IB Extended Essay Extravaganza

January 24, 2020

Academics

GNS

By Angie Girard

It’s hard to imagine that just over eight 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 to the Diploma Programme as the Exhibition is to the Primary Years Programme and the Personal Project is to the Middle Years Programme. The essay is an independent research paper that students begin in May of Grade 11 and complete by mid-October of Grade 12. Students choose a topic related to one of the courses they are currently studying and work with one of our GNS teachers as their supervisor throughout the process. This year, students wrote their essays in 11 different subjects: English, Economics, Geography, Global Politics, History, Biology, Chemistry, Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, and World Studies. A journey such as this requires a great support system and we would like to take a moment to thank the supervisors, parents, and host parents. On Thursday after school, we were proud to celebrate the students’ outstanding accomplishment at the Extended Essay Extravaganza in the Dining Hall. Congratulations! Sample topics from this year in each subject area: English: How does McEwan portray love and relationships in the face of societal mores of the times in Atonement and On Chesil Beach?

Economics: To what extent does the policy of increasing Beijing’s minimum wage in 2018 impact the employment in Chinese low-income groups?

Geography: What is the role of climate change in relation to the prevalence and transmission of schistosomiasis in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Global Politics: How did social media enable Donald Trump’s 2016 election as President of the United States?

History: To what extent did Cuba’s intervention in Angola from 1975-1982 benefit Cuba?

Biology: Are adverse childhood experiences associated with a higher burden of chronic disease and health risk behaviours later in adulthood in Lillooet, BC?

Chemistry: How do the presence of ZnO and different pH levels in methyl orange impact photodegradation?

Music: To what extent did the last movement of Handel’s “Suite No. 7 in G minor for Harpsichord” published in 1720 influence Halvorsen’s “Passacaglia Op. 20, No. 2” composed 174 years later?

Theatre: How and in what ways can a director use Brechtian techniques to stage moments of magic realism within the play Angels in America?

Visual Arts: What is the relationship between form and function in architectural forms of deconstructive and biomimicry architectural styles?

World Studies: What were the impacts of the major strategies implemented by the Chinese Government to mitigate pollution in the decade leading up to the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games?