Often at the beginning of a topic, you will either observe a demonstration of a discrepant event or watch a video recording of one or be given a description of one. These Discrepant Events are thought provoking and based on either real life situations I myself, or others, have come across or they come from books or web pages that I have collected over the years. So, don’t be surprised if you find these or similar problems elsewhere, in a book or another web site. After sufficient materials have been covered, you will be challenged to explain it, in an appropriate format.
You will have from a few days to about a week to struggle with it. You should be able to explain most of the discrepant event by your own self using the resources provided in the class or with a little bit of research. You are free to talk to members of your family, other folks, and even other sources, like the Internet. Should you consult other sources, you MUST both reference and document them.
Every discrepant event will test your ability to communicate using scientific language and to apply your knowledge and understanding of MYP science course content to explain real-world phenomenon. In other words, your ability to think critically, the very attribute we expect of scientists. The write-up, therefore, cannot just be a rehash of what someone else has told you or what you found elsewhere; it must display your understanding of the concepts involved, as well as of both the problem and solution. As such, these write-ups will be assessed on Criterion B (Communication) and Criteria C (Knowledge and Understanding). Check the task-specific rubrics for details.
To help you further, a sample discrepant event and write up has been included in this blog.
MYP Year 4 discrepant events are labeled M4 while Year 5 events M5.
