IB GROUP 4 PROJECT and Grades 8&9 SCIENCE EXHIBITION

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICTURES

http://mrctok.blogspot.in/p/grade-x1-ib-group-4-project-and-grades.html

TOK ORAL PRESENTATION TIPS

CLICK BELOW HERE -

MR.C.'s TOK Blog: TOK ORAL PRESENTATION TIPS

TOK BLOGS found by our students on the web

Thanks to Anant for these links:

http://blogs.saschina.org/pudongtok/category/oral-presentation/


http://www.rism.ac.th/Hs/ib%20website/IB%20TOK_presentation.htm

TOK ORAL PRESENTATION RESOURCES

click on website link here for resources - many thanks to Vidhi for this link - if any other student finds useful links in English or TOK please email them to me so I can share here. Thank you.

http://nothingnerdy.wikispaces.com/EXAMPLES+OF+TOK+PRESENTATION+TOPICS

"Bury my heart at Wounded Knee" - two points of view of Native American claims and the white man's counter claims

            

“Earth is the insane asylum of the universe.”
― Albert Einstein

Gattaca - The New Underclass - short excerpt from film on future society determined by genetic controls.

                                       Recommended for holiday viewing, another child of that interesting work "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley.

DATES FOR ESSAYS & ORALS

TOK ESSAYS - DUE ON TURNITIN TUESDAY 8TH MAY

ORALS - COMMENCE ALL CLASSES WEDNESDAY 9TH MAY

Wed 18 Apr	Mr Gardner’s talk on History
Fri 20 Apr	Grade 12 farewell so no class
Wed 25 Apr	Group 4 project so no class
Fri 27 Apr	Mr Gardner’s talk on History continued
Wed 2 May	First contact class after the Spring Break – essay criteria and presentation criteria, planning and topic to be discussed
Fri 4 May	Further discussion and follow up
Tue 8 May	Essay on Turnitin
Wed 9 May	Essay (hard copy) submission + presentations begin

National Geographic - Megacities : Mumbai Part 1 - Trains and Transport

                                         What TOK knowledge issues are raised by the growth in global population, demand for limited resources and environmental sustainability?

TOK ORAL PRESENTATIONS - If you are woking as a pair both students must be in the same class

Hi students, for many reasons if you wish to present as a team of two students, you must find a partner in your own TOK class. You are free also to present as a solo student. Essentially, the teacher of the TOK student will be the examiner for each student in the oral. The team will then moderate the outcomes.

Amish World's Squarest Teenagers part 5

                                          Note the use of language here! Is the word 'squarest' a pejorative word? Does the text in the title predispose the viewer to see the Amish in a negative way? Is there a tone of superiority in much of the video?
On the other hand the Amish teens also seem concerned as much by the appearance of the 'others', long hair, tight jeans, as by the behaviour of their hosts.

Did the USA inadvertently humiliate Japan in 1852 and lay the seeds of the Japanes Imperial Wars in China, many Asian countries and the Pearl Harbour attacks?

The Tokugawa shogunate had virtually isolated Japan from Western countries, and severely restricted contact with even near-neighbors such as China, since the early-mid 1600s; a policy known as Sakoku. It had resisted, sometimes by force, attempts by Americans and Europeans to establish business and diplomatic ties.
On July 8, 1853, Perry sailed into an officially hostile, but militarily unprepared, Japan with four warships. He led a U.S. mission which sought to begin diplomatic and trade relations, and to ensure the safety of Americans shipwrecked in Japan. Perry intimidated the Japanese by threatening to bombard their cities. He presented Japanese officials with a letter from U.S. President Millard Fillmore to the Emperor of Japan, proposing peace and friendship; at the time, the complex political relationship between the Emperor and the shogunate was not well understood by western governments. Perry left Japan with promises of friendship on both sides.
Perry returned the next year, and on March 31, 1854, Japan entered into a treaty of peace, friendship, and trade with the United States. This was Japan's first official relationship with any Western nation other than Holland, since the first decades of the Edo period; it marked the beginning of the modern era in Japan. Over time, the Japanese would use ideas and knowledge from western countries to transform their nation into a great industrial and military power.
Perry published a three-volume account of the expedition, Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan, in 1856.

How can we know the truth about USA Commodore Perry - hero or villain? The forced opening of isolated Japan by gunboat diplomacy.

