Extended Essay Celebration

By Angie Girard It’s hard to imagine that just over 8 months ago the Grade 12 Diploma Candidates began their Extended Essay journey. As with any significant piece of work, the path was smooth sailing at times and challenging at others, but these amazing students persevered and can be proud of all that they have accomplished. The Extended Essay is the culmination of the Diploma Programme. Students begin their papers in May of Grade 11, finishing by mid-October of Grade 12. They choose topics related to one of the courses they’re currently studying. They then work with a supervisor to explore their topic and craft their essay. This year, students wrote their essays in English, Economics, Geography, History, Chemistry, Physics, Film, Theatre and World Studies. A journey like this requires a great support system, and we would like to take a moment to thank the supervisors, parents, and host parents who came along for the ride. On Wednesday after school, we were proud to celebrate the students’ outstanding accomplishment at the Extended Essay Extravaganza in the Dining Hall. There was cake, non-alcoholic cocktails, and a photobooth. Congratulations! Some sample essay topics include:

• English: How is the motif of the windigo used to portray the effects of trauma on the characters and the power of culture in Joseph Boyden’s Three Day Road?
• Economics: How did the BC Ferries’ price increase from 2013 – 2015 impacted the economic growth of Victoria, British Columbia?
• Geography: How can geography help us understand the spread of malaria in Southeast Asia?
• History: How did the role of German flying aces develop through the First World War?
• Chemistry: How can we use molar heat capacities and entropies of 1-alcohols in a homologous series to predict the molar heat capacity of larger 1-alcohols?
• Physics: what is the relationship is between the angular position of the rod and the acceleration of the base in an inverted pendulum?
• Film: How do “Hang the DJ” and “The Lobster” use visual film language to build dystopian worlds that question dichotomous understandings of romantic love?
• Theatre: To what extent does the 2018 Bard on the Beach production of As You Like It utilize Shakespeare original practices and how do diversions from those practices affect the audience’s engagement?
• World Studies (Health and development): Analyzing the fentanyl molecule as a contributor to the growing opioid overdose crisis and examining what chemical qualities give fentanyl the potential to spread to all areas of the global community according to the network disease diffusion model—a case study centering in the coastal regions of British Columbia, Canada.