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IB

IB ESS HL - 2026
Case Studies

These new IB ESS Case Studies have been designed for you to apply your knowledge and understanding of Environmental Systems & Societies in challenging Paper 1-style contexts. Each Case Study provides you with a range of materials about a country or region and a set of questions of varying levels of difficulty. A complete markscheme identifies the ESS concepts and terminology required to achieve the marks and a sample answer allows you to see how this could be compiled into a good response. The Case Studies are organised into themes taken from the Environmental Systems and Societies HL concepts: three themes focusing on nature and four on humans. All the Case Studies are written in a Paper 1-style; our team of experienced IB ESS teachers and examiners have created both full-length and shorter examples as well as three levels of difficulty to suit a range of revision needs.

How do I use this resource?

Nature

Structure and function of nature and its conservation

Humans

Human populations and their needs, with a look at how this affects our planet

Nature

Structure and function of nature and its conservation

Biodiversity & Conservation

medium

60 mins

Patagonia

A half-length case study about a national park, fishing, ecotourism and water pollution.

easy

60 mins

Nepal

A half-length case study about snow leopards, tourism and solid domestic waste.

RV Gold

medium

40 mins

Kenya

A mini case study about the protection of coral reefs and the tragedy of the commons. Appropriate for students early in the course who have covered biodiversity.

RV Gold

hard

60 mins

South Africa

A half-length case study about biodiversity, human population, agriculture and mining.

RV Gold

Ecology

easy

60 mins

Bangladesh

A half-length case study about population interactions and conservation of mangroves, tigers and elephants.

RV Gold

hard

40 mins

Australia

A mini case study about food webs, productivity and wildfires.

RV Gold

Soil, Water and Atmosphere

easy

40 mins

Ganges River

A mini case study centred around floods, deforestation, monitoring pollution and dams.

RV Free

medium

60 mins

Amazon & Sahara

A mini case study about soil, valuation of resources, productivity, deforestation and the demographic transition model.

RV Gold

hard

60 mins

Peru

A half-length case study about the Humboldt Current, guano, and anchovy fisheries.

RV Gold

hard

60 mins

Iran

A half-length case study about salt, phytoremediation and brine shrimp.

RV Gold

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More IB Environmental Systems and Societies HL - 2026 Resources

Questionbank

All the questions you could need! Sorted by topic and arranged by difficulty, with mark schemes and video solutions for every question.

Case Studies

Original Paper 1-style case studies designed to enhance your skills in analyzing and evaluating data. With varying lengths, difficulty levels, and themes, you can select the ideal practice material for any point in your ESS course.

Practice Exams

Choose your revision tool! Contains topic quizzes for focused study, Revision Village mock exams covering the whole syllabus, and the revision ladder to precisely target your learning.

New

Past Papers

Full worked solutions to all past paper questions, taught by experienced IB instructors.

Frequently Asked Questions

A Revision Village Case Study is essentially a full Paper 1 on a novel geographical region. Each of them presents real data in a fashion similar to the IB Resource Booklet and is accompanied by IB ESS exam-style questions. Both are presented in a convenient format next to each other on the screen and with separate scrollability to simulate exam conditions and facilitate answering the questions with reference to the figures provided.

Our growing collection includes full-length Case Studies to be completed in 120 minutes and shorter ones that can be completed in either 60 or 40 minutes. All include the range of questions and data formats found in an IB ESS Paper 1 exam. We have also created a number of 40-minute Case Studies with a limited scope - they only include questions on one particular Topic plus the Foundation and the Lenses topics. These topic-specific Case Studies are perfect as a revision tool for a particular topic, either before a test or after you have revised the topic for the final exam.

Each Case Study has real-world information on a country or region of the world. As such they are good sources of examples that you could use to illustrate your answers in an exam. If a particular Case Study catches your attention then you could expand on it with your own research so you have a more comprehensive understanding of the environmental issues in one country.