IBDP Mathematics SL 2019-20

Internal Assessment

The Exploration

1

Important notes regarding the Exploration:

This is your only Internally Assessed piece of work for Standard Level Maths. It must be submitted or you will receive a grade of “N” for Standard Level Maths, which will mean that you will not be awarded your IB diploma.

Your exploration will be assessed by your teachers, against the criteria (pages 5-9). Explorations are externally moderated by examiners using the same assessment criteria.

The Exploration accounts for 20% of your final grade. The maximum mark is 20. A good exploration should be self-explanatory and easily understood by one of your

peers. Sample explorations will be shared and examined with you. You will collaborate in a peer assessment process.

Students may work on similar explorations. The teacher must be able to verify that all work is each student’s own.

Teachers will report on progress (S/N) via Schoolbox for each of the following due dates: Proposal – Week 1, Term 1 Draft – Week 6, Term 1* Final submission – Week 4, Term 2*

There will be 6 lessons during terms 1 and 2 to work on your Exploration in class. Organised students work on their Exploration between class sessions and are ready to work, and, to discuss progress with your teacher in class sessions and between classes.

* Exact dates to be confirmed

Useful Websites for Ideas

https://sites.google.com/a/gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg/east-hs-maths/explorations

http://www.math.lsa.umich.edu/courses/389/projects.html

http://ibmathsresources.com/maths-ia-maths-exploration-topics/

2

Lesson 1: Getting Started – Choosing a Topic

A good exploration theme is one that interests you and which allows you to access a sophisticated level of mathematics across and beyond one or more areas of the Mathematics SL course. You must submit your proposed topic to your teacher who will advise you on its suitability with a view to allowing you access to the higher achievement levels in each criterion. A topic that interests you will sustain your motivation as you work on your exploration over six months. A good topic also allows you to demonstrate authentic personal engagement more effectively.

Complete a THINK PAIR SHARE thinking routine.

Start by consider the following questions yourself:

What areas of the syllabus do I enjoy the most or perform the best in?

What are my strongest mathematical skills?

Do I prefer pure mathematics (investigating patterns or rules) or applied mathematics (problems and modelling of the real world)?

3

What have I seen, heard or read about that interests me and could have a link to mathematics?

What career do I eventually want to enter and what mathematics might link to this?

What are my own interests and hobbies and what mathematics might link to these?

Find a partner and discuss your questions. Can you add anything?

Share your ideas with a group of students. Give advice and listen to their suggestions.

Homework: Flesh out your ideas, do some research, talk to your family and friends.

Lesson 2:

Present your idea to a group and get their feedback. Go into detail about: why it is of interest to you where you might find data or how you might gather your own what sort of maths you expect to need what are the difficulties you might have, and, how you might resolve these NOW

Homework: Complete the Students Planning Document (page 5)NOTE: your planning document must be approved, signed by you and your teacher, in order for you to proceed knowing that you have a proposal and plan which will allow you to access the highest levels of achievement against all criteria.

4

EXPLORATION: Student Planning Document Name: _________________

PROPOSED TOPIC: (be as detailed and precise as possible; consider phrasing this as a research question)

What is the personal engagement factor? Why is it of interest to you? What do you hope to learn from this investigation?

Type of exploration. e.g., investigation (pure mathematics), modelling, real world application

Relevant Mathematics topics. e.g., geometry, calculus, trigonometry, probability, statistics etc.

Key mathematical concepts. e.g., rates of change, number sequences, curve fitting, modeling data

Key mathematical skills needed e.g., appropriate notation, terminology and setting out; graphing

5

polynomial functions; writing formal proofs; describing patterns as rules; applying technology

Mathematics from outside the Mathematics SL syllabus that you might use or need.

Technology and software that can help in the design and completion of the exploration.

Useful References (data sources, websites, articles, textbook references) already sourced.

Student Signature: ___________________ Teacher Signature: ___________________Lesson 3: Criteria and Exploration Checklist

6

7

8

9

10

11

Final ChecklistItem Yes Partly No

Academic Honesty: Is the work entirely yours?

Rationale: Have you explained the reason why you have chosen your topic?

Aim: Have you clearly stated the aim of your exploration, including how (mathematically) you will achieve your aim?

Introduction: Does your introduction include all necessary background information including key definitions and explanation about choice of data and mathematical methods. Your introduction should not include unnecessary information

Subheadings: have you included all relevant and necessary sub-headings in your report

Key Terms: Are all key terms and variables defined?

Notation and Terminology: Have you used accurate and appropriate mathematical notation, symbols and terminology throughout your exploration? (Calculator/computer notation must not be used)

Graphs, Tables and Diagrams: Have you given a title to all graphs, tables and diagrams? Have you included appropriate units? Do graphs include labelled axes with arrows?

Are formulae, graphs, tables and diagrams in the main body of the text? No full-page graphs. No separate appendices.

Technology: Have you explained how you used technology in your exploration?

Reflection: Have you explained what you will do before you do the mathematics and then reflected upon what can be seen/learned from the results of your mathematics (calculation, table, graph)? Reflection should appear throughout your exploration.

Level of Mathematics: Have you used mathematics that is commensurate with the SL course (or beyond)?

Are all calculations in your exploration correct with answers given to appropriate numbers of significant figures? Are accurate and appropriate units included?

Conclusion: Have you reflected on your finding at appropriate places in your exploration, particularly in your conclusion? Have you included limitations and possible extensions if you have time/more data in your conclusion?

Criteria: Have you assessed your work against the assessment criteria to see that you are achieving at the highest levels? Don’t submit with any doubts.

Bibliography and Referencing: Have you included an accurate bibliography? Have you also included in text referencing for each source at the appropriate place?

Presentation: Is your exploration between 6 to 12 pages long? Is your work at least 1.5 spaced, recommended font Arial 12, no graphs tables or calculations across page breaks? Does your exploration have a title? No name or candidate code should appear

Readability: Have you had someone else read your exploration to ensure clear and complete communication? Does it have flow and coherence? Does it read well?

12

AUTHENTICATION

Your drafts and final submissions must be uploaded to Managebac on or before due dates with submission candidate code file names. Only ONE draft can be commented on by your teacher.

PlagiarismThis includes copying quotes, information and ideas, directly or paraphrased, from books and websites.

CollusionThis includes working closely with another student such that the work between the two students is similar.

Ensuring academic honestyTo prevent plagiarism, you need to cite your sources correctly and include any sources in your bibliography. If you have questions on how to properly cite your sources, seek advice from your teacher or from the school librarian. To prevent collusion, you should discuss ideas with other students, but you should never giver another student your work, either in print or electronically.

TurnitinTo help detect plagiarism, some schools use the website turnitin.com.

RECOMMENDED TECHNOLOGY

Some examples of technology include:

any kind of calculators, the internet, data logging devices word processing packages, spreadsheets, graphics packages statistics packages or computer algebra packages.

www.geogebra.org Great software for working with graphs, diagrams, functions, spreadsheets, statistics, calculus and much, much more.

www.python.org A modern, easy-to-learn, programming language that is great for writing simulations. There are loads of tutorials available: just google “python tuts”.

www.fooplot.comAn online graph plotter with graphing capabilities similar to those of your graphical calculators.

www.wolframalpha.com A really powerful search / CAS engine. (For example, type “find antiderivative of f(x) = 3x” into the search bar.)

13