Working Scientifically - A-Levels Biology
Appendix 5a: Practical skills identified for indirect assessment and developed through teaching and learning
Question papers will assess the student's following abilities:
a) Independent thinking
- solve problems set in practical contexts
- apply scientific knowledge to practical contexts.
b) Use and application of scientific methods and practices
- comment on experimental design and evaluate scientific methods
- present data in appropriate ways
- evaluate results and draw conclusions with reference to measurement uncertainties and errors
- identify variables including those that must be controlled
c) Numeracy and the application of mathematical concepts in a practical context
- plot and interpret graphs
- process and analyse data using appropriate mathematical skills as exemplified in the mathematical appendix for each science
- consider margins of error, accuracy and precision of data.
d) Instruments and equipment
- know and understand how to use a wide range of experimental and practical instruments, equipment and techniques appropriate to the knowledge and understanding included in the specification.
Appendix 5b: Practical skills identified for direct assessment and developed through teaching and learning
Practical work carried out throughout the course will enable students to develop the following skills:
a) Independent thinking
- apply investigative approaches and methods to practical work.
b) Use and apply scientific methods and practices
- safely and correctly use a range of practical equipment and materials
- follow written instructions
- make and record observations
- keep appropriate records of experimental activities
- present information and data in a scientific way
- use appropriate software and tools to process data, carry out research and report findings.
c) Research and referencing
- use online and offline research skills including websites, textbooks and other printed scientific sources of information
- correctly cite sources of information.
d) Instruments and equipment
- use a wide range of experimental and practical instruments, equipment and techniques appropriate to the knowledge and understanding included in the specification
Appendix 5c: Use of apparatus and techniques
Use of apparatus and techniques – biology
Specifications for biology must give students opportunities to use relevant apparatus to develop and demonstrate these techniques.
All of the techniques listed below will be assessed through a minimum of 16 identified practical activities within each specification. These 'core' practicals must allow students to demonstrate all of the practical skills given in Appendix 5b.
Practical techniques to be completed by candidates
| Practical technique | |
|---|---|
| 1. | use appropriate apparatus to record a range of quantitative measurements (to include mass, time, volume, temperature, length and pH) |
| 2. | use appropriate instrumentation to record quantitative measurements, such as a colorimeter or potometer |
| 3. | use laboratory glassware apparatus for a variety of experimental techniques to include serial dilutions |
| 4. | use of light microscope at high power and low power, including use of a graticule |
| 5. | produce scientific drawing from observation with annotations |
| 6. | use qualitative reagents to identify biological molecules |
| 7. | separate biological compounds using thin layer/paper chromatography or electrophoresis |
| 8. | safely and ethically use organisms to measure: • plant or animal responses • physiological functions |
| 9. | use microbiological aseptic techniques, including the use of agar plates and broth |
| 10. | safely use instruments for dissection of an animal organ, or plant organ |
| 11. | use sampling techniques in fieldwork |
| 12. | use ICT such as computer modelling, or data logger to collect data, or use software to process data. |
Appendix 5d: Mapping between Appendix 5c and core practicals (biology)
This qualification gives students opportunities to use relevant apparatus to develop practical skills and demonstrate competency in a range of practical techniques.
All of the techniques listed in Appendix 5c will be assessed through a series of core practical activities within this specification.
To achieve the Science Practical Endorsement, students need to show competence in the 12 practical techniques listed in Appendix 5c: Use of apparatus and techniques.
The following table shows how each core practical activity, listed in the content, maps to the required practical techniques in Appendix 5c: Use of apparatus and techniques.
Biology B Core Practical mapping
| Biology B Core Practical | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1: Investigate a factor affecting the initial rate of an enzyme controlled reaction. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||
| 2: Use of the light microscope, including simple stage and eyepiece micrometers and drawing small numbers of cells from specialised tissue. | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||||
| 3: Make a temporary squash preparation of a root tip to show stages of mitosis in the meristem under the light microscope. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||
| 4: Investigate the effect of sucrose concentrations on pollen tube growth. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||
| 5: Investigate the effect of temperature on beetroot membrane permeability. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||
| 6: Determine the water potential of plant cells. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||
| 7: Dissect an insect to show the structure of the gas exchange system. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||||
| 8: Investigate factors affecting water uptake by plant shoots using a potometer. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||
| 9: Investigate factors affecting the rate of respiration using a respirometer. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||
| 10: Investigate the effects of different wavelengths of light on the rate of photosynthesis. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||||
| 11: Investigate the presence of different chloroplast pigments using chromatography. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||
| 12: Investigate the rate of growth of bacteria in liquid culture. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||
| 13: Isolate individual species from a mixed culture of bacteria using streak plating. | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||||
| 14: Investigate the effect of gibberellin on the production of amylase in germinating cereals using a starch agar assay. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||
| 15: Investigate the effect of different sampling methods on estimates of the size of a population. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||||
| 16: Investigate the effect of one abiotic factor on the distribution or morphology of one species. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |