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Level 3 Extended Certificate in Applied General Science
Student Handbook2016/17
Name: ________________________________
Contents
Important contact information......................................................................................3
Overview of the course................................................................................................3
Unit overview...............................................................................................................3
Unit 1: Key Concepts in Science..............................................................................4
Unit 2: Applied Experimental Techniques................................................................4
Unit 3: Science in the Modern World........................................................................5
Unit 4: The Human Body..........................................................................................5
Unit 5: Investigating Science....................................................................................6
Unit 6: Optional units................................................................................................6
Standard of work.........................................................................................................6
Expectations................................................................................................................7
Resubmission..........................................................................................................7
Retakes....................................................................................................................8
Extensions...............................................................................................................8
Final grading information.............................................................................................9
Referencing Rules.......................................................................................................9
Plagiarism..............................................................................................................10
Contract.....................................................................................................................11
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Important contact information
Miss Ellis, Physics: [email protected]
Miss Hayman, Chemistry: [email protected]
Mr Sefton, Biology: [email protected]
Head of FacultyMiss Constable: [email protected]
Overview of the course
This course aims to prepare you as the learner to progress to a qualification in the
same subject area but at a higher level or employment. This qualification is
supported by a range of universities for you to study higher education courses such
as biomedical science, forensics and sports science, as well as nursing and
physiotherapy.
The table below is an overview of the course. In year 12 you will study units 1 – 3
which are all mandatory. In year 13 you will study units 5 – 6, with a choice of 3
different options from unit 6 which will be decided by Miss Constable, Head of
Science Faculty by the end of Year 12.
Unit overview
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Units are assessed either externally by an exam or internally by submitting a portfolio
of work.
Units 1 and 2 will be delivered by subject specialist teachers alongside each other,
i.e. you will be taught the theory (unit 1) and will then carry out the assignment for
your portfolio (unit 2).
The teaching of unit 3 will start later in the course, approximately November, but will
be at the discretion of Miss Hayman who will be delivering this unit.
Unit 1: Key Concepts in Science
This will be assessed by a written exam which is 1 hour and 30 minutes long in
June. Throughout year 12 you will have regular class assessments by each of your
teachers. This helps you and them to review your progress and focus your learning.
There will also be a mock exam in January. The key concepts can be found in Table
1.
Table 1: Key concepts of unit 1
Biology Chemistry Physics Cell structure Transport mechanisms The heart Homeostasis Breathing and cellular
respiration Photosynthesis and
food chain productivity
Atomic Structure The periodic table Amount of substance Bonding and structure Enthalpy changes
Useful energy and efficiency
Electricity and circuits Dynamics
Unit 2: Applied Experimental Techniques
This will be assessed by submitting six reports, two from Biology, two from
Chemistry and two from Physics. You will need to submit each report to your
individual teacher by the deadline given. It is important to follow the assignment
brief and guidance by your teacher. Some exemplar work is included at the end of
this handbook to demonstrate the level of work required for submission.
Your reports will be marked by your teacher and internally moderated before your
marks are sent off to the exam board.
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You will be expected to undertake a substantial amount of practical scientific work
either as part of a group or by working independently. You should remember that in
order to obtain the higher marks in your portfolio work, it is important that you are
able to demonstrate independence in your work, be able to use your findings in order
to make accurate conclusions and be able to evaluate the effectiveness of your
practical work and research.
Unit 3: Science in the Modern World
This will be assessed by a written exam which is 1 hour and 30 minutes long in
June. You will be given pre-release material in May to work through and annotate.
You will not be able to take your pre-release material into the exam but will be given
a fresh copy for you to use.
Throughout year 12 you will have regular class assessments. This helps you and
them to review your progress and focus your learning. There will also be a mock
exam in January. This unit is about developing your analytical, evaluative and critical
thinking skills and focuses on topical scientific issues, ethical and moral issues and
the roles and responsibilities undertaken by scientists and other professionals. This
unit requires a good level of English. You will use a range of scientific media to study
and will be led through important questions to ask about the information given.
Unit 4: The Human Body
This will be assessed by a written exam which is 1 hour and 30 minutes long in
June of year 13. You will have a mock exam in January of year 13. The unit content
includes:
The digestive system and diet
The musculoskeletal system and movement
How oxygen is transported in the blood and how physiological measurements
can be applied
The structure and function of the nervous system and brain
Nerve impulses
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Unit 5: Investigating Science
After your June exams in Year 12 you will carry out an original, extended practical
investigation that draws together the knowledge, skills and understanding that you
have developed from Year 12, particularly your unit 2 assignments. It is important to
follow the guidance given by your teacher as they will break down your investigative
work into bitesize chunks. The scientific investigations available to you will depend
on which optional unit you will be undertaking in Year 13.
Your reports will be marked by your teacher and internally moderated before your
marks are sent off to the exam board.
You will be expected to undertake a substantial amount of practical scientific work
either as part of a group or by working independently. You should remember that in
order to obtain the higher marks in your portfolio work, it is important that you are
able to demonstrate independence in your work, be able to use your findings in order
to make accurate conclusions and be able to evaluate the effectiveness of your
practical work and carry out in depth research.
Unit 6: Optional units
The option unit is assessed by a written report following a practical assignment
submitted to your teacher. The option you will take will be decided for you from the
following list:
6a: Microbiology
6b: Medical Physics
6c: Organic Chemistry
Standard of work
All of your assignments will need to be word processed when submitted. Some keys
to think about when writing up your reports:
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Detailed introduction about the technique, when it is used, why it is used
Logical and coherent layout of your work
Labelled diagrams of apparatus where appropriate
Hand-drawn or excel graphs – you must do these independently, copies of
each other’s work will not be tolerated
Correct use of referencing
Faultless spelling, punctuation and grammar.
