IB Environmental Systems & Societies SL (IB ESS)

IB Environmental Systems and Societies (ESS) is an interdisciplinary group 3 and group 4 IB standard level course.  Students can take ESS and have it count as either a group 3 or a group 4 course, or as both.  The program is grounded in both a scientific explanation of environmental systems and their functions and also explores the cultural, economic, political, and social interactions of societies within the environment.  The structure of the course includes outside class reading and note taking, laboratory investigations, and many student-centered learning activities.  

The course covers ecosystems and ecology, biodiversity and conservation, water and aquatic food production, soil systems and terrestrial food production, atmospheric systems, climate change and energy production, and human resource use.  Students will be guided through IA completion and be prepared for the external assessment at the conclusion of the course.