1.1 Essentials of the EE

The extended essay (EE) is a compulsory part of the DP core.
It is an independent research project of up to 4,000 words on a topic you choose, followed by a 500-word reflective statement.
Writing it builds your research skills, communication skills and critical thinking.
This guide covers an EE in geography.
A geography EE asks you to apply geographic skills, concepts and theories to an in-depth investigation, with particular weight on spatial patterns.
1. You can base it on primary data you collect yourself, secondary data such as census or climate records, or a mix of the two.
2. The IB treats primary and secondary approaches as equally acceptable.

Criterion	Name	Marks
A	Framework for the essay	6
B	Knowledge and understanding	6
C	Analysis and line of argument	6
D	Discussion and evaluation	8
E	Reflection	4
Total		30

Too broad	Focused
Tourism in mountain areas	The effect of visitor numbers on footpath erosion in [national park]
Urban heat islands	How land use affects surface temperature across [city]
Gentrification	Changes in land use and rents in [neighbourhood] since a new rail station opened
Refugee migration	Factors behind the changing pattern of refugee arrivals into [country] since [year]

Do	Don't
Choose a topic that is original, or a familiar topic studied in a place you know well	Follow or copy an existing EE investigation
Choose a topic where the outcome is not obvious	Choose a topic where the answer is obvious or already well documented
Choose a topic with a clear spatial focus	Choose a topic that really belongs to another subject, such as economics or biology
Choose a topic you can answer in 4,000 words and the time available	Choose a topic that is too simple or too big for the time available
Plan to collect and analyse the data yourself	Rely on group fieldwork or reuse data from your IA