IB Environmental Systems & Societies Study Guide
Full IB Environmental Systems & Societies guide for the HL/SL course (first assessment 2026). Covers systems thinking, ecosystems and ecology, biodiversity, water, soil, food, climate change, environmental sustainability: plus the three HL lenses: environmental law, environmental economics, and environmental ethics.
The Prep Den IB Environmental Systems & Societies study guide is your complete companion for revising the course: full topic-by-topic coverage, spaced-repetition flashcards, practice quizzes with worked explanations, a key-terms bank, and exam-technique tips. Use it as your main study guide or as a supplement to your textbook and class notes.
Topics Covered
What you get
1. Foundation: Perspectives, Systems & Sustainability
[[image:blue-marble]]1. ESS AS A TRANSDISCIPLINARY SUBJECT. Environmental Systems & Societies (ESS) straddles the boundary between natural sciences (Group 4) and individuals & societies (Group 3). It studies how environmental systems work AND how human societies interact with, depend on, and impact them. Unlike pure biology or pure geography, ESS demands you weigh scientific evidence alongside values, perspectives, and ethics: exactly the kind of judgement examiners reward in evaluation questions.
Sample Flashcards
Distinguish perspective, worldview, and value. Why does this matter for environmental decision-making?
Perspective: how ONE individual sees a situation, shaped by their personal mix of beliefs and experience.
Worldview: a perspective shared by a GROUP: shaped by culture, religion, ideology, politics.
Compare technocentric, anthropocentric, and ecocentric environmental value systems. Apply each to whether to build a new nuclear power plant.
Technocentric: nature can be managed; technology fixes problems.
- Position: support: nuclear is low-carbon, scalable, modern; risks manageable with good design.
Anthropocentric: nature valued for human benefit; weighing trade-offs.
- Position: conditional support: depends on whether benefits to humans…
Sample Key Terms
Perspective
How an individual sees and understands a situation, shaped by values, beliefs, and assumptions. Distinct from an argument (which supports or counters a perspective).
Worldview
A perspective shared by a group of people, shaped by culture, philosophy, ideology, religion, and politics. Underlies values and individual perspectives.
Environmental Value System (EVS)
A model showing the inputs that shape our environmental perspectives (media, education, worldviews) and the outputs (judgements, choices, actions). Categorised as technocentric, anthropocentric, or ecocentric.
What's Covered
- 1. Foundation: Perspectives, Systems & Sustainability
- 2. Ecology
- 3. Biodiversity & Conservation
- 4. Water Systems & Aquatic Food Production
- 5. Land: Soil Systems & Food Production
- 6. Atmosphere & Climate Change
- 7. Natural Resources, Energy & Waste
- 8. Human Populations & Urban Systems
- HL Lens: Environmental Law
- HL Lens: Environmental Economics
- HL Lens: Environmental Ethics
- Assessment, Skills & Internal Assessment
12 topics · 120+ flashcards · quizzes & matching games included
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