Grade 9 Curriculum

Grade 9 Humanities students seen here
delving into Zurich's past and holding artefacts
from one of the city's Stone Age settlements.		 You can read the full Grade 9 Curriculum Guide here,
or download it here, or see the individual subject
summaries below.

 

Language A English
Students in Grade 9 English explore literature and language through four units: Drama, Short Stories, Poetry and The Novel. Students focus on written and oral language skills throughout the year. Assessment takes a variety of forms including essays, presentations, creative tasks and reflections.

Language A German
In the Mother Tongue Group, the students read age–appropriate texts relating to topics of interest. The students cover a wide range of vocabulary and grammatical structures, which they are able to use with ease, flair and creativity when speaking and writing.

Language B German
In the Foundation course, students learn basic grammar, vocabulary, simple text writing and reading comprehension. The language is taught through topics reflecting students’ interests in their environment. The Standard course will build on the previous year’s knowledge, using more difficult texts and enabling the students to extend their vocabulary and knowledge of grammar and sentence structure. In the Advanced group, students will build on the previous year’s knowledge and read more difficult texts relevant for their age, develop a more sophisticated way of expressing themselves and discuss age-appropriate topics.

The Grade 9 Personal Development Program focuses on Responsibility, Decision-Making and Leadership skills. The students are further challenged to find suitable Community and Service projects that can be sustained throughout each term and/or for the entire year. For the Grade 9 field trips, the students are able to apply for a Performing Arts trip in Strasbourg; Spanish language trip; or an Extreme Adventure trip in Interlaken. Furthermore, the Grade 9 students will be using electronic portfolios on the IB Virtual Network program, as well as being able to experiment with social networking under the IB umbrella.

Language B Spanish
In the Advanced group, students will build on the previous year’s knowledge and read more difficult texts relevant for their age and develop a more sophisticated way of expressing themselves when discussing relevant topics.

Language B French
In the Advanced group, students will build on the previous year’s knowledge and read more difficult texts relevant for their age and develop a more sophisticated way of expressing themselves when discussing relevant topics.

Maths (Standard and Extended)
Grade 9 students further develop the Mathematics skills and processes learned in Grade 8. Content areas are Geometry and Trigonometry, Algebra, Number, Statistics and Probability and Discrete Mathematics. Emphasis is placed on problem-solving through the use of long-term investigations two or three times per school year. Mathematics is also offered at the Extended Level in Grade 9. Students in Extended Mathematics study the same content areas as those in Standard Mathematics but the content is presented in greater depth and at a higher level of abstraction.

Sciences
Grade 9 Science focuses on five units of study. The Particulate Nature of Matter examines particles, Brownian motion and kinetic theory. The Osmosis Unit looks at cells and the movement of water within cells. The Atomic Theory unit examines the atom and evidence for sub-atomic particles. The Periodic Table Unit focuses on elements, groups, periods and elemental families. The Nutrition and Genetics Unit introduces students to food groups, food chains and basic genetics. This culminates in the Vitamin A-deficient project where students discuss the moral and ethical issues of gene modification. Assessment is through section tests, lab reports, short essays and active in lab experiments.

Humanities
The 9th Grade Humanities course further develops the themes of social and environmental change, and the human responses to them, which were introduced in earlier grades. Topics include the dynamics of rivers, the evolution of urban areas, the causes of demographic change, the agrarian and industrial revolutions and the American Civil War. The course is directed towards the acquisition of knowledge and language, encountering new concepts and the development of skills in analysis, organisation and appropriate forms of presentation for the topics studied.

Technology
In Grade 9 students experience the following projects: Designing a Hand-Held Game with basic electronics, Designing and Making a Trophy by using Desk Top Pro (C.A.D & C.A.M ) and Drawing a Plan in a blue print format followed by GoogleSketch Up, taking into account the requirements of the client.

Music
Students in Grade 9 Music explore the areas of performing, composing, listening and appraising through four units of study. Students learn about the features of Dance Music through the study of Salsa, Waltz and Club Dance Music. They learn how to structure original compositions in a Musical Jigsaws unit. Students learn about the globalisation of music in a study of Fusion Music. They year concludes with a study of protest music, rap and Music with Attitude.

Physical Education
Grade 9 PE focuses on Rules and Refereeing. The students look further into the rules of the sports they take part in and referee games during the PE periods. The sport units covered are: Ultimate Frisbee, Basketball, Volleyball, and Badminton. The fitness unit focuses on aerobic fitness and covers the affects of aerobic activity on the heart. The students also take part in a double unit of dance and fitness room sessions. During the double periods the students take part in dance where they learn the basics of partner dancing and focus on leading and following. In the single period, they are in the fitness room learning the basics of taking part in and developing a fitness program.

Visual Arts
In 2D Visual Art, students will research the different aspects of Pop Art, including its influences from and its effects on society, as well as the style of artists such as Warhol and Lichtenstein. In response to this students will created their own compositions in acrylic paint based on symbols of popular culture. In 3D Visual Art, the students research the work of Claes Oldenburg and his sculptural legacy. By drawing and dissembling a shoe, students gather insight into its structure of components. The sculptural theme goes on to examine the human form, its bone structure, and muscles through observational drawing and measurement to enable the construction of an armature.

Drama
Drama in Grade 9 studies the Theatre of the Oppressed through Invisible Theatre and Forum Theatre. Students explore Human Rights and peaceful conflict resolution through theatre. An inter-disciplinary production and stage fighting unit based around the play Romeo and Juliet allows students the chance to discover the design process in theatre. All of these skills are used to create a performance at the end of the year.