHYSICS (the ear and hearing, medical imaging x-rays, ultrasound, NMR and lasers, radiation in medicine); PARTICLE PHYISCS (elementary particles and interactions, quantum numbers, spin, the Pauli exclusion principle, particle creation, Feynman diagrams, virtual particles, particle accelerators and detectors, the de Broglie wavelength, quarks, leptons and the standard model, experimental evidence for quarks and the standard model, cosmology and string theory).

Standard Level Topics by Percentage

Higher Level Topics by Percentage

3% Motion in Fields 9

3% Atomic & Nuclear 7

4% Quantum 13 6% Digital Technology 14 3% Environmental 7 8% Option 1 9% Option 2 9% IA & G4P 25% = 24% Grade

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GROUP 4 CURRICULUM MODEL

Standard & Higher Core Material Group 4 Project & Personal Skills Practical Work w/I.A. Requirements & ICT

Additional Higher Level SL Options SL & HL Options & HL Extensions HL Options Internal Assessment

Teachers set and assign a variety of investigations (traditionally known as ‘laboratory work’). There are five assessment criteria. Not all labs are appropriate to all criteria. A selection of student work is sent into the IB for moderation, where the teacher’s assessment of only the first three criteria is checked. The five criteria are: Design (D), Data Collection and Processing (DCP), Conclusion and Evaluation (CE), Manipulative Skills (MS), and Personal Skills (PS). The three criteria D, DCP and CE will each be assessed at least twice. PS will be assessed only once, and this will be during the group 4 project. MS will be assessed summatively over the whole course and the assessment should be based on a wide range of manipulative skills. Each of the assessment criteria can be separated into three aspects. Descriptors are provided to indicate what is expected in order to meet the requirements of a given aspect completely (c)

and partially (p). A description is also given for circumstances in which the requirements are not satisfied, not at all (n). A complete is awarded 2 marks, a partial 1 mark, and a not at all 0 marks. The maximum mark for each criterion is c + c + c or 6 marks. The first three criteria are marked at least twice (if more, then the two highest marks are used) so D, DCP and CE add up to a maximum of 36 marks; PS is taken once for a maximum of 6 marks as is MS for 6 marks. The grand total is then 48 marks for IA.

Examinations

After the two-year course of study, students take a comprehensive set of examinations. Their overall grade is based on three exam papers plus internal assessment. The IB grade scale is from the minimum of 1 to the maximum of 7, where 1 = very poor, 2 = poor, 3 = mediocre, 4 = satisfactory (passing), 5 = good , 6 = very good , 7 = excellent.

Higher Level Assessment

Paper One 20% 1.00 hours _{on Core + AHL} MC questions

Paper Two 36% 2.25 hours Written Paper

on Core + AHL

Paper Three 20% 1.25 hours Two Options

Internal

Assessment 24% 60 hours

Practical work, moderated

Standard Level Assessment

Paper One 20% 0.75 hours MC questions _{on Core}

Paper Two 32% 1.25 hours Written Paper

on Core

Paper Three 24% 1.00 hours Two Options

Internal

Assessment 24% 40 hours

Practical work, moderated

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I.B. PHYSICS RESOURCES

WORLD WIDE WEB

http://occ.ibo.org

I.B. Curriculum Development Center web site. Contains course guide, data booklet, teacher support material, resources, discussion forums, etc. There is also a link to the IB Store.

http://store.ibo.org

You can purchase past exam papers, mark-schemes, and an exam question database here.

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html

Not IB specific but it is an excellent network of concept maps for physics.

JOURNALS

The Physics Teacher

American journal for high school physics teachers from the American Association of Physics Teachers. Excellent resource of teaching ideas and for the occasional extended essay ideas. ISSN: 0031-921x. See their web site: http://aapt.org.

Physics Education

Bi-monthly British journal for physics teachers; excellent resource for extended essays and teaching ideas. ISSN: 0031-9120; http://www.iop.org.

TEXTBOOKS (see www.ib-source.com)

Physics: for use with International Baccalaureate by Kerr & Ruth. (IBID Press, 3rd

edition).

Physics for the IB Diploma: Standard and Higher Levels by Tim Kirk. (2nd

edition, Oxford University Press). This is an IB Study Guide book.

Physics: A Text for the International Baccalaureate Program by K. A Tsokos. (5th

edition, Cambridge University Press).

IB Diploma Programme: Physics Course Companion by Tim Kirk (Oxford University Press). Standard Level Physics by Chris Hamper and Keith Ord (Heinemann International).

Physics: Science for Use with the IB Diploma (not yet) published by Nelson Thornes.

Student Guide to Internal Assessment in Physics (5 volumes and CD from www.ibid.com.au). Physics: Algebra/Trig by Eugene Hecht (Brooks/Cole Publishing Company).

Physics by Douglas Giancoli (Prentice Hall).

I B P H Y S I C S D U E D A T E S

A N D R E Q U I R E D F O R M S

IBNET Type of Form Form Name

15 March 15 September Examiner No Extended essay cover with supervisors

report

(none)

10 April 10 October IBCA Yes Internal assessment

marks and predicted grades

IA/PG

20 April 20 October Moderator No Experimental _sciences practical scheme of work

and samples of student work (selected from the two highest

of each criterion D, DCP, CE). 4/PSOW: both the student and the teacher are to sign this form. 4/IA cover sheet signed by teacher

May November IBCA Yes Teacher’s comments on the written exam, to arrive within 28 days of the exam G2