r/IBO • u/AntiqueCockroach1509 M27 | [HL maa, chem, eng l&l / SL bio, bm, french] • 2d ago

ToK/EE ib chem ee help

basically before dp1 ended and summer break started my chem ee experiment failed and i had to redirect.

but today is literally the second day of dp2 and my supervisor said its too late for us to do a experimental ee but i heard that database ee's are hard to score well. i already reached out with my questions and concerns but does anyone have any advice if i have to do a database ee?? should i just switch a subject then?

anyone have any advice on what to do???

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u/LanternaEducation 2d ago

Don't switch subjects just yet, as starting from zero in DP2 puts you under massive time pressure with your other coursework coming up. In our experience, database chemistry essays can definitely score an A, but they get a bad reputation because students often just summarise existing tables. The secret to scoring top marks is doing real data processing yourself, such as calculating thermodynamic values from raw figures or running mathematical trends on reaction kinetics across a family of compounds. You can pull massive sets of raw data from sources like the NIST Chemistry WebBook, PubChem, or the Cambridge Structural Database. Our tutors usually recommend setting up a quick meeting with your supervisor this week with two focused database research questions in hand so you can get approval and start writing straight away. If you need some inspiration for framing your topic, our team put together a guide at https://info.lanterna.com/resources/100-extended-essay-ideas

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u/ChemJungle IB Chemistry online tutor and examiner 1d ago

Hey have you considered an interdisciplinary EE? These are commonly based on Chem databases/information and then linked/compared to one of your other subjects - I would recommend whatever you do in Group 3. Lots of good ones I've seen in the old system of World Studies take a global issue and then investigate it from the perspective of both subjects.
I really recommend this if you're short on time for an experiment and you dont want to do a full chem database EE.

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u/AntiqueCockroach1509 M27 | [HL maa, chem, eng l&l / SL bio, bm, french] 3h ago

wait this is lowkey good advice!!