From Wikipedia :Threat of force and negotiation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_C._Perry#The_Perry_Expedition:_Opening_of_Japan.2C_1852-1854 

Japanese coastal wooden cannon built by the Daimyos at the Bakufu's order for Commodore Perry's arrival. 1853-54.

As he arrived, Perry ordered his ships to steam past Japanese lines towards the capital of Edo, and position their guns towards the town of Uraga.^[11] Perry refused to abide to demands to leave.^[11] He then demanded permission to present a letter from President Millard Fillmore, and threatened to use force if the Japanese boats around the American squadron did not disperse.^[11]
Perry attempted to intimidate the Japanese by presenting them a white flag and a letter which told them that in case they chose to combat, the Americans would necessarily vanquish them.^[12][13] Perry's ships were equipped with new Paixhans shell guns, capable of wreaking great destruction with every shell.^[14][15] The term "Black Ships", in Japan, would later come to symbolize a threat imposed by Western technology.^[16]
After the Japanese agreed to receive the letter from the American President, Perry landed at Kurihama (in modern-day Yokosuka) on July 14, 1853^[17] presented the letter to delegates present, and left for the Chinese coast, promising to return for a reply.^[18]
Fortifications were built in Tokyo Bay at Odaiba in order to protect Edo from possible American naval incursion.

Trouble In Amish Paradise BBC Documentary

                                     Students interested in exploring this group in a TOK Oral Presentation should avoid being pro or anti the group itself but rather look at how we establish the 'truth' about the Amish. The documentary raises the question of how to balance the practice of obedience with the need for critical questioning of authority.

The Amish: A People of Preservation

How can we know the truth about the Amish, their values and their way of life? This first clip is a positive view of the Amish. The other post above here from the BBC - Trouble in Amish Paradise - connects with the theme of the relationship between the individual and society. Students interested in this topic may wish to approach it in that broader sense, how do we balance the rights of the individual to personal freedom with the demands of living in society? What is the balance between these two realities, on the one hand the needs of the individual and the other the needs of a society with specific rules of behaviour?

Husbands attack wives with acid - why does the legal sysem do nothing? -Saving Face Trailer (Documentary)

TOK ORAL SIGN UP SHEETS OUTSIDE ROOM 9 - SO PLEASE SIGN UP BY MONDAY

THERE ARE NOW 4 TOK ORAL SHEETS - ONE FOR EACH CLASS - JUST PRINT YOUR NAME AND TOPIC ON THE LIST BY MONDAY.

ORAL PRESENTATIONS WILL COMMENCE IN ALL 4 CLASSES ON

 WEDNESDAY 9TH MAY

and will follow

the order in the list of names on the school register. So check with your TOK teacher when you will be speaking. If two students are speaking then the order will follow the name of the student on the list.

TOK ORAL PRESENTATION TIPS

SAMPLE TOK ORAL PRESENTATIONS. 

In many of my earlier posts I have stated beside the video that these topics are suitable for TOK oral presentations, eg I have written a lot on the BBC Conspiracy Files on 911,Princess Diana's death, you will have to go back and look at the blog, sorry there is no list, only a list of posts in the margin here.

However, in order to be helpful, I have again summarised one possible approach, a step by step way forward. 

Here is a simple way to devise a TOK Oral Topic:

Step 1- Which area of knowledge do you want to talk about? History? Ethics? Maths? Art? 
NOW FIND A REAL LIFE SITUATION LINKED TO THAT AREA OF KNOWLEDGE

Step 2 - Create a question which allows you to examine a claim and counter-claim eg

Did the Americans land on the moon in 1969 or was it faked by NASA? USING THE PHRASE HOW CAN WE KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT THE CLAIMS AND COUNTERCLAIMS REGARDING THE AMERICAN MOON LANDING?


THE KNOWLEDGE ISSUE HERE IS WHETHER THE NASA ACCOUNT IS TRUE OR THE CONSPIRACY THEORY IS TRUE.
AOK - HISTORY, ETHICS, HUMAN SCIENCES and NATURAL SCIENCES 
You do not have to use so many or go into great detail on more than two of them...


