I’m a sophomore in Pre-IB classes and am planning to continue with IB in junior and senior year (although I’ve heard that apparently AP classes are just as good but require less work…). I’ve already taken biology and chemistry, and I’ll be done with physics by the end of this year.
So now I’m choosing my classes for next year. My school offers SL and HL in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. I’m leaning towards Chemistry because I find it the most interesting, but other people have said that it’s the most challenging of the three sciences. I’m also thinking about Physics especially since the teacher at my school is really good, but I don’t want to take it if the level of math involved is too complicated. I’m open to taking Biology, but I’m not a fan of dissections and am easily grossed out, so I don’t know if that’s the best class for me.
I would really appreciate it if people who have taken any of those classes would offer their opinion on their advantages or disadvantages. It would be helpful to know the amount of work each class requires and how difficult it is. Thanks!
I took SL chem last year, and found it pretty difficult, but that doesn’t hold much weight since my school does very badly on the IB tests (only 2 people in the class passed…). I think if you were good enough and interested in normal chem you would do fine. I am in SL Physics and it does not require you to have a high level of math (there is no calculus involved), but it does require you to be pretty good at algebra, manipulating equations and such. I think you would do just fine, especially since it sounds like you would be having a great teacher. As for bio, there is no reason to do it if you aren’t interested, which it kind of sounds like. I know that they do not do dissections at my school but I have not taken the class or know much about it so I don’t know if that is the norm at other places.
Overall, if you really do like chem the best, you should go for it!
oh I am in IB Bio SL right now, and there are no dissections or anything like that. We have to do labs for our IAs, but they’re mostly plant and enzyme based. Bio in SL isn’t difficult to understand per se, but it’s a lot of mugging and diagrams. It’s still pretty fun though, especially now that our syllabus is over and we watch the HL kids sweat it in class (hehe). My friend takes Chem SL and she said that if you have a good background in chem, it’s actually very easy (for the people in my school anyway). Physics SL is HARD. We recently had exams and the kids who gave it claim to have left 20 to 30 marks in a 120 mark paper. If you really want to go for chem, don’t hesitate though I’d think twice about physics. Hope that helps!
I’m in the Bio HL in my school and we haven’t done any dissections. Our labs are self-explorations based on the topics at hand, most of which are plant and enzyme based IAs as previously stated. The second year of the HL is basically just reviewing the SL topics and going more in-depth. All we do is go over the assessment statements, come up with our IA topics and conduct our own labs, and take tests. The IBO is against dissections for some reason; I can’t remember but I know my teacher went over it. No matter what science you take, you’ll get the chance to work with the other disciplines in the Group 4 project, which is when the Chem, Physics, and Bio kids get together and do one huge experiment.
Thank you all so much for your answers! I found them really helpful. I’m glad to know that Bio doesn’t involve dissections, but as biofio said above, there’s no reason to take the class if I’m not really interested in it. I’m kind of scared off from taking Physics anyway after not doing too well on a recent test, added to the fact that I’m not a big fan of math, so Chemistry sounds like the best option.
@hermionemalfoy
Sorry for the late response, but I’m an IB student graduating in two months. From my experience, and that of my friends, I would say go for Chem SL, the easiest SL science.
Bio SL is also fairly easy, but Chem SL is easier.
Whatever you do, avoid Physics SL at all costs.
@hermoinemalfoy They are very different courses - I would choose based on what you are most interested in studying, but also consider what you would like to do later on/what may be most useful to you in the future. In all honesty all IB SL sciences are challenging.
I would also have a glance at each of the syllabi (easily found online, for example just google "IB Chem SL syllabus), and see what subject has the most intriguing topics to you and choose based on that.