Stem

Laboratory Skills Course

Designed for students studying GCSE Physics with AQA, Edexcel or OCR

Course Information

The Laboratory Skills Course is designed for students who have limited or no practical laboratory experience. Frobel recommends they attend this short course as it will equip students with the skills and knowledge they need to achieve the A Level practical assessment to a good standard.

A minimum of 12 practical activities need to be carried out by each student to show competence in this course.

The course covers the following topics:

Creation of a series of solute dilutions to create a calibration curve for calculating the water potential of plant tissue.
Use of aseptic techniques to investigate the effect of antimicrobial substances on microbial growth
Preparation of stained squashes of cells from plant root tips; set-up and use of an optical microscope to identify the stages of mitosis in these stained squashes and calculation of a mitotic index
Investigation into the effect of a named environmental factor on the distribution of a given species
Investigation into the effect of a named variable on the permeability of cell-surface membranes using colorimeter.
Make up a volumetric solution and carry out a simple acid–base titration.
Investigation of how the rate of a reaction changes with temperature.
Preparation of: a pure organic solid and test of its purity
Investigation of Boyle’s (constant temperature) law and Charles’s (constant pressure) law for a gas.
Use appropriate apparatus to make and record the measurements needed to determine the densities of regular and irregular solid objects and liquids
Make observations to identify the suitability of apparatus to measure the frequency, wavelength and speed of waves
Investigating the I-V characteristics of circuit components

Prerequisites

Students must be studying for their A Level Chemistry with AQA, Edexcel, Eduqas or OCR via distance learning or at another Centre, and planning to complete their Practical Endorsement Course with Frobel Education.
This course is designed to be an intensive practical course for students who wish to fast track their laboratory skills in preparation for their A Level practical assessment.