IB Environmental systems and societies (ESS) SL Internal Assessment Example

You set up a clear, focused environmental investigation with a named river, a defined spatial variable, and a measurable dependent variable.

Your background research gives useful local and global context for water pollution and eutrophication.

The inquiry is sufficiently grounded in the issue being studied, and the map/site description supports the practical context.

The rationale overstates what the chosen measure can prove, because BOD does not by itself identify nutrient contamination or isolate the farm as the source.

Some background claims are scientifically imprecise, which weakens the precision of the inquiry framing.

The research question is focused, but the explanatory context needs tighter alignment between the variable chosen and the pollution mechanism being investigated.

You identify several relevant environmental management strategies and show awareness of how pollution is addressed in practice.

You explain a real tension between stakeholder perspectives, especially the trade-off between cleaner water and higher costs for polluters.

Your discussion shows breadth by linking the issue to both policy tools and public/environmental benefits.

The strategy is only loosely connected to the specific river/farm issue being investigated, because the main example focuses on sewage management in Victoria Harbour rather than the study site.

The tension between perspectives could be analysed more explicitly and more locally, especially by comparing who benefits and who bears the costs.

The argument would be stronger if it centred on a strategy directly applicable to agricultural runoff at Sha Kok Mei River.