International Baccalaureate Group 4: Sciences

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Discipline

International Baccalaureate

Copyright

2023

Program Type

Core

Delivery Method

Blended (Print & Digital)

Imprint

Pearson Learning Group

New editions of our popular Biology, Chemistry and Physics student books, developed in cooperation with the IB.

Fully revised and in line with the new 2023 Subject Guides for first assessments in 2025, separate Standard Level and Higher Level print and digital student books ensure every student has the right content for their learning journey, at the right time.

Our IB Science resources are co-published with the International Baccalaureate, which means that they are fully aligned with the current IB curriculum and have passed the IB’s rigorous quality-assurance process.

biology ib — Co-published with the IB to fully align with the new 2023 Biology Subject Guide for first assessments in 2025, with separate Standard Level and Higher Level print and digital student books to ensure that every student has the right content for their learning journey, at the right time.

New and updated material with familiar features, including Nature of science, global applications, skills, TOK, key fact and ‘Challenge yourself’ boxes that signpost and extend key learning points and contexts.

Conceptual approach offers a flexible route through the syllabus, with topics linked to increase depth of understanding.

Separate Standard Level and Higher Level books offer flexibility and ensure that every student covers the right content.

Plain language with scientific terms highlighted in bold and explained.

Internal and external assessment support, with exercises and exam-style practice questions for revision and worked examples with solutions.

eBook resources including auto-marked quizzes, lab worksheets and activities.

TOK and skills integrated throughout, as well as in dedicated chapters.

Reviewed by the IB’s subject matter experts and written by expert IB teachers, examiners and curriculum specialists to follow the first teaching development schedule.

Check out Randy McGonegal (co-author) on this blog:

Changes to the IB DP Biology subject guide

View Sample  Download Get Ready to Teach Biology

chemistry ib — Co-published with the IB to fully align with the new 2023 Chemistry Subject Guide for first assessments in 2025, with separate Standard Level and Higher Level print and digital student books to ensure that every student has the right content for their learning journey, at the right time.

New and updated material with new and improved versions of familiar features, including Nature of science, global applications, skills, TOK, key fact and Challenge yourself boxes that signpost and extend key learning points and contexts.

Conceptual approach offers a flexible route through the syllabus, with topics linked to increase depth of understanding.

Separate Standard Level and Higher Level books offer flexibility and ensure that every student covers the right content.

Plain language with scientific terms highlighted in bold and explained.

Internal and external assessment support, with exercises and exam-style practice questions for revision and worked examples with solutions.

eBook resources including auto-marked quizzes, lab worksheets and activities.

TOK and skills integrated throughout, as well as in dedicated chapters.

Reviewed by the IB’s subject matter experts and written by expert IB teachers, examiners and curriculum specialists to follow the first teaching development schedule.

Check out our author blog posts!

Oliver Canning -

The integration of Nature of Science (NOS) and TOK into IB Chemistry

Catrin Brown -

Changes to the IB DP chemistry subject guide

View Sample Download Get Ready to Teach Chemistry

physics ib — Co-published with the IB to fully align with the new 2023 Physics Subject Guide for first assessments in 2025, with separate Standard Level and Higher Level print and digital student books to ensure that every student has the right content for their learning journey, at the right time.

New and updated material with new and improved versions of familiar features, including Nature of science, global applications, skills, TOK, key fact and Challenge yourself boxes that signpost and extend key learning points and contexts.

Conceptual approach offers a flexible route through the syllabus, with topics linked to increase depth of understanding.

Separate Standard Level and Higher Level books offer flexibility and ensure that every student covers the right content.

Plain language with scientific terms highlighted in bold and explained.

Internal and external assessment support, with exercises and exam-style practice questions for revision and worked examples with solutions.

eBook resources including auto-marked quizzes, lab worksheets and activities.

TOK and skills integrated throughout, as well as in dedicated chapters.

Reviewed by the IB’s subject matter experts and written by expert IB teachers, examiners and curriculum specialists to follow the first teaching development schedule.

View Sample  Download Get Ready to Teach Physics

environmental studies — Comprehensive coverage of all eight topics and the Higher Level lenses from the IB Environmental Systems and Societies (ESS) course.

