Environmental Systems and Societies
The History of IBESS:
- In 1970s a school-based subject, Marine Biology, was developed at UWC, Atlantic College, Wales which later evolved into the current group 4 course, Environmental Systems (EVS).
- Lack of contemporary issues in Geography and EVS courses led to development of the pilot course Ecosystems and Societies (Ecological Societies) late 1990s
- At a similar time IB was exploring the nature of ‘transdisciplinary’ courses through collaboration with Harvard Project Zero.
- Ecological Societies considered a good model for a transdisciplinary subject as it requires both scientific understanding and appreciation of socio-political perspectives.
- EVS left out of group 4 (2003-2006) review while Ecological Societies in pilot.
- Following the success of Ecological Societies pilot it was considered to be a realistic replacement and evolution of EVS under new name Environmental systems and societies (ES&S)
- IBESS gives Increased flexibility for students.
The main purpose of this course is to give you a coherent perspective on the interrelationships between ecosystems and societies. So what does this mean? It means that we won't just say "here is an environmental problem, isn't it terrible.." To really understand the causes and effects of environmental problems, and how people try to manage them, you will need to look at the issues from many angles (e.g. scientific, ethical, historical, economic, cultural and socio-political). This is called taking an 'holistic' approach. Don't believe people who tell you this is an easy subject, though, studying issues holistically is very complex. This is why the idea of a 'system' is so important in this course. Ecosystems function as a whole and the systems approach shows this. A systems approach is common to many humanities subjects too, like economics, geography, sociology and politics. Ecosystems and societies is a transdisciplinary subject (it draws on knowledge, methods and skills from different disciplines,) so the systems approach is a good way to link these all together.
Aims and Objectives
The IB ESS course will focus on the following topics:
- Systems and models (5 hours)
- The ecosystem (31 hours)
- Human population, carrying capacity and resource use (39 hours)
- Conservation and biodiversity (15 hours)
- Pollution management (18 hours)
- The issue of global warming (6 hours)
- Environmental value systems (6 hours)
Total teaching hours: 120 hours.
Topic’s 1 and 7 are taught as integral throughout the whole course. That means that although there are some specialized lessons, systems approach and values analysis is a huge part of this course. There is a large overlap with TOK, and students will develop analytical thinking skills, particularly in the following:
- Global Warming Issue
- Bias
- Issues of Knowledge
- Bjorn Lomborg
The aims of the ESS course are to:
- Development of Environmental Systems
- Meets Group 3 and 4 aims
- Environmental philosophies
- Ecological footprints
- Sustainability
- Analytical ecology
Assessment
Paper 1 –
Short answer Questions
30%
Paper 2 –
Resource book based question and two of five essay style questions
50%
|
|
20%
(30 hours) |
Benefits:
- Own model as transdisciplinary, group 3 / 4
- No prohibition with Biology
- Group 4 project is NOT mandatory
- Only core, no options
- 8 aims and 7 objectives of which scientific method is a small part
Textbooks and Resources
The key texts that the candidates will use are:
- IBESS Course Companion
- Planet Geography – Stephen Codrington
- Populations Resources and Development – Collins Educational
- Environmental Science – Resource books in the Library
Who Should Study This Course? / What Kind Of Student Are You?
- You don’t want to continue science beyond the end of school;
- You are vaguely interested in the environment;
- You have to take a Group 4 subject in IB but you don’t fancy the others;
- You are passionate about saving the world...
What is involved?
- It is half theory and half practical
- Some field work (so be prepared to get muddy at times)
- Some lab experiments
- You may take this with Geography or Biology and there is a good deal of overlap so you cover the material twice which helps you
- You may take Economics which looks at the same issues from another viewpoint
- Or with any other subject
Where does it get you?
- Recognised as an experimental science by universities
- Understand our environment and what we are doing to it
- Relevant to the world we try to live in.
- As your group 4, or group 3 or group 3 and 4 subject
- So it allows you to take two arts in group 6 or three languages in group 2 – increasing flexibility
