Blogs DP 1 A & B Week ending 9th November 2019

Group 1

Language & Literature   We continued our discussion of Arthur Miller’s play, ‘The Crucible’, and the global issues highlighted in the text. We tried delineating extracts and pairing them up with relevant non-literary texts of various types for our Individual Oral Assessment. HL students began analysing their literary text, Frankenstein, and talked about how Mary Shelly opened a debate about the nature of scientific progress and man’s desire to conquer natural forces that continues to haunt us till today. We looked at prominent figures in the field of science and technology and discussed how their speeches carry that debate forward.    Aranyani Swami DP 1A

Group 2

French SL:   We honed our listening skills in the target language followed by a discussion on homework. We read unfamiliar texts in the target language based on different types of bullying in schools and measures to be taken against it.    Ishaan Mohan  Gupta DP 1B

French Ab Initio:   We revised the daily routine, and did a reading task on the same. Towards the end of the week, we started to learn reflexive verbs.    Abhinav Gupta DP 1B

Spanish SL:   We completed the IGCSE specimen of listening papers to revise both the language and to get a feel for how a listening paper is structured. Throughout the following week, we read passages from our book and answered the reading comprehension questions that followed. Our main goal for the coming months will be to practice our comprehension of the language and prepare for the assessments.   Rashed DP 1B

Spanish Ab Initio:    We learned more about the ‘Well-Being’ unit and discussed different sports and their benefits. We learned various regular and irregular verbs related to the topic, ‘Healthy Lifestyle’. We further analysed the advantages and disadvantages of team sports and individual sports. We also talked about Individual Oral Assessments too.   Anish Jayesh Bhave DP 1A

German Ab Initio:   We practiced listening tasks which was carried forward as homework. We also practiced comprehension from our workbooks.   Kushaagra Kapoor DP 1B

Hindi:    During the last week, we completed our listening task sheet and practised for our listening assessment due in December.     Aditya Taneja DP 1A

Group 3

History:   Over the last few weeks we discussed the IAs and were taught the relevant format which we are to follow while completing our final IAs. We spoke in detail about several possible topics which we could move forward with. Towards the end we were tasked with completing a mini IA over our mid-term break. Furthermore, we discussed the ideological difference between CCP and KMT, while also researching in detail about Chiang Kai Shek and Sun Yat Sen.   Aryan Srivastava DP 1A

Business Management:   During the last two weeks, we completed our formative assessments for the ongoing unit. We then moved towards the completion of the first unit with detailed discussion on economies and diseconomies of scale. We further studied scales of operations and the various types of costs. After exploring the various case studies on internal and external growth, we analysed the graph of business cycle. We had a discussion on organizational planning business tools and watched videos related to the fishbone diagram and decision tree.    Kunal Rathi DP 1A

Economics:     Continuing our discussions on Government intervention in the free market through taxes and subsidies, we began with Externalities. During the two-day break, we read about the externalities of production and consumption in preparation for a short presentation. We have recently started discussions on the externalities of production, related graphs, and mechanisms used to curb the effects of externalities. We are taking an examination-related approach where we are covering concepts while discussing exam-style questions.    Mann  DP 1B

Psychology: Over the fortnight, we transitioned from our understanding of schemas to the effects of schemas and other suggestive information on memory. We watched a video detailing a study conducted by Loftus and Palmer, and subsequently discussed the openness of memory to suggestion. Additionally, we were also instructed to study the theory of reconstructive memory (from our book) and the studies that pertained to it.   Aryamoy Mitra DP 1A

Global Politics:    We continued to study about our unit on ‘Peace and Conflict’ where we discussed about the types, causes and methods of conflicts. We also wrote a short essay on ‘Conflict as a Competition of Power’. We worked on our HL presentations as well for TEA 1.   Tanmya Prasad DP 1A

Group 4

Chemistry:   We began with our new and last unit ‘Chemical Bonding’ for this term. To begin with the unit, old topics about the various types of bonds were revisited. During the two-days holiday, students covered sub-topics 4.1 and 4.2 themselves which mostly dealt with ground concepts. Part of the sub-unit 4.2, ‘Covalent Bonds’ was covered in the last class. Further, we moved on to the sub-topic 4.3 which introduced us to the structures of covalently bonded molecules based on VSEPR theory. We also worked on a practice sheet to test our knowledge.   Mann Aswal  DP 1B

