4/11/22, 11:40 PM DP Biology: Introduction to the extended essay

Introduction to the extended essay

The extended essay can be daunting. It is longer than most other pieces of work in the IB
program and the work is usually carried out by students on their own, over a long time span and
with less direct contact with a teacher than students normally experience in their IB lessons. The
worst student leave everything until the last minute and even the best students experience
problems at some point.

Meeting the supervisor at strategic points of the extended essay, with a clear focus for each
meeting can help both the student and supervisor to make effective use of their time.

The following eight steps are likely to be necessary in all extended essays.

Planning a short meeting at each step will help the supervisor to support the student in their work in a clearly
focussed way.

Choose the Area of Research - and write the Research Question

An Extended Essay proposal form for the student to complete, outlining the area of study and the research
question, is useful.

A good research question is one;

that asks something worth asking

that is answerable within 40 hours/4,000 words.
where it is clear what would count as relevant evidence (an experiment) for the question,
where it is possible to find such evidence (equipment / safety / ethics / time).

There is guidance on the IB Extended essay website about choosing an area of research, and this must be
biological.  There is a heavy penalty for students with a research question which is not deemed to be Biological.

Inappropriate research questions for the subject of registration will be capped to a maximum of 4 / 6 for criterion
A, 4/6 for criterion B, and 3/12 for criterion C. 

Conduct preliminary research

If relevant research to support the research question can be found in the first 24 hours then it is probably a good
research question.

This is the first challenge.

Keep records of any research right from the start.

It is best to record the title, date, author, web address, a quote / short summary and the publisher of any
sources used in the essay. This information will eventually make the bibliography.

Plan your extended essay pathway

Everyone follows their own pathway through the extended essay.

Arrange a first meeting to talk through your plan with your supervisor

and complete the first short reflection on the RPPF form.

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4/11/22, 11:40 PM DP Biology: Introduction to the extended essay

This could involve the following:

your motivation to do this particular essay

your skills - things that will be easy (hopefully)
things that you expect to find challenging / or may need help with.
critical analysis of your RQ,
how you will include of lab work
identify the resources required for the lab work.
predicted conclusions (if known)

Develop a good understanding of the research question and the topic.

The more background a student has in the subject, the better the chance he or she has of writing a good
extended essay.

Biological knowledge and understanding is demonstrated not only by the quantity of resources or what types of
sources are used, but more importantly how they are used.

Whenever possible candidates should try to base the support of their argument and response to the research
question on evidence from within the field of biology. Popular biology, television, newspaper and non-academic
Internet sources, should be, avoided or at least treated with a healthy amount of scepticism.

Good essays use biological theory and studies in a carefully planned manner by including only the most
relevant information

Complete outline notes as you research. You will be able to use the best of them in your essay later.

Organise a Reasoned Argument within the essay

Now you understand the topic you should be able to give an outline of how the various ideas need to be
organised & presented in a sequence, which shows how they are related to each other. Often the connection
between ideas is quite complex, and a variety of sequences are possible. You won't know all the answers and
this may change, but this outline plan will help you keep focused.

You have to try to anticipate what the reader would ask & what they need to be told.

" Because of the nature of the subject, students writing a biology extended essay must make a special effort to
maintain a reasoned, logical argument that focuses on the research question."

Arrange a second meeting to discuss your plan with your supervisor.

Carry out the investigation

Assessment Criterion C is based on the use of relevant biological evidence. In the best essays this involves a
sustained use of the evidence by the student to support the argument they are constructing. Application of
analytical and evaluative skills and the use of appropriate language are very important to the success of the
extended essay.

Write the first draft and submit it to your supervisor and write a second
reflection
The construction of the first draft of an extended essay is not easy. Choosing what to leave out is as important
as finding the most relevant information. The Extended essay must contain the following elements:

research question
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4/11/22, 11:40 PM DP Biology: Introduction to the extended essay

contents page & page numbers

introduction
a reasoned argument
supporting evidence from an investigation
conclusion
citations & a bibliography
word count

Shape the final Extended Essay and complete the final reflection
The IB extended essay guide gives detailed information on the structure and formal presentation of the essay. It
is recommended that key sections are clearly labelled to help the student ensure they have included the
required sections, which include the following:

Title page
Contents page
Introduction
Body (development/methods/results)
Discussion / Conclusions
References and bibliography
Appendices (optional)

Your supervisor will want to discuss your essay in a Viva voce.

Complete the third reflection in the RPPF form immediately after ths meeting.

Use criterion E as a reference.

Avoid common mistakes

The extended essay examiners report (May 2018) provides an overview of the common mistakes. These
include:

Title page doesn't contain all the elements, subject name, research question, and student code
No contents list or page numbers
Simplistic contents page
Awkward, verbose titles
Bibliographies in which the sources are not correctly formatted
Footnotes/references without page numbers
Essays longer than 4000 words. Note: word-counts should include footnotes.
Conclusions unrelated to the research question, or missing a summary of the analysis and its limitations.
The RPPF is not submitted, written in a different language, or longer than 500 words.

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