Fully revised in line with the 2024 Subject Guide, this latest edition has been developed in cooperation with the IB.

Written by experienced IB teachers and examiners, it provides full coverage of all eight topics and the Higher Level lenses, with all new Higher Level content covered and labelled for clear differentiation.

Self-contained real-world examples put learning into context, encouraging critical thinking and building awareness of environmental issues.

Popular tried-and-tested feature boxes boost engagement in the IB classroom, helping learners to deepen their understanding of key themes and concepts.

Guiding Questions showing the links between new and previous knowledge, and connections between concepts and topics, encourage active investigation of the content covered.

Chapters dedicated to TOK, the Internal Assessment, the Extended Essay, and exam strategies, offer learners effective support with their assessments.

Exercises and practice questions, including past-paper questions, provide opportunities for formative and summative assessment.

eBook resources include answers, downloadable activities and auto-marked quizzes.

Exploring the innovative new IB Environmental Systems and Societies syllabus

View Sample FAQs Free teaching materials

Authors

Biology

William Ward

William Ward has spent 41 years teaching, spending 23 of those teaching IB Diploma Biology. He has led over 60 IB Biology workshops and has consulted with many schools in establishing IB curriculum or in improving IB instruction at existing IB schools.

Alan Damon

Alan Damon teaches Biology and Theory of Knowledge (ToK) in Paris at the Ecole Active Bilingue Jeannine Manuel. He is committed to integrating technology into the classroom and promoting critical thinking skills.

Randy McGonegal

Randy McGonegal has been teaching for 40 years, the last 28 as an IB Biology instructor. He has consulted on implementing and improving many IB programs in North America and has led over 90 IB workshops.

Chemistry

Catrin Brown

Catrin Brown teaches IB chemistry and biology at Lester Pearson United World College of the Pacific in Canada. Having taught international curricula since 1992, she has been involved in almost all aspects of IB curriculum and assessment, including International A'level (IA) moderation, leading teacher workshops and co-writing the current chemistry curriculum.

Mike Ford

Mike Ford is the High School Curriculum Coordinator at the International School of Lyon. He has an MA in Chemistry from Oxford University and 19 years’ experience teaching IB Chemistry Physics and ToK. He has been a Deputy Chief Examiner in Chemistry and led workshops throughout the world.

Oliver Canning

Oliver Canning teaches IB Chemistry and is the TOK Coordinator at TASIS England. In addition to nine years working in the IB Diploma programme, he has taught chemistry courses in English, American, and Spanish education systems. He is also a Course Leader for the educational charity Amala, which works with displaced youth. He was a contributing author to the upcoming chemistry curriculum as well as developing the accompanying Teacher Support Materials.

Andreas Economou

Andreas Economou teaches IB Chemistry and Pre-IB Physics and Chemistry at the American International School in Cyprus. He received his PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Manchester and after spending some time as a research and development chemist, he turned to his passion of teaching. He has been an examiner in IB Chemistry for the past 7 years.

Garth Irwin

Garth has taught IB Chemistry at Pearson College UWC, Canada since 2002. He has a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry and has co-authored several successful Pearson IB chemistry resources.

Physics

Chris Hamper

Since 1995 Chris Hamper has been teaching physics, climbing rocks and casting flies at the United World College (UWC) Red Cross Nordic situated on the west coast on Norway. Before that he was the head of physics at UWC Atlantic college where he studied the motion of waves while sitting on his surfboard.

Emma Mitchell

Emma Mitchell is the Academic Programme Leader at United World College (UWC) Red Cross Nordic, Norway, where she teaches Physics. She is an advocate of the IB’s approaches to teaching and learning and is also an IB Physics Consultant for InThinking. Emma recently completed doctoral research in Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment. She enjoys hill walking and playing guitar.

Environmental Systems and Societies

Andrew Davis

Andrew Davis is an IB examiner and workshop leader for ESS, and was a curriculum developer for the new 2024 syllabus. He has taught the subject for 15 years. Andrew worked in South East Asia for 10 years as part of the Royal Society’s Rainforest Research Programme, examining the effects of rainforest disturbance on insect communities. He has published many articles on his insect work and maintains an active interest in tropical ecology and conservation.