Biology:   In the past few weeks, we took formative assessment for cell biology and shared our understanding on various cell organelles in the form of peer teaching. The HL students took summative assessment on Nucleic acids. We had discussions on various theories like Endosymbiont Theory, where we learnt how cell organelles such as the mitochondria was assimilated into ancient cells. We covered Mitosis and its various stages. We were assigned homework on topic 1.5. With this, we came to an end of our cell biology unit.   Anish Jayesh Bhave DP 1A

Physics:   We took another formative assessment on Projectile Motionto reinforce our understanding of the concept. In the following lesson, we discussed the marking scheme and reflected upon our performance. We then started our next unit, which is Thermal Physics. In the last class, we covered the basic concepts of the unit that have been done before. The class consisted of multiple practice questions and discussions for doubt clarification.   Mann Aswal  DP 1B

Computer Science:   We started with the unit, Computer Organization, where we learnt about the machine instruction cycle.  We were then divided into groups to explore different system components. Thereafter, we were introduced to the different number systems used in computing and how numbers, characters and colours are represented in a computer. We practiced conversion between these different number systems along with binary addition and subtraction. To enhance our understanding of binary subtraction, we researched about the one’s complement and two’s complement representation of binary numbers.    Kushaagra DP 1B

ESS:   In ESS we have finished the previous unit and have taken summative assessment for the same. We have started with another unit, Ecosystem and ecology, and have finished note making on ‘Species and Populations’ as well as ‘Communities and Ecosystem’.       Ananya Pandalai  DP 1A

Group 5

Mathematics AI (HL):   The students brushed up the unit of Functions. Thereafter, we had a formative assessment on the same. We also had an open session to clear our doubts for the upcoming summative. In the following week, we attempted a summative assessment on our first unit. Subsequently, we received another FA and an SA as well.     Dhruv Garg DP 1A

Mathematics AI (SL):    We continued working on functions and had an FA on Linear Functions. Then we started a new Unit namely Bivariate Data, wherein we did some exercises from our textbook on finding Mean, Median & Mode.    Tanmya Prasad DP 1A

Mathematics AA (SL/HL):   We started with Relations and functions this week. For the introduction, we did simple questions based on identification of a relation or a function. Following the exercise, we found their domain and range values and learnt how to write domain and range using mathematical notation. We understood how to find horizontal and vertical asymptotes for rational functions and how to write the behaviour of functions with or without technology. We calculated inverse of functions using coordinate geometry and variable exchange.   In HL, students discussed the concept of Mathematical Induction. We understood the meaning of conjecture or proposition and also roved general results using mathematical induction.  We practiced questions based on conjecture and mathematical induction to understand the methodology better.    Aryan Chowdhry DP 1B

Group 6

Theatre:   Over the past few weeks, we have been aiming at finishing our director’s notebook. Working with play texts require us to also replicate two scenes of our choice. We are working on the script and the characters simultaneously. The two scenes that each of us will be selecting, has to be presented in front of an audience and the feedback has to be included in our journals.   Arnav Sharma DP 1B

Visual Art:   We were introduced to our second unit, based on Mural art. The presentation shown gave us an idea about the variance in different types of mural. The process and techniques differ; we will learn more about the process in this unit.  We were told to research and find out about three different mural artists. We will be choosing one of each artist’s artwork and do a formal analysis subsequently.    Chahat Aneja  and Keerat Singh Shah DP 1B

Core

CAS:   This week, we completed our reflections on our visit to the Yamuna.    Sanjana Seth DP 1A

TOK 1A   We are now dwelling into how knowledge issues can create knowledge questions. The difference between claims and counter-claims are being practised by discussing various real-life situations. We are also unpacking knowledge framework of Ethics as Area of Knowledge.   Aryan Srivastava DP 1A

TOK 1B   In the last two weeks, we learnt how the TOK presentation is assessed as well as the necessary requirements for a successful presentation. Further, the feedback was given on the group presentations, with regard to the quality of writing and linking the AOKs. We also understood how to use different real-life situations to justify research questions in TOK presentations. We were then assigned tasks on grading of TOK essay examplars. We used the rubric to see if the essay satisfied the criteria, and got clarity on how to write a comprehensive piece.    Samarth Chopra  DP 1B