Chemistry SL Tips and Strategies 

Consider the total mark given by each question

 

Have you ever asked yourself “how much should I write”? One question may require only a brief explanation while another exact same question needs a detailed one. This is the most frustrating experience in learning the mark scheme. There seems to be no way to know the mind of the examiner. But IB Tactics is always here to help.

 

It is very fortunate that every part of the question provides its total mark on the right. The marks represent the number of main points. For instance, “2 mark” indicates there are 2 steps, 2 methods, 2 name, 2 situation, 2 reagents or 2 observations. It depends on what the question is asking for.

 

Lets look at this typical question.

 

 

 

 

(If the question is worth 3 marks instead of 2 marks, you need to add more description to generate 1 extra main point.)

 

 

 

 

 

There is no standard in determining whether the 2-mark explanation is incomplete or not. Rather than digging deep into the TOK question of “how to define a complete answer”, we would like to follow the marks - an indicator of how detailed the answer should be.