A Complete Guide to the IB Extended Essay in Biology

An IB Extended Essay in Biology is a 4,000-word thesis that a student of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is expected to submit as part of the curriculum. The IBDP course is unique in the sense that it provides students with an opportunity to go beyond the subjective knowledge of books and explore their inherent observatory and research skills with EE, TOK, and CAS. The EE is thus an integral part of the diploma, and getting a good score is essential to obtaining the diploma. The best thing about EE is that the student is free to choose a topic of their interest. Well, what makes it easy also kind of puts a responsibility on the students to do the best of their capability.

Besides everything, EE is an opportunity to test your passion for a subject and can even help you decide the future course of your career.

This article is for Biology enthusiasts who enjoy studying living organisms and their surroundings. Biology is indeed an exciting subject, with a vast number of research questions available to study and prepare a thesis upon.

Before your submarine is launched deep into the biological world, let’s quickly generate a few guidance notes that can help you write your extended essay in the domain of biology:

1. You Can’t Put Ocean’s Water In A Bucket:

Remember, your research is like a bucket in the ocean of prevailing Biology. No matter how much your heart wants to put it all together, your research can’t be unlimited. You have to understand that there are various components of Biology itself.

Let’s say you have a liking for studying plants. Then, there are various categories of plants—flowering and non-flowering- and further categories into them. You need to pick a specific area. This can be done by judging your interest in and passion for that particular topic.

Then, check out if original research can be conducted on the subject topic. Lastly, whether you will be able to gather resources that can substantiate your essay with facts to increase its authenticity.

No marks are given for beating around the bush in your essay. Although it is pretty tiring and challenging to devote four thousand words to your research, writing nonsense won’t fetch you scores either. Your ability to precisely and concretely write is totally dependent on how well-formed your research question is.

This can be the single most crucial task that can affect your grades so much. Some students take up a topic so general that they themselves aren’t clear about what they want to convey; in that case, their research seems vague. Similarly, quite a few pick up a question that is so difficult that they end up messing with their research badly.

Wise are the ones who pick up the specific research question that not only interests them but also has a specific and measurable outcome that can be quantitatively or experimentally put into words.

A good research question in Marine Biology can be ‘Living Indicators of Sea Pollution.’

Having a measurable and specific research question helps students make their research output-specific and not question-specific. This generates a well-structured thesis.

Students are expected to plan their research well. Planning involves the following steps:

• You need first to make a proposal for your research. This simply implies the purpose of your research. This can then be bifurcated into steps, methods, and timelines necessary to achieve that. Have a specific goal in mind and prepare a schedule to achieve it.
• The next step is to study the existing case studies on the subject matter to gain valuable insights into the concept. This can give a proper direction to your research, and you can pick helpful tips from the research that has already been conducted on the said concept.
• After that, collect the relevant data related to your field of study and present it in an impressive and well-analyzed manner for your mentor to assess. An informative project with useful findings is the best way to earn good grades.

1. Get Into The Skin Of The Essay:

Your essay is a reflection of your knowledge, skills, and analysis. So, you must keep in mind the structure of a good essay to obtain a perfect score.

• Prepare a title page citing your subject of research.
• Provide a synopsis of your research work.
• The next page must be devoted to the table of contents.
• Introduce your topic with a nice explanation and relevant examples.
• Provide the background information for the reasons for the research and the means adapted to conduct it.
• Results are to be presented in tabular form with graphs, etc.
• Include references to your research material.

1. Presentation Is Your Secret Ingredient To Success:

Nothing beats the power of a well-presented essay. You can put a thousand good words into your essay, but it may fail to capture the essence if it is not done correctly. Like how a chef makes an ordinary dish so appealing by garnishing it.

Now, the presentation here implies proper usage of formats, refined language, and well-proofed to make the essay impeccable.

1. Don’t Underestimate The Power Of Critical Feedback:

It’s quite impossible to review one’s work critically. As one is given the task of doing a work, one can’t also be the critical examiner of it. To critically examine an essay, you require feedback from a mentor or senior. The feedback can be obtained through a thorough discussion with the mentor, who can guide you through the interactions and help you make any required changes.

1. Reflection Makes Your Essay Shine:

After finishing your essay’s final draft, leave it for a while and then reflect upon it. This reflection will make your essay more robust and better. Reflection can lead to the discovery of useful insights that otherwise would not have been obtained.

So, this was your step-by-step guide to your EE in Biology.