splycrIB Biology
IB ESS · first assessment 2026

IB ESS review games

Ready-made review sets for all eight topics of the IB Environmental Systems and Societies syllabus: 20 sets and 228 questions, marked SL or HL, to play as a class game on the projector. Free to host, and students join with a code.

See the topics
A question from the sets

Intensification of the natural greenhouse effect by human emissions of CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O, trapping extra heat in the atmosphere?

  • Greenhouse effect
  • Global warming
  • Albedo
  • Enhanced greenhouse effectRight answer
From Topic 6: Atmosphere, 16 questions.

The eight topics

ESS has had a higher level course since the guide first assessed in 2026. Sets marked SL suit every ESS student, because higher level students study the standard level content too. Sets marked HL cover the additional higher level material in topics 2 to 8; Topic 1 has none, so its sets are all SL. The three HL lenses (environmental law, economics and ethics) have no sets yet.

Why review with a game

Answering from memory does more for recall than rereading notes, and a game gets the whole class answering, not just the students with a hand up. Every question in these sets is short: a description, and the term it describes. ESS is full of terms that sit close together, such as transfers and transformations, or mitigation and adaptation, and a quick game shows whether students can tell them apart.

How a class plays

  1. Open a set and press Host a game. Pick it from a topic above and choose a game mode. You don't need an account to host.
  2. Put the room code on the projector. It comes with a QR code that opens the game on a phone.
  3. Students join with the code and their first name. They go to splycr.com on a phone, tablet or laptop. No student accounts, nothing to install.

A free account lets you copy a set to edit it, write your own, and set it as homework.

Eight ways to play the same set

Questions teachers ask

Do students need an account?

No. Students join with the code on the board and their first name, from any browser. There is nothing to install.

Is it free?

Hosting a game is free, with or without an account, and so is an account. Only generating new questions with the question generator uses credits; these sets are already written.

Which syllabus do the sets follow?

The IB Environmental Systems and Societies guide first assessed in 2026, with its eight topics from Foundation to Human populations and urban systems. Each set is named by its topic.

What kind of questions are they?

Short recall questions: a definition or description, and the term it describes. They are for retrieval practice and vocabulary review, not exam-style data-based or extended-response practice.

Are the sets SL or HL?

Each set is marked SL or HL. SL sets suit every student, since higher level students study the standard level content too. HL sets cover the additional higher level material: each of topics 2 to 8 has one HL set, after its SL sets.

Where do the questions come from?

From the Biology by Bradford flashcard bank. Each question plays as multiple choice, and the three wrong options are other answers from the same set.

Is this an official IB resource?

No. The sets follow the topics of the IB ESS guide, but splycr is not affiliated with or endorsed by the International Baccalaureate.

Teaching biology too? IB Biology review games, by theme and subtopic and AP Biology review games, unit by unit.

IB and AP are trademarks of their owners. splycr is not affiliated with or endorsed by the International Baccalaureate or the College Board.