Key concepts (examples: change, relationships, systems) flashcards

Topic 1: Key concepts (examples: change, relationships, systems)

What is a key concept in the MYP?

A broad concept that works within and across subjects; there are sixteen in the MYP. A concept is a lasting "big idea" whose importance reaches beyond one topic, place or time.

Which three key concepts does MYP Sciences use?

Change, relationships and systems. The guide says development, time, place and space, and creativity can also matter in sciences.

What does change mean as a sciences key concept?

The difference in a system's state when observed at different times. It can be qualitative (structure or behaviour changes, a caterpillar becoming a butterfly) or quantitative (a number or rate changes, a falling count rate).

Reversible, irreversible and self-perpetuating change

Reversible: can go back (dissolved sugar recovered by evaporation). Irreversible: cannot (a cake bakes, an iron nail rusts). Self-perpetuating: drives more of itself (a forest fire releases heat that ignites the next trees).

What does relationships mean as a sciences key concept?

Connections among variables, found by observation or experiment and testable by experiment. Name the variables and the pattern, give a scientific reason, and say how you could test it. Correlation alone is not enough.

What is a form-and-function relationship?

Linking a feature (form) to what it does (function). Example: a fish's gills have many thin filaments, giving a large surface for absorbing oxygen; powdered zinc reacts faster than a lump because of its larger surface area.

What does systems mean as a sciences key concept?

Sets of components that function because they are interdependent or complementary, such as the digestive system or the Earth–Moon system. Systems can be open or closed, static or dynamic, simple or complex.

Open versus closed system in the MYP Sciences guide

Open: necessary resources are renewed regularly (a river). Closed: resources are not removed or replaced (a candle in a sealed jar goes out). In later physics and chemistry, "closed" means no matter crosses but energy can; say which meaning you use.

How does development apply as a key concept in science?

Scientific knowledge grows through change as evidence builds, for example models of the solar system moving from Earth-centred to Sun-centred.