Resource to assist students plan and research their Science Extended Essay topic

1. IBDP Sciences Extended Essay Research and Planning Guidance
Use thisExtendedEssayResearch andPlanningGuide tostructure yourinitial ExtendedEssayresearchandrecord
the referencesyoumaychoose touse inthe final ExtendedEssayyousubmit.
Name:_________________ Supervisor:______________________
Subject: Biology Chemistry Physics ESS
Overviewof the Marking Criteria
Thisplanningsheetwillassistyouwithplanningthe sectionswhichwill contributeto CriteriaA, B and C.
Broad Topic: Briefly outline thesubjectspecific topic you havechosen to focusyourExtended Essay on
Why haveyou chosen this topic?
Practical/Experimental EE’s or SecondaryData Research Based EE’s
Essays that involve practical work carried out in the laboratory, or fieldwork, should include a clear and concise descriptio n of the
experimental procedure. Students that take an experimental approach must also consult secondary sources.
Students can base their essays on secondary data or information obtained from literature. Ideally they can use the data and
manipulate or analyse it in an original way.
Essays that simply restate facts or data taken directly from the sources are of little value
Will your extendedessaybe experimental orsecondary data research based?
ExperimentorSurvey based SecondaryData or Literature Researchbased
ProposedFocusedResearch Question: The research question should befocused and specific.It is best expressed in
the formof a question.Itshould bethe precisely formulated question thattheresearch will attemptto answer.
Approach: How will you find datato address/answeryourresearch question? Briefly describethe experimentor data
you will useto answeryourresearch question.
You may have to complete the rest of this guidance sheet with the relevant references before you can confirm what your approach to
answering the Research Question might be.

2. Initial Research and Planningyour Essay:
Students needto demonstrate withinthe essaythat the research hasbeen wellplanned. Theyshouldshowthat theyhave researched the
topic and selectedanappropriate subject approachto address the research question. Thisapplies bothto their literature research andto
practical data collection.
The source materials accessedshouldbe:
• clearlyrelevant andappropriate to the researchquestion
• effectivelyreferenced andincorporatedintothe bodyof the essayina waythat demonstratesthe student’s understanding
• predominantlyfrom acknowledgedscientific sources.
Reference reliable websitesanduse scientificsearchenginessuchasGoogle Scholar, Nature,Pubmed andPNAS to
searchfor relevantpapersrelatedtoyourtopic.Use keywordsrelatedtoyourtopictofindthe relevantpapers.By
readingthe abstract of the paper youshouldbe able todetermine if the paperisrelevanttoyourresearchquestion.
Background Informationand ScientificContextResearch
Finda minimumof 10 relevantreferencesthatgive backgroundandscientificcontextto yourresearchquestion.
Recordthe relevance of the reference,the website/url andkeyinformationfromthe referencebelow.These
referencescanlaterbe usedinyourfinal EE withthe correct APA referencing.
1. Title/Relevance of thisreference:
Website/url:
Keyinfo (copy diagram/keysentence orparagraph) fromthisreference:
2. Title/Relevance of thisreference:
Website/url:
Keyinfo(copydiagram/keysentence orparagraph) fromthisreference:
3. Title/Relevance of thisreference:
Website/url:
Keyinfo(copy diagram/keysentence orparagraph) fromthisreference:
4. Title/Relevance of thisreference:
Website/url:
Keyinfo(copydiagram/keysentence orparagraph) fromthisreference:
5. Title/Relevance of thisreference:
Website/url:
Keyinfo(copydiagram/key sentence orparagraph) fromthisreference:
6. Title/Relevance of thisreference:
Website/url:
Keyinfo(copydiagram/keysentence orparagraph) fromthisreference:
7. Title/Relevance of thisreference:
Website/url:
Keyinfo(copydiagram/keysentence orparagraph) fromthisreference:
8. Title/Relevance of thisreference:
Website/url:
Keyinfo(copydiagram/keysentence orparagraph) fromthisreference:

3. 9. Title/Relevance of thisreference:
Website/url:
Keyinfo(copydiagram/keysentence orparagraph) fromthisreference:
10. Title/Relevance of thisreference:
Website/url:
Keyinfo(copydiagram/keysentence orparagraph) fromthisreference:
Experimental Procedure or Data Based Research Procedure
Students must demonstrate that their chosen methods and materials are appropriate for addressingthe researchquestion. Theyshould
explaintheir rationale for choosing practical methods. Iftheyundertake experimentalwork, theymust include sufficient informationon their
methodologyfor the workto be repeated. If the studyis basedon the research ofsecondarydata, students needto ensure that their selection
of sources is sufficientlywide and reliable.
Finda minimumof 5 researchpapersthat investigateasimilarresearchquestiontoyours. Lookat theirmethodin
detail.Couldthismethodbe amendedtoansweryourresearch question?
If you have chosento doa data basedessay,tryto findexample literature reviewsforyourgeneral topic.Howhave
otherresearchersdetermined/decidedwhichsources/researchpapersthey usedintheirreview.How will you
determine/decide whichsourcesyouwill use inyouressayandhow will youmanipulatethe sources/datainan
original way.
1.Title/Relevance of thisreference:
Website/url:
Keyinfo(copydiagram/keysentence or paragraph) fromthisreference:
2. Title/Relevanceof thisreference:
Website/url:
Keyinfo(copydiagram/keysentence orparagraph) fromthisreference:
3. Title/Relevanceof thisreference:
Website/url:
Keyinfo(copydiagram/keysentence orparagraph) fromthisreference:
4. Title/Relevanceof thisreference:
Website/url:
Keyinfo(copydiagram/keysentence orparagraph) fromthisreference:
5. Title/Relevanceof thisreference:
Website/url:
Keyinfo(copydiagram/keysentence orparagraph) fromthisreference: