This is a video activity about DNA and RNA, based on part 2 of the 2009 BBC documentary, episode 2 “Chemistry of Life”. Despite the vintage, the program is well produced and covers multiple teaching points from IB Biology units 2.6 and 2.7, in the current curriculum. It is also useful for AP and A-Level biology. I have used it with multiple classes and it holds student interest easily. **Obtaining the program: ** Links are included (both here and in a text file in the download) which allow the program to be watched directly given any internet connection. I personally recommend downloading the video to a local hard drive using one of the many browser add-ons available for this purpose; this prevents the lesson being interrupted if there is an internet outage or if the bandwidth is insufficient at your school. Also, video players like VLC allow speedup of the playback, which is not noticeable to students, but greatly facilitates fitting the activity in a single class period. It is also possible to order the program directly from the BBC. Recommendations for use of resource: Print out sufficient copies of the handout for all students, or one copy per group if you prefer group work. Students listen to the program and answer the questions. For the first few questions, when the relevant content is reached, I always bring this to their attention verbally, so they do not get “hypnotized” by the video and forget to answer the questions. At the end of class, collect the completed handouts and grade using the MS included in the download. Playable links and other useful information can be found in the text file accompanying the download. Note: the video does not seem to be on Youtube at the moment (late 2023).

This is a video activity about stem cells, based on a BBC Horizon program from 2009, specifically episode 14 entitled “Fix Me”. Despite the vintage, the program is well produced and covers multiple teaching points from IB Biology unit 1.1, “Introduction to Cells”, in the current curriculum. It is also useful for AP and A-Level biology. I have used it with multiple classes and it holds student interest easily. **Obtaining the program: ** Links are included in a text file in the download which allow the program to be watched directly given any internet connection. I personally recommend downloading the video to a local hard drive using one of the many browser add-ons available for this purpose; this prevents the lesson being interrupted if there is an internet outage or if the bandwidth is insufficient at your school. Also, video players like VLC allow speedup of the playback, which is not noticeable but facilitates fitting the activity in a single class period. It is also possible to order the program directly from the BBC. Recommendations for use of resource: Print out sufficient copies of the handout for all students, or one copy per group if you prefer group work. Students listen to the program and answer the questions. For the first few questions, when the relevant content is reached, I always bring it to their attention verbally, so they do not get “hypnotized” by the video and forget to answer the questions. At the end of class, collect the completed handouts and grade using the MS included in the download. Links and additional information: Refer to the text file included in the download.

This is an improved version of work by user alexjfirth, all credit to him. Suitable for grades 6-12, perhaps optimal for 9-10. Changes: -instructions added for matching section -name/date/class strip added at top -clarifying instructions added for task 1 and question d) iv). -top heading and borders enlarged -dreadful Comic Sans font eliminated and replaced with Times New Roman.

This resource is a work packet for IB Business Management Unit 3 (Accounting and Finance). It provides structured, scaffolded help for students in learning the structure of a balance sheet. This packet is the third in a series (ultimately 7 packets are intended) and is priced at £3.98. If you find this packet useful, please consider purchasing some of the others. The full series is described below: Packet 1: Break Even Analysis Packet 2: Profit & Loss Statement/Income Statement Packet 3: Balance Sheet Packet 4: Cash Flow Statement Packet 5: Investment Appraisal Packet 6: Sales Projection Packet 7: Production Planning/Inventory Management

This resource is a work packet for IB Business Management Unit 3 (Accounting and Finance). It provides structured, scaffolded help for students in learning the structure and formatting of the cash flow statement and cash flow forecast. This packet is the fourth in a series (ultimately 7 packets are intended) and is priced at £3.98. If you find this packet useful, please consider purchasing some of the others. The full series is described below: Packet 1: Break Even Analysis Packet 2: Profit & Loss Statement/Income Statement Packet 3: Balance Sheet Packet 4: Cash Flow Statement Packet 5: Investment Appraisal Packet 6: Sales Projection Packet 7: Production Planning/Inventory Management

This zip pack contains material for packet #7 of the Accounting and Finance packet series for IB Business Management , covering Production Planning/Inventory Management. Specific topics include: capacity utilization, productivity, cost to buy vs. cost to make, inventory control charts. This packet contains the following files: Accounting & Finance Packet 7.Production Planning & Inventory Mgmt.pdf This is basically a series of scaffolded worksheets for student use. They are designed to be printed as stapled sets and worked on paper by the student. Although using them in digital form is possible, it is not recommended; if students were to work and submit only the answers on separate paper, they would be deprived of most of the scaffolding for answers provided by the packet. The packet can be used summatively or formatively. Due to the large amount of content, if the packet is made a summative, I recommend that it be graded selectively (i.e., only mark a subset of pages or problems). The packet could also be done as group work, although in my opinion that would diminish its value as weaker students may not receive the structured instruction they need. Accounting & Finance Packet 7.Production Planning & Inventory Mgmt.mark scheme.pdf Self explanatory. I request that teachers do NOT make the digital file available to students. These days, digital resources tend to instantly spread everywhere on the Net, with the result that other teachers cannot use the packet for a summative any longer. As an alternative, the mark scheme can be shown on projector, or distributed to groups in paper form. Teachers’ Guide.rtf

