About Course

MYP Sciences Year 3 is the third of five courses that take a student from the start of the Middle Years Programme to the on-screen eAssessment — taught the way a good science teacher teaches: a puzzle first, an experiment you run yourself, then the explanation, the story of how humans worked it out, where it is used today, and questions whose answers you reveal only after you have tried.

What changes in Year 3

Years 1 and 2 taught science as one subject. Year 3 is where it separates into Biology, Chemistry and Physics, following the IB’s own discipline overviews — and where the work turns quantitative. Students balance symbol equations, calculate specific heat capacity and resistance, find a refractive index from a table of sines, read a velocity–time graph for its gradient and its area, and test whether a relationship is proportional or merely linear. The four assessment criteria are the same; the standard expected of an answer is higher.

The twelve units

Biology. Body systems — digestion, ventilation, circulation, control and excretion, movement and reproduction. Photosynthesis and respiration — the equations, the leaf, limiting factors, feeding the world, and the energy every cell releases. Ecosystems — from one organism to the biosphere, biomes, sampling, competition and niche, predators and prey. Classification, variation and natural selection — the five kingdoms, naming and keys, variation, Darwin, and the evidence from fossils to antibiotic resistance.

Chemistry. Atomic structure and bonding — models and evidence, electron configuration, ionic, covalent and metallic bonding. Energy and chemical change — physical against chemical change, symbol equations and balancing, types of reaction, exothermic and endothermic, and the products people build from them. Solutions, acids and bases — dissolving and concentration, the pH scale, strong against concentrated, and acids and bases in the world. Environmental cycles and climate change — water, carbon and nitrogen, weather against climate, and how a country powers itself.

Physics. Mechanics and space exploration — motion and its graphs, forces, gravity, the Solar System by the numbers, and how to judge a claim about space. Heat — heat against temperature, the three ways heat moves, specific heat capacity, and thermal expansion. Circuits — charge and current, series and parallel, circuit calculations and power, and electricity in a community. Light and sound — rays and shadows, reflection, refraction and colour, how sound travels, and how the eye and the ear work.

What is inside each unit

Five lessons, each opening with a puzzle, building the science in numbered steps with worked examples, and closing with exam-style questions and a summary.
A virtual experiment in almost every lesson — thirty new ones for Year 3, from a Leslie cube and a dial gauge to a titration curve, a wind turbine and a predator–prey model. You choose the variables, take readings, build the table and the graph, and write the method yourself.
A Think like a scientist task in every lesson, set against one of the four criteria, with a full-mark model answer to compare your own writing with once you have written it.
Check yourself — seven questions per lesson with the reasoning behind every answer, unlimited attempts, nothing counted against you.
A 90-minute unit test following the on-screen examination structure: Task 1 knowing and understanding, Task 2 an investigation, Task 3 science in the real world, with the mark scheme and level descriptors behind a reveal.

Who it is for

Students in MYP Year 3 (typically age 13–14) anywhere in the world, and any student who has finished Year 2 or wants the third year of biology, chemistry and physics built properly. Examples come from Botswana and from other countries; the science is the same wherever you sit.

How the marking works

You write your own answers and compare them with the model answers and mark schemes provided. Nothing on this course marks your extended writing for you — comparing your work against a full-mark answer, and seeing exactly where the marks sit, is how you learn to write one.

Course Content

Unit 1 — Body systems: how the human body keeps itself alive
Biology · 20 h. Systems; Function, Interaction. Digestion, ventilation, circulation, hormones and nerves, excretion, movement and reproduction — and how the systems work together to keep a person healthy.

Start here: your plan, diagnostic and Daily 10
1.1 Digestion: from a plate of pap to a molecule in the blood
1.1 Check yourself — Digestion
1.2 Breathing and the lungs: how air reaches every cell
1.2 Check yourself — Breathing and the lungs
1.3 The heart and circulation: one pump, two loops and 100 000 km of pipe
1.3 Check yourself — The heart and circulation
1.4 Control and excretion: how the body holds itself steady
1.4 Check yourself — Control and excretion
1.5 Movement, reproduction and the whole body
1.5 Check yourself — Movement, reproduction and the whole body
Unit 1 Test — Body systems (1 h 30 min, Criteria A–D)

Unit 2 — Photosynthesis and respiration: the energy cycle of life
Biology · 20 h. Systems; Transformation, Energy. The equations, the leaf as an organ, limiting factors, feeding the world, and the controlled release of energy in every cell.

