IB geography first assessment 2019
School chooses two of seven options at SL and three at HL: freshwater, oceans/coasts, extreme environments, hazards, leisure/tourism/sport, food/health, urban environments. Introductory lessons do not claim to teach every option.
SL: option Paper 1 90 min 35%, core Paper 2 75 min 40%, fieldwork 25%. HL: Paper 1 135 min 35%, Paper 2 75 min 25%, extension Paper 3 60 min 20%, fieldwork 20%.
Core global change · Population patterns and development
Distribution describes where people live; density relates population to area. Migration, fertility and mortality shape change.
Use comparable dates and units, and consider whether administrative boundaries hide variation.
Checked example
A region has 200,000 residents over 1,000 square kilometres: density = 200 per square kilometre.
Map settlement within the region before interpreting that average as a uniform concentration.
Limits and practice
Density is not population growth, and a country average does not show inequality within cities.
Explain push and pull factors as interacting conditions rather than universal rules about migrants.
What can the density value tell you on its own?
Answer: Average population per unit area, not the internal settlement pattern.
Core global change · Climate vulnerability and resource security
Exposure concerns people and assets in the hazard area; vulnerability concerns susceptibility to harm.
Resilience includes capacity to prepare, respond and recover; resource security concerns reliable access, not only total reserves.
Checked example
Compare housing quality, drainage, warning access and household resources before explaining different losses.
A flood barrier may reduce exposure locally but transfer water or risk elsewhere, so examine upstream and downstream effects.
Limits and practice
A hazard map alone cannot predict social losses.
Use observed impacts and capacity evidence; distinguish mitigation of climate change from adaptation to its effects.
Which factor most directly reduces vulnerability in the case?
Answer: Accessible warning and shelter systems for people at risk.
Selected options and fieldwork · Geographic inquiry and sampling
Choose a focused question, justified sites, repeated timings and a consistent counting method.
Systematic sampling offers a clear interval; stratified sampling can represent contrasting zones.
Checked example
Count at five measured distances using the same five-minute interval at comparable times. Plot distance against count and examine exceptions.
Note weather, junctions and events as competing explanations; keep original records and location evidence.
Limits and practice
Fieldwork is a supervised inquiry and written report, not a fabricated dataset or desk-only exam.
Teacher approves access and safety; a correlation does not prove distance alone caused the pattern.
Why repeat counts at comparable times?
Answer: To reduce the risk that timing rather than location explains the observed differences.
HL global interactions · Networks, development and global risks
Networks link places through flows of goods, people, capital and information. Powerful nodes can control access and value.
Global interaction can widen opportunities while concentrating dependence and risk.
Checked example
Trace a product through suppliers, production, transport and sales. Identify where a port closure delays inputs and who has alternative routes.
Compare resilience for a large firm with reserves and a small supplier dependent on one buyer.
Limits and practice
Do not equate connectedness with equal power or equal benefit.
HL synthesis should connect several extension themes and spatial scales, with a reasoned judgement rather than a list.
Which evidence best identifies a vulnerable supplier?
Answer: Dependence on one buyer or route with few affordable alternatives.