Physics

=Physics in the IB Diploma Programme = Physics seeks to explain the natural world in terms of forces and the resulting energy transfers. Everything we observe in our daily lives can be understood in these terms, so that Physics is generally considered to be the most fundamental of the Experimental Sciences. All Science is best learned through a practical approach, so you can expect to spend 25% of your time on lab work.

Course Requirements
To successfully study Physics at IBDP level students will need to have done well in the Physics topics during earlier years, especially Grade 10 which is the IBDP preparation year. It is also extremely important that they are strong in Mathematics. To study IBDP Physics at Higher Level it is recommended that students performed at level 6 or 7 in Physics topics and in Mathematics during Grade 10.

Standard and Higher Levels
Standard level (SL) Physics is suitable for students who have interest and aptitude in the subject but do not necessarily intend to pursue science-based careers or college courses later. Higher level (HL) Physics is generally only recommended for students who wish to enter scientific or engineering careers in later life. HL Physics is conceptually more demanding than SL, and the increased content means that HL students at BIS will have less time for review and consolidation than SL students. The work carried out during Grade 11 will mostly be common to both HL and SL, so that students will be able to change their mind about which level to enter.

Topics Studied
Topics 1-8 (the Core topics) are studied by both SL and HL students. Topics 9-14 ( the AHL extension topics) are studied by HL students only. In addition, SL and HL students must study two Option topics. Some of the AHL extension material will be taken as an Option by SL students; this makes it easier to manage classes which have a mixture of HL and SL students. For topic titles see the Diploma Programme Course section below.



 Essential Resources
Resources to be issued to students :
 * **IB Physics Course Companion**. This is a text intended for extra support at home. It is not necessary to bring it to class.
 * **IB Physics Study Guide.** This is an abbreviated text containing essential content only. Students should bring this book to class.
 * **Practice in Physics**. This is a book of questions. This book will often be used for homework, but will also be used in class.Students should bring this book to class.
 * **IBDP Physics syllabus**. This details all of the content studied during the course. Students should have this with them in class so that they can check off each item covered.

Additional resources :
 * Several other Physics texts can be found in the school library or borrowed from the Science faculty area if required.
 * Many electronic resources are available on Student Access including animations and a Powerpoint presentation for each topic.

__Assessment and Grading __
76% of the IBDP grade will come from written examinations taken at the end of the course. There will be three examinations : Paper 1 is a multiple-choice examination on the Core and AHL topics; Paper 2 is a written answer examination on the Core and AHL topics; Paper 3 is a written answer examination on the Option topics. The total duration of examinations is 3 hours for SL and 4½ hours for HL. The remaining 24% of the IBDP grade will come from the Internal Assessment (IA) of lab work.

At the end of each semester students will receive an internal BIS semester grade. This grade will be based on the following :
 * Performance in the semester examination (20%).
 * Performance in end of topic tests (20%).
 * Levels attained in internal assessment labs (20%).
 * Effort and attainment in homework tasks, including meeting work deadlines (20%).
 * General effort, attitude and participation in class (20%).


 * Students will receive a mark out of 20 for each of the above criteria, making a total mark out of 100. Grades will then be assigned according to the following grade boundaries : **
 * = **Grade Boundaries (%)** ||= ** 0-19 ** ||= ** 20-39 ** ||= ** 40-49 ** ||= ** 50-59 ** ||= ** 60-69 ** ||= ** 70-79 ** ||= ** 80+ ** ||
 * = BIS Report Grade (max 7) ||=  1 ||=  2  ||=  3  ||= 4 ||= 5 ||= 6 ||= 7 ||
 * = GPA Contribution (max 4) ||=  0 ||=  0  ||=  0  ||= 1 ||= 2 ||= 3 ||= 4 ||

Pre-Diploma Course (Grade 10 preparation)
Grade 10 at BIS is intended to be an IB preparation year. Students will have studied two Physics topics, and most of the content will be from the IBDP Standard level course. They will also have carried out several practical investigations which will have been assessed according to IBDP Physics Internal Assessment criteria. Students should use their attainment in these topics to judge whether they are suitable for the IBDP Physics programme.

The following schedule is intended for mixed SL/HL classes. Classes containing only SL or only HL students would follow an amended schedule.

Semester 1 Content (Grade 11)

 * ~ Topic ||~ Hours ||~ HL/SL ||~ Notes ||
 * 1 Physics & Physical Measurement ||= 5 || HL and SL ||  ||
 * 2 Mechanics + 9.1 Projectile Motion ||= 19 || HL and SL || There will be a Topic Test covering Topics 1 & 2 ||
 * 3 Thermal Physics ||= 7 || HL and SL ||  ||
 * 4 Oscillations & Waves ||= 10 || HL and SL || There will be a Topic Test covering Topics 3 & 4 ||
 * Lab work ||= 25 || HL and SL ||  ||

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; COLOR: rgb(147,11,11)">Semester 2 Content (Grade 11)

 * ~ Topic ||~ Hours ||~ HL/SL ||~ Notes ||
 * 5 Electric Currents ||= 7 || HL and SL ||  ||
 * 6 Fields & Forces ||= 7 || HL and SL || There will be a Topic Test covering Topics 5 & 6 ||
 * 7 Atomic & Nuclear Physics ||= 9 || HL and SL ||  ||
 * 8 Energy, Power & Climate Change ||= 18 || HL and SL || There will be a Topic Test covering Topics 7 & 8 ||
 * Lab work ||= 25 || HL and SL ||  ||

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; COLOR: rgb(147,11,11)">Semester 3 Content (Grade 12 Semester 1)
HL students will have a Topic Test covering topics 9,10,11. SL students will have a test on Topic 11 only. || HL students will have a Topic Test covering topics 12,13,14. SL students will have a test on Topic 13 only. ||
 * ~ Topic ||~ Hours ||~ HL/SL ||~ Notes ||
 * 9 Motion in Fields ||= 8 || HL || SL students will be given revision or consolidation tasks, or possibly additional lab work during this time. ||
 * 10 Thermal Physics ||= 6 || HL || SL students will be given revision or consolidation tasks, or possibly additional lab work during this time. ||
 * 11 Wave Phenomena ||= 12 || HL (Option SL) || This is compulsory for HL students, and will be studied as an Option by SL students.
 * 12 Electromagnetic Induction ||= 6 || HL || SL students will be given revision or consolidation tasks, or possibly additional lab work during this time. ||
 * 13 Quantum Physics & Nuclear Physics ||= 15 || HL (Option SL) || This is compulsory for HL students, and will be studied as an Option by SL students. ||
 * 14 Digital Technology ||= 8 || HL || SL students will be given revision or consolidation tasks, or possibly additional lab work during this time.
 * Lab work ||= 13 || HL and/or SL ||  ||

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; COLOR: rgb(147,11,11)">Semester 4 Content (Grade 12 Semester 2)

 * ~ Topic ||~ Hours ||~ HL/SL ||~ Notes ||
 * Option E Astrophysics ||= 22 ||< HL and/or SL || SL students will already have studied two options, but may choose to study Astrophysics as an alternative. ||
 * Option J Particle Physics ||= 22 ||< HL || SL students will work on past paper questions during this time. ||
 * Revision, past paper work ||= 16 ||< HL and SL ||  ||