Garrett Nagle

Garrett Nagle has been an IB Examiner since 2004 and has been involved in over 50 textbooks and numerous articles. He has also been an IB Workshop Leader. He is Chairman of the Oxford Geographical Association.

Virtual Samples

biology 3rd edition — Biology, 3rd Edition

IB Biology Standard Level

IB Biology Higher Level

chemistry — Chemistry, 3rd Edition

IB Chemistry Standard Level

IB Chemistry Higher Level

physics — Physics, 3rd Edition

IB Physics Standard Level

IB Physics Higher Level

Sciences for the IB Diploma Programme: FAQS

Find your answers to your questions

Below get the answers to your questions on teaching the IB Diploma Programme Science Subject Guides, planning your courses and how Pearson Sciences for the IB Diploma Programme textbooks can support you.

Student Books

All of the textbooks come with additional digital resources such as lab worksheets and auto-marked quizzes. In addition, we have some sample unit plans that can be used to teach a topic and as examples for writing your own unit plans.

You can sign up to access the unit plans, plus supporting activities and lab skills worksheets here.

Yes, all of the textbooks are available. The eBooks are also live, complete with all enhanced digital content eg. lab worksheets and auto-marked quizzes.

Want to find out more? Contact your local representative.

The answers are available in the eBooks.

The lab resources can be found in the Resources area of the eBook.

You can access sample lab worksheets in our free lesson packs, available here.

Unit Planning

Emma Mitchell, one of the authors of Pearson Physics for the IB Diploma Programme, suggests doing 24 unit plans broken into the topics which gives you the ability to manipulate the order according to how you actually want to teach. Coming back to the HL topics at the end gives you the most amount of flexibility.

Teachers can think about the story they want to map out through the course. Step one would be to decide when you want to do the coursework. Perhaps in the early stages of the second year as that is the point at which students seem to have a good body of knowledge from which to ask research questions and know how to use the apparatus.

Get inspiration for unit planning in our free lesson packs, available here.

We are nowhere without the Guiding Questions. Look at these, and the Linking Questions, at the start and when trying to weave a narrative through the topics.

Experienced teachers will already know the links they like to draw between topics but you can also be a little more spontaneous. Emma Mitchell, one of the authors of Pearson Physics for the IB Diploma Programme, recommends building up the links as you go along. The Linking Questions are examples, they are there to help you come up with the connections you think you need.

We have some sample unit plans that can be used to teach a topic and as examples for writing your own unit plans.

You can sign up to access the unit plans, plus supporting activities and lab skills worksheets here.

When you start the course it might be a little intimidating because students don't quite know the topics the questions are linking to and the implications of the links. As you go through the course you will use Linking Questions more and more. Don't worry about them too much in the beginning. You can go back as you cover the linked topic. Linking Questions just add richness to the course as it develops. Students will begin to make richer connections between areas of the course.

Teachers can choose their own order, but there is no reason why the course can't be taught in the order it is in the Guide and the book. Once you have decided the sequence, you can decide what needs to be introduced before starting a topic.

Assessment support

Yes, the nature of the questions has not changed radically. So past exam paper questions are still very good teaching tools. Multiple choice questions are great for diagnostics and class discussions.

Our Student Books include formative and summative assessment opportunities, with exercises throughout and exam practice questions at the end of each chapter, in the style of IB exam papers, in addition to real past paper questions. Answers are available in the eBook.

Yes, for example, for enthalpy changes and rates, the questions very much reflect the sort of questions you could see in Paper 1B. The topics that lend themselves to experiments that lead to data analysis will have questions of this type.

Yes. You can find an overview of the Chemistry External Assessments here. (PDF)

Practicals

There is a time allocation for the total amount of practical work. Some topics are more experimental than other topics. For example, in Chemistry, kinetics and enthalpy are topics that will have quite a lot of practical work, but there is no restriction.

Bear in mind that when students start their Internal Assessment, you want them to have been exposed to a sufficient range of skills.

This depends on time and context, but where possible doing a demo live allows you to pace things so that you can address and answer questions, or ask questions of the students. So, where possible, doing a demonstration will allow freedom of pace.