Unit 3 — Ecosystems: balance, competition and change
Biology · 15 h. Change; Balance, Environment. From one organism to the biosphere, climate and biomes, sampling an ecosystem, competition and niche, predators and prey.

Unit 4 — Classification, variation and natural selection
Biology · 25 h. Relationships; Evidence, Patterns, Consequences. The five kingdoms, naming and keys, variation, Darwin and Wallace, and the evidence from fossils to resistant bacteria.

Unit 5 — Atomic structure and bonding
Chemistry · 15 h. Systems; Models, Evidence. Models built and rebuilt on evidence, electron configuration, and ionic, covalent and metallic bonding.

Unit 6 — Energy and chemical change
Chemistry · 15 h. Change; Interaction, Consequences. Conservation of mass, symbol equations and balancing, types of reaction, exothermic and endothermic change, and the products built from it.

Unit 7 — Solutions, acids and bases
Chemistry · 35 h. Relationships; Evidence, Form, Function. Dissolving and concentration, the pH scale, strong against concentrated, and acids and bases at work in the world.

Unit 8 — Environmental cycles and climate change
Chemistry and Physics · 25 h. Relationships and Change; Balance, Transformation, Consequences. Water, carbon and nitrogen, weather against climate, and how a country powers itself.

Unit 9 — Mechanics and space exploration
Physics · 30 h. Systems and Change; Function, Patterns, Evidence, Models. Motion and its graphs, forces, gravity, the Solar System by the numbers, satellites and telescopes.

Unit 10 — Heat
Physics · 10 h. Relationships; Interaction, Function, Energy. Heat against temperature, conduction, convection and radiation, specific heat capacity and thermal expansion.

Unit 11 — Circuits
Physics · 15 h. Systems; Form, Function. Charge and current, series and parallel circuits, circuit calculations and power, and the electrical system a community relies on.

Unit 12 — Light and sound
Physics · 15 h. Relationships; Function, Development, Evidence, Patterns. Rays, shadows and reflection, refraction and colour, how sound travels, and how the eye and the ear work.

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MYP Sciences Year 3

About Course

What changes in Year 3

The twelve units

What is inside each unit

Who it is for

How the marking works

Course Content

Unit 1 — Body systems: how the human body keeps itself alive Biology · 20 h. Systems; Function, Interaction. Digestion, ventilation, circulation, hormones and nerves, excretion, movement and reproduction — and how the systems work together to keep a person healthy.

1.1 Check yourself — Digestion

1.2 Breathing and the lungs: how air reaches every cell

1.2 Check yourself — Breathing and the lungs

1.3 The heart and circulation: one pump, two loops and 100 000 km of pipe

1.3 Check yourself — The heart and circulation

1.4 Control and excretion: how the body holds itself steady

1.4 Check yourself — Control and excretion

1.5 Movement, reproduction and the whole body

1.5 Check yourself — Movement, reproduction and the whole body

Unit 1 Test — Body systems (1 h 30 min, Criteria A–D)

Unit 2 — Photosynthesis and respiration: the energy cycle of life Biology · 20 h. Systems; Transformation, Energy. The equations, the leaf as an organ, limiting factors, feeding the world, and the controlled release of energy in every cell.

