PHYSICS

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE

The International Baccalaureate Diploma ............................................. 3 The IB Physics Course.......................................................................... 4 Group 4 Curriculum Model, IA and Examinations ................................. 8 Physics Resources.............................................................................. 10 IB Due Dates and Required Forms ..................................................... 11

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 Mark.Headlee@uwc-usa.org Updated: March 17, 2009

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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.

Physics

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

Core SL & HL

AHL

HL = SL + AHL
CORE SL Depth AHL HL Depth

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.

d = depth: dSL = dHL C = content: C HL > CSL

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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, Newtons 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, Snells 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, Schrdinger, 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, Schrdinger 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, Wiens 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, Hubbles 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, spacetime, 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).

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Standard Level Topics by Percentage

Measurement 3% I.A. & G4P 26% = 24% Thermal 5%

Mechanics 11%

SHM & Waves 7%

Electricity 5% Option 2 10% Fields and Forces 5% Atomic & Nuclear 6%

Option 1 10%

Environmental 12%

Higher Level Topics by Percentage

Measurement 1 2% Mechanics 2 7% IA & G4P 25% = 24% Grade Thermal 3 3% Thermal 10 3% SHM & Waves 4 4% Waves 11 5% Electricity 5 3% EM Induction 12 3% Fields & Forces 6 3% Motion in Fields 9 3% Option 1 9% Environmental 7 8% Atomic & Nuclear 7 4% Quantum 13 6% Digital Technology 14 3%

Option 2 9%

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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 teachers 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.
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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 Paper Two 20% 36% 1.00 hours 2.25 hours MC questions on Core + AHL Written Paper on Core + AHL Two Options Practical work, moderated

Paper Three Internal Assessment

20% 24%

1.25 hours 60 hours

Standard Level Assessment

Paper One Paper Two Paper Three Internal Assessment 20% 32% 24% 24% 0.75 hours 1.25 hours 1.00 hours 40 hours MC questions on Core Written Paper on Core Two Options 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). College Physics by Serway and Faughn (Thomson, Brooks/Cole).

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IB PHYSICS DUE DATES AND REQUIRED FORMS

May Examination 15 March November Examination 15 September Send To Electronic IBNET No Type of Form Form Name

Examiner

Extended essay cover with supervisors report

(none)

10 April

10 October

IBCA

Yes

Internal assessment marks and predicted grades Experimental sciences practical scheme of work and samples of student work (selected from the two highest of each criterion D, DCP, CE).

IA/PG

20 April

20 October

Moderator

No

4/PSOW: both the student and the teacher are to sign this form. 4/IA cover sheet signed by teacher

May

November

IBCA

Yes

Teachers comments on the written exam, to arrive within 28 days of the exam

G2

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