WOK - EMOTION - FOR AMERICANS - PATRIOTIC PRIDE COULD INTERFERE WITH THEIR ANALYSIS OF THE DATA
EMOTION AGAIN - IT WAS FAKE BECAUSE I DON'T LIKE AMERICA AND MY BIAS LEADS ME TO ACCEPT THE CONSPIRACY THEORY.
SENSE PERCEPTION - IS THE FLAG FLUTTERING - NO WIND ON THE MOON -

Step 3 - Either alone or with a partner, draft a set of knowledge claims and counter-claims? State which ways of knowing (WOK) are involved in your way of engaging with the topic - eg Jon is part-Polish so when he talks about World War 2, one of his ways of knowing will be emotion, but he is an IB Learner so he is aware of the danger of bias, especially confirmation bias and will attempt to factor that into his thinking.

STEP 4 CONNECTIONS - CAN WE FIND LINKS TO OTHER CONSPIRACY THEROIES - WHAT DOES THIS TEACH US ABOUT THE NATURE OF KNOWLEDGE ITSELF?
(PRINCESS DIANA, JFK, SEPTEMBER 2011)

________________________________________________________________________

Here is a list of possible topics and there has been a list on the TOK NOTICEBOARD OUTSIDE ROOM 9 for some weeks now. Sone of these topics are too broad and need to be narrowed.

1. What does international mindedness mean in the context of a school where most or even all students and teachers are from the host country, unlike a typical international school catering to expats and their families?

2.  How can we know the truth about the ethics of stem cell research?

3. How can we know if the IB Diploma programme improves the critical thinking skills of students?

4. How can we know the truth about human rights? Is the UN Declaration of Human Rights truly universal or is it a ‘western construct’?

5. How can we know the truth about life after death from the case of Harry Houdini?

6. How can we know the truth about the use of drugs in sport to boost performance?

7. How can we know the truth about global warming?

8. How can we know the truth about the age of the earth and if knowledge claims for fossils are real or false?

9. How can we know the truth about the ethics of the decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

10.  Are modern advanced capitalism and ethics compatible?

11. Is the ‘fair trade’ movement helping the poor of the world?

The Debunking Handbook

The Debunking Handbook

A big thank you to our Principal, Mr. Gardner.

My personal thanks and appreciation on behalf of all our TOK students and teachers in Grade X1, for the informative and entertaining talk by Mr Gardner today on History as an Area of Knowledge.          In a speech with many interesting examples of different perspectives on history, I found the example of Sir Anthony Eden's downfall despite his best efforts 'not to repeat the mistakes of the past', poignant and full of irony. Our Principal, pictured here at our recent TOK FORUM,  has agreed to complete his presentation on FRIDAY 27TH and we are fortunate to have this opportunity to benefit from his enthusiasm and insights, especially as we understand the many demands on his time.
Mr C
TOK Coordinator
BD Somani International School
Mumbai.

SEMESTER 2 Oral Presentations will commence on FRIDAY MAY 4TH

Second Semester Assessment will consist of an essay and oral presentation of 10 minutes maximum.
Students will have the opportunity to present a second oral in Grade 12.
There will be a sign up sheet on the TOK notice board by Monday 23rd April for each class. Students should use the weekend to decide on their topic and whether they wish to present alone or with a partner. Orals will begin on FRIDAY MAY 4TH. Students are reminded that there is no school for students on Monday and Tuesday of that week, so you will have a four day weekend to complete your work.

Essay Deadline on Turnitin Thursday May 3rd and hard copy to your teacher on Friday May 4th.

Write an essay of between 1200 and 1600.

·         the word count includes the main part of the essay and any quotations but it does not include the footnotes, any maps, charts, diagrams, annotated illustrations or tables used and the bibliography;

·         footnote every reference used and include a bibliography at the end. In cases where factual claims are fundamental to the argument such claims should always be checked and a proper, traceable source supplied;

·        
TITLE : Compare and contrast the four ways of knowing. 

(Use the rubric for the TOK Essay to guide your examples and give your essay structure and focus. )

For both the essay and the presentation there are many resources on Mr Hoye's website.
Our sincere appreciation to Mr. Hoye, whose website has aided us and no doubt many students around the world.

http://mrhoyestokwebsite.com/

The Presentation – The Rules

You must:

·         give a presentation that explores the knowledge issues raised by a substantive real-life situation that is of interest to you, this issue can be on an international / national scale or be from the more limited domain of your particular community, school or personal life;

·         present for approximately 10 minutes, or 10 minutes per student in groups up to a maximum of 30 minutes;

·         learn your presentation, under no circumstances, should the presentation be simply an essay read aloud to the class;

·         be prepared to discuss issues raised by your presentation with the class afterwards;

·         prepare an official planning document (available on this webpage) to be handed in before the presentation starts, alternatively you can replace this with a plan of your own on one A4 typed up sheet;

·         assess your presentation using the official assessment document (available on this webpage) and discuss the marks that you would have given yourself with your teacher.