2.1 Check yourself — Turning light into food

2.2 The leaf as an organ: built to catch light and lose water

2.2 Check yourself — The leaf as an organ

2.3 Limiting factors: why the graph goes flat

2.3 Check yourself — Limiting factors

2.4 Feeding the world: photosynthesis in the ecosystem and the greenhouse

2.4 Check yourself — Feeding the world

2.5 Respiration: releasing the energy

2.5 Check yourself — Respiration

Unit 2 Test — Photosynthesis and respiration (1 h 30 min, Criteria A–D)

Unit 3 — Ecosystems: balance, competition and change Biology · 15 h. Change; Balance, Environment. From one organism to the biosphere, climate and biomes, sampling an ecosystem, competition and niche, predators and prey.

3.1 Check yourself — From one elephant to the biosphere

3.2 Climate makes the biome: rainfall, temperature and the map of life

3.2 Check yourself — Climate makes the biome

3.3 Biotic and abiotic: measuring an ecosystem

3.3 Check yourself — Biotic and abiotic: measuring an ecosystem

3.4 Competition, habitat and niche: sharing a place without sharing a job

3.4 Check yourself — Competition, habitat and niche

3.5 Predators and prey: the cycle that never settles

3.5 Check yourself — Predators and prey

Unit 3 Test — Ecosystems (1 h 30 min, Criteria A–D)

Unit 4 — Classification, variation and natural selection Biology · 25 h. Relationships; Evidence, Patterns, Consequences. The five kingdoms, naming and keys, variation, Darwin and Wallace, and the evidence from fossils to resistant bacteria.

4.1 Check yourself — The five kingdoms

4.2 Naming and ordering life: from kingdom to species

4.2 Check yourself — Naming and ordering life

4.3 Variation: why no two mopane leaves are the same

4.3 Check yourself — Variation

4.4 Darwin and the idea that changed biology

4.4 Check yourself — Darwin and natural selection

4.5 Evidence and examples: fossils, breeders and resistant bacteria

4.5 Check yourself — Evidence and examples

Unit 4 Test — Classification, variation and natural selection (1 h 30 min, Criteria A–D)

Unit 5 — Atomic structure and bonding Chemistry · 15 h. Systems; Models, Evidence. Models built and rebuilt on evidence, electron configuration, and ionic, covalent and metallic bonding.

5.1 Check yourself — Models and the evidence that changed them

5.2 Electronic configuration: the rule of 2, 8, 8 and why atoms want eight

5.2 Check yourself — Electronic configuration and the rule of 2, 8, 8

5.3 Ionic bonding: metals give, non-metals take, and the lattice holds

5.3 Check yourself — Ionic bonding and the giant lattice

5.4 Covalent bonding: shared pairs, small molecules and giant lattices

5.4 Check yourself — Covalent bonding, molecules and networks

5.5 Metallic bonding, alloys and the models we use today

5.5 Check yourself — Metallic bonding, alloys and models

Unit 5 Test — Atomic structure and bonding (1 h 30 min, Criteria A–D)

Unit 6 — Energy and chemical change Chemistry · 15 h. Change; Interaction, Consequences. Conservation of mass, symbol equations and balancing, types of reaction, exothermic and endothermic change, and the products built from it.

6.1 Check yourself — Physical or chemical change

6.2 Writing the change down: formulas, symbol equations and balancing by counting atoms

6.2 Check yourself — Writing the change down

6.3 Kinds of reaction: synthesis, decomposition, displacement, precipitation, neutralisation and combustion

6.3 Check yourself — Kinds of reaction

6.4 Energy in and out: exothermic and endothermic change, bonds that cost and bonds that pay

6.4 Check yourself — Energy in and out

6.5 Change that people use: warmers, airbags, batteries and the business of stored energy

6.5 Check yourself — Change that people use

Unit 6 Test — Energy and chemical change (1 h 30 min, Criteria A–D)

Mid-year exam — Year 3, on screen, 2 hours

Unit 7 — Solutions, acids and bases Chemistry · 35 h. Relationships; Evidence, Form, Function. Dissolving and concentration, the pH scale, strong against concentrated, and acids and bases at work in the world.

7.1 Check yourself — What a solution is

7.2 How much is dissolved: concentration, electrolytes, colloids and emulsions

7.2 Check yourself — How much is dissolved

7.3 Acids, bases and the pH scale: a ladder where every step is ten times