The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IB MYP) can be a bit challenging for both teacher and student to initially come to terms with. It is a complex and largely open concept, yet this is part of what makes for an excellent programme. I personally have always favoured the MYP's ability to engage broad and varied topics so that students can learn a great deal more than conventional learning from traditional schools alone.
The MYP's wording on what IB MYP Science can and should include is the following:
MYP sciences courses usually include biology, chemistry and physics, but schools may develop and offer other sciences courses that meet the subject group’s aims and objectives.
Additional courses could include:
environmental sciences
life sciences
physical sciences
sport sciences
health sciences
earth sciences
I personally have made a great deal of teaching resources such as science articles and science research project templates that support learning different topics which could be of help to all teachers - including MYP teachers - the link is here.
The IB MYP includes in each unit factual questions, conceptual questions and debateable questions which is a great focus for learning through every unit. Beyond the guiding questions alone which can be built around a given topic, there are thinking skills aimed for specifically, interdisciplinary connections and a variety of assessments with different foci including experiments.
Even visuals are useful to help us engage with the IB MYP science process such as the one below. Link source: https://i-biology.net/myp/experimental-cycle/
Given the variety of this programme, I think it presents one of the best opportunities to teach international middle school students about unusual topics such as:
Astronomy and Astrophysics topics - like protostars, satellites and the Drake equation to name a few.
Earth Science - Growing deserts, Dinosaur fossils and Crystals for example.
Chemistry - 3D printing, Glow in the dark chemistry and metals as some great topics.
Physics - Momentum, Ionizing radiation and various electrical topics could be studied.
Biology - Extremophiles, Deep sea creatures and Genetic engineering would be excellent learning topics.
Health / Medical - Pacemakers, Vaccines, IV Fluids and the immune system are all great learning topics here too.
All of these and more, I hope teach to students currently - link here.
The point is that the IB MYP Sciences are a great tool to bring open and interested learning to students and to keep their curiosity alive. It is my profound hope that this tradition will continue to be embraced even though it may be challenging.
For those who already teach this, thank you for your efforts and I hope you find it enjoyable. For those about to tackle this adventure, good luck and enjoy the freedom it can bring, even with it's own difficulties. For parents and students, I hope that you find it a fun and productive time when learning through this unusual modern lens of science education.
Thanks for reading
Cheers and all the best
Oliver - The Teaching Astrophysicist
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