Expectations
What we expect of you: To be fully committed to the subject. To be polite and courteous. To respect the laboratories and equipment. To attend all scheduled lessons. To catch up with any missed lessons due to other course commitments or other
absence. To submit work in on time and to a high standard. Students are expected to complete significant wider reading, including scientific
journals, listening to radio programmes and watching documentaries. To complete homework as set by the teacher. To be equipped for lessons – pens, books, stationary, lab book, notebook. To manage their work load efficiently to manage their range of subjects To source opportunities to be involved in science in the wider sense of the
school i.e. Open Evenings, STEM events.
There are strict deadlines on the Applied General Science course which must be
met. Submission dates will also be scheduled onto the Show my homework website.
You are only allowed to submit evidence for your assessment once. Your teacher
will record your assessment result and provide feedback on why you achieved the
criteria you did.
Resubmission
There are opportunities to be able to resubmit your assignment under specific
guidelines:
You have met the deadline or agreed extension.
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Your teacher judges that you will be able to improve your assignment without
further guidance.
Your teacher confirms that the evidence is your own work.
You are able to resubmit your work within school 10 days of your assignment
being returned to you.
To apply for a resubmission you will need to obtain authorisation from Miss
Constable. You can contact here via email: [email protected]
Retakes
If you fail or obtain a grade lower than expected in your external exams you may
retake but you will only be able to retake once. Your best grade will be submitted to
the exam board.
If you want to retake an exam you will need to notify your teacher. A retake incurs a
fee to you as the student.
Extensions
Extensions can only be given in exceptional circumstances, e.g. medical. To apply
for an extension you will need to contact your teacher and provide evidence
regarding your extension, e.g. a medical note from a doctor.
Equipment
It is important you are prepared for your lessons and are able to record your lesson
notes appropriately. You should therefore purchase an A4 notebook and file your
notes in a ring binder after each lesson. As part of your evidence recording for your
investigative assignment work you will need to write up all practical’s as you go along
in a lab book which can be purchased from the technician. Your lab book will need
to be handed in with your report to check consistency.
You will need to bring a scientific calculator to lessons and ensure you know how to
use this correctly.
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Most students prefer to purchase their own safety goggles available from Amazon,
which will need to be worn for all practical work. https://www.amazon.co.uk/TRIXES-
Universal-Glasses-Protection-Goggles/dp/B00X9Z9TB4/ref=sr_1_7?
s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1468338742&sr=1-
7&keywords=laboratory+safety+glasses
To protect your clothing and understand the applied nature of the course you will
need to purchase a white lab coat, also available from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dr-James-Polycotton-Lab-Coat/dp/B005MI2134/
ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1468338526&sr=8-3&keywords=lab+coats+white
Final grading information
You must achieve a minimum of a pass for every unit to enable you to pass the
qualification. The grading is based on points and falls within bands as shown in
Table 2. Your external exams will be allocated a grade and a number of points which
will be added to the total number of points from each of your assignments. This will
then be used to determine your grade.
Table 2: Summary of grades
Qualification grade PointsApproximate A level
equivalent grade
Distinction* 540 – 600 A*
Distinction 480 – 539 A
Merit 360 – 479 B
Pass 240 – 359 E
Referencing Rules
All of your assignments will require you to carry out some independent research
which will need to be referenced. Any information that you find that is not classed as
common knowledge, i.e. basic scientific knowledge, will need to be referenced. Your
lesson notes, worksheets and the internet will be your primary source of information.
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You must include references in your work, examples of which can be found in the
exemplar material.
There are a number of referencing styles used, all of which are perfectly acceptable.
The most commonly used one is Harvard. You will be expected to use this style in
all of your work.
Further information regarding referencing and how to do this can be found from the
following:
https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/as/libraryservices/library/referencing/icite/
index.aspx - great guide to referencing, why, when and how to use.
https://www.mendeley.com/ - free referencing software tool that you can
download to your desktop.
Plagiarism
Submitting assignments without referencing implies that all of the work is your own,
including research into information that is not classed as common knowledge. This
is plagiarism. To avoid this you must reference all of your work. To help you learn
how to reference you will have a lesson dedicated to this at the beginning of the
course.
Any form of plagiarism is a very serious offence. If caught, your teacher will inform
the examinations officer. This could lead to you being unable to submit your work to
the exam board and failing the course.
Examples of plagiarism include:
to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own
to use (another's production) without crediting the source
to commit literary theft
to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing
source
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Exemplar work
Below are extracts from a report written by a Year 12 student to help you understand
the level and standard of work required. You will receive guidance from your teacher
regarding the layout of your report and the various elements that will need to be
included in your work. Your assignment brief booklet will contain your scenario and
mark scheme so that you can make sure you are including sufficient detail.
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Contract
I ……………………………………………….. understand and commit to adhering to
the following points:
Commit fully to the subject
Submit work on time and suitably presented
Come equipped to lessons and assessments
Treat the department with respect
Source opportunities to extend my learning
Respond to feedback
Have a positive and engaged attitude towards the subject and all topics
Seek help where needed
Promote the subject and the projects worked
on
Be a positive role model to other scientists
Take responsibility for my own actions
Try my best at all times
Be as independent as possible
Signed…………………………………………………………………………
Date:…………………………
Parent Signature……………………………………………………………
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