Oxford IB Diploma Programme: Environmental Systems and Societies Course Companion

Jill Rutherford is the Academic Director and founder of Ibicus International, one of the IBAEM regions leading training organizations. She has extensive experience teaching and consulting on IB Environmental Systems and Societies. Gillian Williams is Education Durector at Utahloy International School in Zengcheng, China. She has experience of teaching and examining IB ESS, TOK and Geogrpahy, and has been invoved in curriculum review for both ESS and TOK. Prior to her move to China, Gillian taught in Jordan, Tanzania, and Malaysia.

1. Foundations of environmental systems and societies ; 1.1 Environmental value systems ; 1.2 Systems and models ; 1.3 Energy and equilibria ; 1.4 Sustainability ; 1.5 Humans and pollution ; 2. Ecosystems and ecology ; 2.1 Species and populations ; 2.2 Communities and ecosystems ; 2.3 Flows of energy and matter ; 2.4 Biomes, zonation and succession ; 2.5 Investigating ecosystems ; 3. Biodiversity and conservation ; 3.1 An introduction to biodiversity ; 3.2 Origins of biodiversity ; 3.3 Threats to biodiversity ; 3.4 Conservation of biodiversity ; 4. Water, food production, systems and society ; 4.1 Introduction to water systems ; 4.2 Access to freshwater ; 4.3 Aquatic food production systems ; 4.4 Water pollution ; 5. Soil systems and society ; 5.1 Introduction to soil systems ; 5.2 Terrestrial food production systems ; 5.3 Soil degradation and conservation ; 6. Atmospheric systems and society ; 6.1 Introduction to the atmosphere ; 6.2 Stratospheric ozone ; 6.3 Photochemical smog ; 6.4 Acid deposition ; 7. Climate change and energy ; 7.1 Energy choices and security ; 7.2 Climate change - causes and impacts ; 7.3 Climate change - mitigation and adaptation ; 8. Human Systems and resource use ; 8.1 Human population dynamics ; 8.2 Resource use in society ; 8.3 Solid domestic waste ; 8.4 Human population carrying capacity ; 9. Internal Assessment ; 10. External Assessment ; 11. Extended Essay