The core themes have to be taught to higher level and standard level students. The core themes are examined in paper 1 which is one hour and 30 minutes long and has 60 marks. The paper consists of two sections; section A and Section B. Section A has four structured questions covering the four topics in the core themes; Populations in transition, disparities in wealth and development, patterns in environmental quality and sustainability and patterns in resource consumption. Section A is worth 45 marks. Section B has one 15 mark essay. Students have a choice of three essay titles to choose between. Paper 1 is worth 40% for standard level students and 25% for higher level students. The recommended teaching time for the core themes is 70 hours. To try and create some continuity and to develop students detailed knowledge of specific regions, the IB recommends that you concentrate most of your examples and case studies on three to five regions or countries. Although I try to use a variety of examples the majority of my case studies do come from the following regions:
The Middle East (migration, gender, resources)
China (population distribution, resources, gender, HEP, demographics, growth, environment)
UK (resources, environment)
India (ICT, offshoring/outsourcing, demographics, environment, gender)
However, I also use examples from Vietnam, El Salvador, The Sahel, Singapore, Brazil and the US
Core Themes: Patterns and Change
The core themes have to be taught to higher level and standard level students. The core themes are examined in paper 1 which is one hour and 30 minutes long and has 60 marks. The paper consists of two sections; section A and Section B. Section A has four structured questions covering the four topics in the core themes; Populations in transition, disparities in wealth and development, patterns in environmental quality and sustainability and patterns in resource consumption. Section A is worth 45 marks. Section B has one 15 mark essay. Students have a choice of three essay titles to choose between. Paper 1 is worth 40% for standard level students and 25% for higher level students. The recommended teaching time for the core themes is 70 hours. To try and create some continuity and to develop students detailed knowledge of specific regions, the IB recommends that you concentrate most of your examples and case studies on three to five regions or countries. Although I try to use a variety of examples the majority of my case studies do come from the following regions:
However, I also use examples from Vietnam, El Salvador, The Sahel, Singapore, Brazil and the US
IB Populations in Transition
IB Disparities in Wealth and Development
IB Patterns in Environmental Quality and Sustainability
IB Patterns in Resource Consumption