International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Subject Brief
Sciences: Physics First assessment 2025
The Diploma Programme (DP) is a rigorous pre-university course of study designed for students in the 16 to 19 age range. It is a broad-based two-year course that aims to encourage students to be knowledgeable and inquiring, but also caring and compassionate. There is a strong emphasis on encouraging students to develop intercultural understanding, open‑mindedness, and the attitudes necessary for them to respect and evaluate a range of points of view. The course is presented as six academic areas enclosing a central core. Students study two modern languages (or a modern language and a classical language), a humanities or social science subject, an experimental science, mathematics and one of the creative arts. Instead of an arts subject, students can choose two subjects from another area. It is this comprehensive range of subjects that makes the Diploma Programme a demanding course of study designed to prepare students effectively for university entrance. In each of the academic areas students have flexibility in making their choices, which means they can choose subjects that particularly interest them and that they may wish to study further at university. Normally, three subjects (and not more than four) are taken at higher level (HL), and the others are taken at standard level (SL). The IB recommends 240 teaching hours for HL subjects and 150 hours for SL. Subjects at HL are studied in greater depth and breadth than at SL. In addition, three core elements—the extended essay, theory of knowledge and creativity, activity, service—are compulsory and central to the philosophy of the programme.
I. Course description and aims
As one of the three natural sciences in the IB Diploma Programme, physics is concerned with an attempt to understand the natural world; from determining the nature of the atom to finding patterns in the structure of the universe. It is the search for answers from how the universe exploded into life to the nature of time itself. Observations are essential to the very core of the subject. Models are developed to try to understand observations, and these themselves can become theories that attempt to explain the observations. Besides leading to a better understanding of the natural world, physics gives us the ability to alter our environments. DP physics enables students to constructively engage with topical scientific issues. Students examine scientific knowledge claims in a real-world context, fostering interest and curiosity. By exploring the subject, they develop understandings, skills and techniques which can be applied across their studies and beyond. Integral to the student experience of the DP physics course is the learning that takes place through scientific inquiry both in the classroom and the laboratory. Through the overarching theme of the nature of science, the course aims to enable students to: 1. develop conceptual understanding that allows connections to be made between different areas of the subject, and to other DP sciences subjects 2. acquire and apply a body of knowledge, methods, tools and techniques that characterize science 3. develop the ability to analyse, evaluate and synthesize scientific information and claims 4. develop the ability to approach unfamiliar situations with creativity and resilience 5. design and model solutions to local and global problems in a scientific context 6. develop an appreciation of the possibilities and limitations of science 7. develop technology skills in a scientific context © International Baccalaureate Organization, 2022 International Baccalaureate® | Baccalauréat International® | Bachillerato Internacional®