This is a pair-based activity intended to teach students about covalent bonding and molecular structures, using the Molymod model building pieces. It is very carefully scaffolded, starting with very easy questions to build confidence, then by the end students are dealing with advanced concepts like isomerism and ring strain. Note that molymod kits are absolutely required (see Supplies below), however if your school does have these, it squeezes a tremendous amount of educational benefit out of them. In my opinion, over a 30-year teaching career this is one of the most effective resources I have ever created; I have used it with several classes in multiple countries and it never fails to have most students highly engaged, building molecules and racing to finish the questions. **Topics: ** covalent bonding, molecular structure, single vs. double vs. triple bonds, effect of bonding on molecular shape, VSEPR theory; isomerism; organic rings; ring strain Required supplies: Molymod kits sufficient for your class size. Each pair requires approximately 5 black carbon pieces, 5 red oxygen pieces, around 6 white hydrogen pieces; 2 blue nitrogen pieces; and 2 green chlorine (halogen) pieces. About eight of the gray plastic single bond pieces and 4 or so of the gray plastic double bond pieces are also needed. Having said that, if you are short of pieces you can simply use larger groups, although I don’t recommend this as it creates a “spectator effect” where some students might just be watching and not building. (Note: molymod kits are available from Amazon, Philip Harris, etc.) Periodic tables for each pair 60-80 min of class time Recommendations for use of resource: Before beginning this activity, students should already have a basic understanding of atomic structure (particle composition of different elements) and covalent bonding (so the idea that “full shell means stable” should be somewhat familiar to them). As mentioned, your school must have a sufficient supply of molymod kits for the class. Print out sufficient copies of the activity handout for each pair of students. It is designed to fit on 4 pages, so if you use double sided printing only two sheets per pair are required. Show the molymod kits to the students, point out that different elements are represented by different colors, and build a simple molecule like water as an example. Then stand back and let them get on with it. I have found that 60-80 minutes are sufficient for most pairs to complete all 4 pages. Assessment: A full mark scheme is provided; I personally assess it with 58 required points and 19 additional “bonus points” available. If your assessment scheme does not allow grades exceeding 100%, then you can simply make the bonus parts optional enrichment, or allow students attempting them to demonstrate answers to the class. Due to the hands-on nature of this activity I consider it part of their lab grade, even though no “wet” chemicals are used.

Covalently bound chemicals (i.e. molecules) can be depicted in many different ways, which is sometimes confusing for students: full electronic structures showing inner shells; Lewis structures; dot-cross structures; structural formulae as used in organic chemistry; and 3-d formulae which would be suitable for topics like VSEPR theory. This worksheet is designed to provide carefully scaffolded practice with ALL of these ways simultaneously; it is intended not only to familiarize students with the different methods, but also to show them how they interrelate. Indirectly, the worksheet also shows why the methods are appropriate in different situations; for example, full electronic structures are cumbersome for large molecules containing heavy atoms, and 2-d structural formulae are not good for showing 3-d features such as bond angles. Two versions of the worksheet are provided. The “complete” version has answers already in place for the first molecule, water. This is recommended for most classes since the completed example row shows what is required for the other rows. There is also a blank version supplied, since some teachers may prefer to work through the “water” row in class, with the students transcribing the structures as they appear. Lastly, a full mark scheme with point values is provided. Level: mainly intended for IB Chemistry, the worksheet is also suitable for A-Level or AP Chemistry students, although in the latter case teachers may need to explain full electronic structures and dot-cross structures first, since these methods do not seem to be common in US chemistry curricula. In addition, I have successfully used it with KS3 groups (grades 9-10), including IGCSE and MYP sets, although these students will naturally require a little more support and pre-teaching of the theory. Marking recommendations: 3 points for each correct structure with partial marks awarded for slightly defective answers. There are 99 marks available but I usually only require 75 with the extra available as “bonus points”, of course if your school’s assessment system does not allow this then it can be marked out of 99. Differentiation: for lower attaining groups difficult problems like the full electronic structure for bromomethane, can be X’d out before duplicating the worksheet.

