The International Baccalaureate (IB) 11 NS Physics course is a two-year program that can be taken to fulfill the requirements of the IB Diploma in Experimental Science Program or as a certified course. During the first year, the higher-level course has one term per day and includes a laboratory period every other day. Physics is the most fundamental of the experimental sciences, as it seeks to explain the universe from the smallest particles to the vast distances between galaxies. Despite the exciting and extraordinary development of ideas throughout its history, observations remain essential to the core of the subject.
Models are developed to try to understand observations, and they can become theories that attempt to explain them. Much of this information is drawn directly from the physics subject guide, available to all IB teachers in the program's resource center. Learn more about physics in a DP workshop for teachers. Both HL and SL are two-year courses (for Visual Arts & Theater).
MUSIC SL is taught every two years and is a one-year course. The internal evaluation includes documented laboratory experiments and reflections; the externally evaluated exams cover the principles of physics applied to the course content. There is a high probability that this first-year course will be taught concurrently with the AP Physics 1 course. The additional study will include optional topics such as mechanics, atomic and nuclear physics, energy, biomedical physics, historical physics, astrophysics, relativity and optics.
The curriculum during the second year of the course includes topics such as electricity and magnetism, waves, optics, thermodynamics and nuclear physics. As part of the IB Physics course, students will cover additional subjects of their choice from a list provided by their teacher (usually they don't choose). Both IB Physics SL and HL have the same basic requirements consisting of the same number of hours. To take the IB Physics exam, students must take both grades IB Physics HL 1 and SCI675 — IB Physics HL 2 in 11th & 12th grade.
This is a relatively fast-paced course that will prepare students for college-level physics courses.
