Free preview · Senior 3 Biology · Laboratory activities
Senior 3 laboratory activities
14 units · 28 activities. In every unit, activity 1 is improvised (simple local materials) and activity 2 is conventional (school laboratory equipment): two different experiments. Below are 5 free pages; then get the whole level in one PDF.
- Title and aim of every experiment
- Required apparatus and safety notes
- A clear, labelled drawing of the set-up
- Step-by-step procedure and a results table to fill in
- Observation and conclusion
- Three questions per activity, with sample results and answers at the end of the unit
See all 28 activities of this level and what each one is about
- Unit 1: Interdependence among Organisms in an Ecosystem
- 1.1 Improvised · Building a food web from the school garden. To observe feeding relationships in the school garden and build a food web.
- 1.2 Conventional · Plants and animals depend on each other for gases. To use hydrogencarbonate indicator to show how plants and animals change the carbon dioxide level of their surroundings.
- Unit 2: Population Size
- 2.1 Improvised · Capture–recapture with beans. To estimate the size of a population using the capture–mark–recapture method.
- 2.2 Conventional · Growth of a yeast population. To count yeast cells over time with a haemocytometer and plot a population growth curve.
- Unit 3: Nutrient Cycles
- 3.1 Improvised · Soil microbes release carbon dioxide. To show that microorganisms in soil respire and return carbon dioxide to the air (carbon cycle).
- 3.2 Conventional · Root nodules and the nitrogen cycle. To examine the root nodules of a legume and observe the bacteria in them.
- Unit 4: Effects of Human Activities on Ecosystems and Environmental Conservation
- 4.1 Improvised · Soil erosion: bare soil versus grass. To show how plant cover protects soil from erosion.
- 4.2 Conventional · Measuring dust pollution with sticky slides. To compare the amount of airborne particles near a road and in a garden.
- Unit 5: Mitosis and Meiosis
- 5.1 Improvised · Modelling cell division with pipe cleaners. To model the behaviour of chromosomes in mitosis and meiosis.
- 5.2 Conventional · Mitosis in an onion root tip. To prepare a root-tip squash, observe stages of mitosis and calculate the mitotic index.
- Unit 6: Heterotrophic Nutrition
- 6.1 Improvised · How bile works: emulsifying fat. To model the action of bile salts by emulsifying cooking oil with dish soap.
- 6.2 Conventional · Protein digestion by pepsin. To show that pepsin digests protein only in acidic conditions.
- Unit 7: Circulatory System
- 7.1 Improvised · Pulse rate and recovery after exercise. To measure the effect of exercise on pulse rate and the time taken to recover.
- 7.2 Conventional · Dissection of a mammalian heart. To identify the chambers, valves and blood vessels of a mammalian heart.
- Unit 8: Cellular Respiration
- 8.1 Improvised · Yeast balloons: what does yeast need?. To find out how sugar and temperature affect respiration in yeast.
- 8.2 Conventional · Oxygen uptake by germinating seeds: a simple respirometer. To measure the rate of oxygen uptake by germinating seeds.
- Unit 9: Response and Coordination
- 9.1 Improvised · Testing reflexes. To observe some human reflex actions and describe the reflex arc.
- 9.2 Conventional · Skin sensitivity: the two-point test. To compare the density of touch receptors in different areas of the skin.
- Unit 10: Sense Organs and Homeostatic Mechanisms
- 10.1 Improvised · Finding the blind spot. To show that each eye has a blind spot where the optic nerve leaves the retina.
- 10.2 Conventional · Sweating cools: a model of temperature control. To show how evaporation of sweat cools the body, using flasks of warm water.
- Unit 11: Asexual and Sexual Reproduction in Plants and Microorganisms
- 11.1 Improvised · Growing new plants from cuttings. To show vegetative (asexual) reproduction using cuttings and bulbs.
- 11.2 Conventional · Growing pollen tubes. To observe pollen grains germinating and producing pollen tubes in sugar solution.
- Unit 12: Reproduction in Humans
- 12.1 Improvised · A scale model of development before birth. To show how a baby grows during the nine months of pregnancy using a scale model.
- 12.2 Conventional · A model of the placenta: what can cross?. To model how small molecules pass across the placenta while large ones do not.
- Unit 13: Genetics and Gene Technology
- 13.1 Improvised · Coin genetics: a monohybrid cross. To model a monohybrid cross between two heterozygous parents and compare the results with the expected ratio.
- 13.2 Conventional · Extracting DNA from banana. To extract visible DNA from banana cells.
- Unit 14: Variation and Selection
- 14.1 Improvised · Camouflage and selection: the toothpick hunt. To model natural selection by predators of prey of different colours.
- 14.2 Conventional · Continuous variation in bean length. To measure continuous variation in the length of bean seeds and present it as a histogram.
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