This is a student activity for learning levels of biological organization. Suitable for grades 6-12, MS or HS biology, IB or AP biology courses. Spreadsheet has four tabs: 1) answers tab for checking 2) all levels mixed together, this covers the entire span from subatomic particles to the whole biosphere. 3) smaller levels, this could be used if you are doing biochemistry etc and want to leave the ecology material for later. 4) larger levels only, this is organismal level and larger, basically ecology level concepts like community, population etc. The tabs are optimized to print cleanly on one or two pages. Recommended use: print out desired number of sheets, then have students individually or in groups cut out the scrambled cards. Then they can sort the cards correctly into threes: name/picture, description and example. If desired they can paste the correct sets onto a separate sheet of paper and these can then be marked. This is an expanded version of a task by user Judyv.

The IB Business Management course places great emphasis on the six “CUEGIS” concepts: Change, Culture, Ethics, Globalization, Innovation, and Strategy. Accordingly, paper 2 of the official IB examination contains an entire section, section C, in which students must discuss two of the CUEGIS concepts with reference to an organization of their choice. The resulting essay represents a significant percentage of the student’s final IB grade for the course. This resource is a multipage packet specifically designed as structured preparation for the CUEGIS question. It explains the nature of the CUEGIS task, then guides students through the choice of an appropriate organization (in my opinion, an unwise choice can be costly in terms of exam results). It then suggests some basic search strategies to assist students in finding more information about their chosen organization. Last, there are several pages which students can use to make notes about the organization, organized according to the CUEGIS terms. Suggested use: duplicate and pass out 1 copy of packet to each student. Guide them through the first page, then allow class time to choose an organization. I recommend discussing the choice with individual students. After making a choice (some teachers advocate preparing more than one organization but in my opinion this is an unwise use of limited study time), give them additional class time to make notes; perhaps 2-3 hours. Float to keep them on task. At our school we use this resource in conjunction with Level7’s “50 CUEGIS essays” resource, which provides examples of well written essays and teaches the marking criteria in more detail.

This is a structured document intended to assist IB Business Management instructors with accurate marking of the internal assessment (IA) for the Business Management course at HL level. The document also allows instructor comments to be made for each criterion. The document can be used for internal marking purposes, or as a “Teacher Marking Comments Document” for upload to IBIS. To clarify, the IBO specifies that IAs uploaded to the IB Information System (IBIS) should be accompanied by a Teacher Marking Comments Document. The IB does not specify the exact nature of that document; it could be a simple grid or handwritten notes. However, this downloadable document contains all marking criteria and descriptors along with sufficient space for marking notes, so it can easily serve as a teacher marking comments document for the purpose of IBIS upload. For this intended use, teachers would print out a copy for each HL IA, fill in marks and comments for each criterion, append the completed document to the student’s IA, then upload a scanned version to IBIS when needed.

This classroom management resource is intended as a cute, humorous way to deter students from constantly interrupting lessons with requests to go to the bathroom. I have found it to be quite effective when used as designed. In my career, I have taught at multiple schools in several different countries, and I have noticed that certain schools (and not others) have a problem with students constantly asking to go to the bathroom during class. Of course, some of these requests are legitimate, but many of them are actually disguised forms of malingering; i.e. the student is just bored, or wants to use their cell phone. As a teacher, I do not want to refuse legitimate requests for obvious humanitarian reasons, but at the same time, I want to deter frivolous requests. Therefore, I devised the “bathroom coupon” system. The idea is that students are each issued one coupon per quarter; they can turn in the coupon to visit the bathroom with “no questions asked”. I don’t allow them to use it during an actual lesson, i.e. when content is being delivered, but only when the class is working on a worksheet, lab, etc. Also, I integrated the coupons with a preexisting “bonus credit” system such that if students don’t need their coupons, they can turn them in for five bonus points. Of course many variations on bonus point schemes are possible, but in my case I allowed students to accumulate bonus points in various ways, which would then be added to their grades for homework, worksheets, and labs at the end of the marking period, but never exams. (I think it is important to maintain the integrity of exams, so bonus work never counts for exam points in my classes, only for other forms of assessment.) If this is done, it gives the students an additional incentive to avoid bathroom visits during class, since they can save up the coupons to turn in for bonus points. In practice, I found that a “secondary market” in bathroom coupons developed, such that kids in great need of bonus points would acquire coupons (somehow) from other kids who didn’t need them; I allowed this since it served the overall purpose of limiting bathroom interruptions to the classes. The coupons themselves feature the humorous cats, which originated with an advertisement for kitty litter. Two forms of the coupons are provided: a .pdf document which is straightforward to print, and an Excel document so that the coupons can be edited according to your specific needs. One important note on printing the coupons: I recommend using an unusual patterned paper that is difficult to obtain, since otherwise kids might try to forge the coupons (think of them as a form of money; if they are too easy to copy, counterfeiters will emerge). In my case I used a very exotic scented stationery that was purchased in Thailand; the kids at my school in the USA never figured out where this paper came from or how to duplicate it!

