PDF forms are not compatible with the Google Chrome PDF viewer plug-in. Chrome users should save the form, then reopen and complete with Adobe reader. EE/RPPF For first assessment in 2018 Page 1 / 3 Candidate personal code: hjm369 Extended essay - Reflections on planning and progress form Candidate: This form is to be completed by the candidate during the course and completion of their EE. This document records reflections on your planning and progress, and the nature of your discussions with your supervisor. You must undertake three formal reflection sessions with your supervisor: The first formal reflection session should focus on your initial ideas and how you plan to undertake your research; the interim reflection session is once a significant amount of your research has been completed, and the final session will be in the form of a viva voce once you have completed and handed in your EE. This document acts as a record in supporting the authenticity of your work. The three reflections combined must amount to no more than 500 words. The completion of this form is a mandatory requirement of the EE for first assessment May 2018. It must be submitted together with the completed EE for assessment under Criterion E. Supervisor: You must have three reflection sessions with each candidate, one early on in the process, an interim meeting and then the final viva voce. Other check-in sessions are permitted but do not need to be recorded on this sheet. After each reflection session candidates must record their reflections and as the supervisor you must sign and date this form. First reflection session Candidate comments: When starting my Extended Essay, I knew I immediately knew I wanted to use biology as a subject, since I desire to study it in university. The second thing I knew was that I wanted to write it about spiders and possibly spider silk, as I knew this topic was of my interest. I started by doing a brainstorm of possible experiments to do that would not be very complex. And when I started researching about spider silk, I noticed that there was no article relating a spider’s diet to the properties of the silk they wove. There were other similar experiments, but none specifically regarding that topic. And then I came up with my question. The most difficult part about the research was designing an experiment. This is because doesn't have a large amount of resources. The final experiment I believe did help me answer the desired question. Date: 28/Jun/2018 Supervisor initials: KS © International Baccalaureate Organization 2016 International Baccalaureate® | Baccalauréat International® | Bachillerato Internacional® EE/RPPF Page 2 / 3 Interim reflection Candidate comments: Once I began the essay, I decided to start by researching about spider silk and about proteins. Google scholar helped me a lot with my research and I was able to find a recorded university lecture about the properties of spider silk. With this information I was able to commence my introduction. I then had to decide which spiders I would use and I had to take into account the ethical issues that came into account when studying live specimens. And I decided to use a common household spider. This was with the idea that when realising the experiment, I wold not separate it completely from its natural habitat. My supervisor asked me to do more statistical analysis from my data instead of focusing on explaining the data itself. Date: 17/sept/2018 Supervisor initials: KS Final reflection - Viva voce Candidate comments: Throughout the development of the extended essay I encountered Issues when designing an experiment that did not involve specialist material and I had to learn statistical analysis for the essay as I was not sufficiently informed of how to analyse data sets and statistical change. As an extension of my experiment I would view the silk samples under a microscope and see for a change in the thickness, amount or distance between the threads that are seen in silk when viewed under a microscope. After doing the experiment and looking back I would improve the experiment by using an isolate of protein like egg whites because crickets involve other nutrients which could affect the results. Date: 14/3/19 Supervisor initials: KS © International Baccalaureate Organization 2016 EE/RPPF Page 3 / 3 Supervisor comments: The candidate found his investigation challenging in terms of the mathematical demands of performing a student t test as he felt he was not fully aware of how to carry it out. The candidate clarified that the student t test was carried out for all 3 protein diets and compared them in terms of the extension of the silk and the tensile strength of the silk. The candidate also found it challenging to design an experiment without the need for specialist equipment which he said would be used as a way of improving his investigation. The candidate also explained that specialist equipment to measure tensile strength would help eliminate some of the human error from his results. To further his study the candidate explained that he would examine the silk in more detail using a microscope to see if there were visible differences in the structure of the silk given different diets. Such visual differences might include the thickness of the silk strand. The candidate explained that he would also use a pure protein diet such as egg albumin if he were to investigate this further. © International Baccalaureate Organization 2016
