What goes through your students' heads when you mention the IA?

They may not be Sherlock Holmes, or on a venture to uncover the structure of DNA, but your students will conduct some meaningful work in your setting and learn something new about physics (and probably about themselves). There's certainly no need for your students to panic. Nor should you, for that matter!

We recommend that you conduct the formal process of the individual investigation between April and July of Year 1, depending on the timing of your school's mock exams and Group 4 project. This gives you enough time to have covered at least a glimpse of the big hitters in experimental potential (e.g. Waves and  Electricity and magnetism). It will probably be the first IA that your students come across, which reduces the risk of deadline clash. Talk to your IB Coordinator to check that this works for them too.

If you've religiously been following the Think IB recommendations you might have done a Mini investigation around a single piece of equipment to get you and your class warmed up. Either way, here's a brief introductory video to the Individual investigation section of the site - a must-read accompaniment to the Subject Guide for first-time IB teachers and a good sanity check for experienced colleagues too.