This is a 2-page worksheet for students learning eukaryotic cell organelles. Page 1 is an animal cell with all important structures indicated by lines; students must name each structure AND briefly explain its function. Page 2 is the same but for plant cells. The worksheet is in .pdf format for easy printing, and a suggested mark scheme is included. Recommended for IB Biology, AP Biology, A-level Biology, IGCSE Biology.

The BBC Planet Earth series is an extremely high quality set of nature photography documentaries hosted by David Attenborough. This activity sheet is based on the Ice Worlds program, from Series 1 of Planet Earth (which was released in 2006, but the content is quite timeless). The questions focus on basic trophic interaction terminology, i.e. producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, etc., so it is advisable to pre-teach those terms. There is a bonus question on commensalism. Recommended use: print out 1 sheet for each student then play the documentary in class as they fill out the questions. This can also be done as a pair or group activity. A mark scheme is included with the download. Acquiring the video: there is a notepad file included with detailed links and instructions for getting the video; I would actually recommend purchasing the DVD as it is quite affordable and can be used in other ways. However, there are various free download options depending on location; if you are in the UK (or have a VPN set to a UK access point) you can use the BBC website. Personal note: this activity was run successfully with a class in Thailand. I selected the Ice Worlds program over the others because I wanted to show the Thai students an ecosystem that was as different as possible from their own, so they could have a sense of the enormous disparity in terrestrial ecosystems.

Mitosis is a fundamental process in eukaryotic biology. This lesson is designed to give students an extremely firm grasp of the mitotic process and its continuous nature, because they literally act out the sequence themselves, from memory, using pipe cleaners to represent chromosomes, and whiteboard markers to show the changing cell structures (centrosomes, membranes, etc) as the cell moves through the sequence. The quality of the performance can be summatively assessed, using the mark grid supplied as a separate document. **Curriculum Links: ** IB Biology 1.6 (Cell Division), 3.2 (Chromosomes), usable for IGCSE/MYP. Recommended supplies: A large set of different colored “pipe cleaners” (light steel wire covered with fuzz; if these are not available in your country, bread ties or narrow electrical wire can substitute). A class set of mini-whiteboards (the lesson can be run with one mini-whiteboard only, or even with paper if pencil is used to draw the cell structures, but paper is not recommended since the constant erasing is laborious). Whiteboard markers Class set of scissors Procedure: A very detailed procedure (5 pages) with diagrams is included in the download. Note: an Excel version of the mark grid is also included in case you want to modify the point values.

This is my powerpoint for an IB Chemistry Option D class at my school in Shanghai. It is extremely thorough, accurate and profusely illustrated, with many molecular models, and leavened with touches of humor. The graphics are designed to be used with a remote presenter. The content reflects the 2009 Option D curriculum, but should be adaptable to the new 2014 version. Teachers may adapt the material, however, I request that my name and school information be left in place. The second version is without the background image for printing purposes.

This resource is a work packet for IB Business Management Unit 3 (Accounting and Finance). It provides structured, scaffolded help for students in learning the concepts of break even analysis. This packet is the first of a series (ultimately 7 packets are intended) and is provided free of charge. If you find this packet useful, please consider purchasing some of the others. The full series is described below: Packet 1: Break Even Analysis Packet 2: Profit & Loss Statement/Income Statement Packet 3: Balance Sheet Packet 4: Cash Flow Statement Packet 5: Investment Appraisal Packet 6: Sales Projection Packet 7: Production Planning/Inventory Management

This is a little activity I drew up to fulfill the simulation and IT requirements for the IB Chemistry practical programme. It relates to topic 6 and specifically to the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. The website it refers to requires Java which may not work in some browsers, so it is advisable to test first. Keywords: KS4, IB Chemistry, Kinetics, Maxwell-Boltzmann, Topic 6, IT for Chemistry, Simulation

IB curricula stress command terms that students are expected to master on the official exams, and IB Business Studies is no exception. This resource consists of two worksheets for learning the easiest (Level I) command terms. Worksheet 1 gives a silly question and answer, then a business question and answer, for each term. Then the students have to write 3 examples of their own using unit 1 of their course. The worksheet was done for group work. Of course, it could be easily modified for any other unit, or done as an individual assignment. Worksheet 2 is a matching activity covering the same command terms, also set up for group work but could be done individually as well. There is a mark scheme for Worksheet 2 but not worksheet 1 (because answers will vary).