Two sciences… which one is better?
The title is a joke! Both sciences are great!
Today in chemistry class we were asked to compare and link any other IB subject together with chemistry. The first answer that popped out in my head is “TOK”, because literally if one justifies it, everything has relation to TOK, especially in the natural science area. So I decided to follow this route and look at the similarities between the two sciences that I took, which is biology and chemistry.
“Chemistry is an experimental science that combines academic study with the acquisition of practice and investigation skills”, states the IB official websites’ course introduction. Chemistry focuses on understanding the composition of the world and how substances interact with the others. Biology, on the other hand, “… investigate the living world at all levels using many different approaches and techniques.” Biology, is the study of living things and their components, thus bringing an understanding of the mechanism of life. Learning both courses tells us not to take everyday things for granted, for that there is always a deeper implication behind the surface.
The approach to both sciences is quite different. For chemistry, one focuses on the interactions between atoms that one could not see, and how through bonding and reacting they could produce different products. Biology, on the other hand, focuses both on the macro and microscopic level, through observation and analysis, learning about how life comes to be today.
As both subjects are sciences, the skill sets are quite similar.
Chemistry is a science where a student needs to do critical thinking in order to design experiments, analyze, conclude the collected data. They also need to be principled by developing the manipulative skills and not manipulate results and communicating the final results to others. As sciences are taught practically, these skills also apply to biology as well.
A question arose when I was writing: For a better understanding of the world, which is more important: Learning the mechanisms of life or learning the components of everything on earth?
I choose these two sciences as personally, I thought that I didn’t like physics as much, and they are required for studying medicine at universities. However, I hope when time progresses, I will be able to find the fun of studying these two subjects (not too much work please), and then decide my future career. I really hope that when I look back after I finish IB, I won’t regret my decisions of taking these two subjects. 😛
