Extended Essay

One requirement of the International Baccalaureate® Diploma Programme core, the extended essay is an independent, self-directed piece of research, finishing with a 4,000-word paper.  According to the IB,  "the extended essay provides:

• practical preparation for undergraduate research
• an opportunity for students to investigate a topic of personal interest to them, which relates to one of the student's six DP subjects, or takes the interdisciplinary approach of a World Studies extended essay.

Through the research process for the extended essay, students develop skills in:

• formulating an appropriate research question
• engaging in a personal exploration of the topic
• communicating ideas
• developing an argument."

An extended essay in Biology:

• Must take the form of a research paper in which primary source data is collected and analyzed
• Must demonstrate argumentation, comparison, or the extraction of relevant information or data
• Is NOT a report or summary of discoveries around a topic  

EE Resources

• ​EE writing guide
• Overview of EE scoring​
• Types of field studies
• Designing a research question
• ​Potential field study variables
• Ecological sampling methods
• Measuring effect
• Maps of place
• Measurement uncertainty​
• ​​Raw data tables

• Descriptive statistics
  
• Data visualization
• Types of graphs
• Inferential statistics
• Scientific vs statistical hypothesis
• Selecting an inferential statistic
• Limitations of conclusions
• Writing critically
• Revision checklist