You can:

·         work in groups of up to 5 with each presentation, bearing in mind that you will be marked individually not on the performance of the group as a whole;

·         present in a variety of forms, such as lectures, skits, simulations, games, dramatized readings, interviews or debates;

·         use supporting material such as videos, MS PowerPoint presentations, overhead projections, posters, questionnaires, recordings of songs or interviews, costumes, or props;

·         invite audience participation during the presentation but you must do the majority of the work;

·         not do a presentation that someone else in the group has already done.

You should:

·         plan thoroughly using the more detailed Planning by Perspective or Planning by Knowledge Issue forms (available on this webpage) and only fill in the official planning form when you have a firm idea of what you will do;

·         choose a highly focussed topic and make sure that you can explore it in depth;

·         avoid topics so unfamiliar to the class that a great deal of explanation is needed before the underlying knowledge issues can be appreciated and explored;

·         make sure that you demonstrate your own personal involvement in the topic;

·         make sure that you explain why the topic is important / significant;

·         make sure that you explore how it relates to other areas of TOK / life.

Resources on good writing skills and avoidance of plagiarism

http://home.comcast.net/~mruland/Skills/plagiarism/index.htm

Why the Global Warming Skeptics Are Wrong by William D. Nordhaus | The New York Review of Books

Why the Global Warming Skeptics Are Wrong by William D. Nordhaus | The New York Review of Books

Why Be Good? by Samuel Freeman | The New York Review of Books

Why Be Good? by Samuel Freeman | The New York Review of Books

Maths as Area of Knowledge /Insanity/ BBC Dangerous Knowledge part 1.mp4

IB EXTENDED ESSAY 2013 NEW REGULATIONS

http://library.tedankara.k12.tr/IB/IB_Extended_Essay_guide.pdf

Students - Planning TOK Oral Presentation

http://mrhoyestokwebsite.com/Presentations/presentations_main.htm

Excellent planning resources on this website from Mr. Hoye. Students should use the planning documents and pay special attention to the marking scheme or rubric.

Israel bans too-skinny models - TOK issues - there are multiple approaches for students to this topic

Oral Presentations can be about non-political topics- How can we test the knowledge claim that 'breakfast is good for you'?

The breakfast hype

http://articles.latimes.com/2006/sep/18/health/he-breakfast18 

3D Documentary of Angkor Wat

Digging for the Truth: Angkor Wat - Part 1

Ethics -The Nazi Euthanasia (T4) Programme - German citizens were gassed by the Nazis before 1939 - foreshadowing the mass murder in the concentration camps

                                                The Nazis held a warped version of Darwin's idea of the 'survival of the fittest' in nature and used this to justify killing fellow Germans who were mentally ill or depressed. Why then do the Holocaust deniers find it so difficult to accept that that the Nazis would most certainly have been capable of killing millions of Jews, Poles and Russians, gypsies and others?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadamar_Euthanasia_Centre

Do We Need Religion To Create A Moral Society? (The Big Questions)

Can honour crimes be deemed cultural traditions or are human rights universal -Panorama - Britain's Crimes of Honour (Part 1 of 2)

Disturbing video from BBC's famed documentary series "Panorama". As we have been studying Ibsen's "A Doll's House" in English class, some TOK students may find this topic interesting in terms of the claims of cultural traditions versus the claims of human rights in the UN Charter. Are human rights universal? Why are these crimes described as crimes of honour - is this an example of language as a way of knowing creating a knowledge issue.

UN DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS


http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

Article 1.

• All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

^ Top

Article 2.

• Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

^ Top

Article 3.

• Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Science and Religious Faith - Physicist Paul Davies

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/24/opinion/24davies.html?_r=1

Link to debate between Richard Dawkins and Paul Davies

http://www.viddler.com/v/3517e4cf

For those interested in reviewing the topic of religious faith versus logic, reason and the scientific method, you are reminded that I have posted several videos on this topic some months ago including "The God Delusion" and contrary views from Karen Armstrong among others.