New practical science courses - Updated

I contacted the OU yesterday via email enquiring about SXC288 Practical science: chemistry and analysis and received a reply today.

The OU say that registration opens on 1st July and that the fees have not yet been confirmed but that the website will be updated when they are.


I hope the fees are confirmed by the time registration is open or it will be a bit of a leap of fate to register without knowing how much you need to stump up.


I hope the next posting I do on this subject will be more definitive...

New practical science courses

The Open University appears to be retiring most if not all of its level 2 science summer schools, which I think is a shame. now it appears that they are going to offer alternatives.

 

I was interested in studying SXR205 Exploring the Molecular World which is the companion summer school for S205. However this was discontinued in May 2011.

 

Now the Open University have some new courses listed under the umbrella term Practical Science. They are

 

Practical environmental science (SXE288)

Practical science: biology and health (SXL288)

Practical science: chemistry and analysis (SXC288)

Practical science: Earth and environment (SXG288)

Practical science: physics and astronomy (SXP288)

 

 

All are scheduled for first presentation in February 2012, however at the time of writing there are no prices available.


I am especially interested in SXC288, which includes a 3 day residential school at Bristol University (down from 7 days for the previous summer school).

I have made the following notes:-

• SXC288 is worth 30 points whereas SXR205 was only worth 10.
• SXC288 runs from February to October, much like a traditional OU course.
• There are also online labs to do throughout the year, including a very exciting sounding week long data gathering exercise using a remote webcam!!
• The cost of the residential school is included in the cost of the course (whatever that may be) but accommodation is not.
• The residential school is optional

Overall I am keen to do this course. If I start S205 in October (as planned) then I can start this one in February and the end of course assessments shouldn't clash.

Im just waiting for the prices to be posted and online registration to be opened.

S205 - Signed up

After enjoying book 4 so much I decided to sign up for S205 The Molecular World, starting in October. I pretty much knew I was going to do this course (it's the next progression in chemistry) but I wanted to see if the OU were going to replace it and it's summer school next year. S205 is scheduled for retirement in 2013 but I didn't want to wait that long.

Unfortunately the associated summer school has already been retired, which is a real shame as I think they enhance the learning.

S104 Book 4

This book is titled The Right Chemistry and is the book I've been waiting for.

Finally some chemistry and a nice thick book of it.

The book starts off gently enough by considering the atom and progressing to the periodic table.

Next chemical formulae are briefly introduced before we consider metals and their reactivity.

The book then looks at chemical reactions, reaction rates and equilibrium.

Finally organic chemistry is introduced.

There is a practical experiment which involved measuring the pH of various household chemicals. It wasn't very exciting and a bit of a disappointment after the one for book 3 but you can't have everything.


I found I flew through this book, it was such a page turner (I kid you not) that I finished it three weeks before the scheduled completion date. This allowed me to make a start on the next book early as well as fit a holiday in.

S104 Book 3

This book is called Energy and Light and as the title suggests it's a physics book.

The book starts by looking at energy in various guises. It introduces the concept of kinetic and potential energies and shows how they can be used.

Then it looks at internal energy, temperature and heat transfer.

The book then moves onto electrical energy, looking at connductors, insulators and electron volts.

We then consider the energy of the sun, nuclear fusion and how what light consists of.

Finally the book considers the wave-particle duality of light.


There is an associated experiment with this book. It involves calculating the wavelength and energy of light emitted by an energy-saving lightbulb using the diffraction grating from the home kit. I enjoyed this experiment, although it was a bit fiddly I was happy with my results.

I really enjoyed studying this book. It covers some fascinating topics in a very accessible way.

S104 Book 2

This book is entitled Earth and Space. The first 10 chapters are about earthquakes, rocks and all things geological. The remaining 4 chapters cover the planets, the sun, the rest of the galaxy and finally Newtons laws of motion and gravity.

To me these two areas (geology and physics) make very strange bed fellows. I could not get into the geology part of the book at all and struggled to be interested. The physics portions I found much more interesting and found I wanted to know more. I think that some of the later books cover this a bit more.

This is the first time you get to use the practical kit, in this case looking at rock samples using a hand lens, which was interesting for a while.


Overall I didn't enjoy the geology but i'm looking forward to more physics.

S104 Book 1

Book 1 is entitled Global Warming and serves as a gentle introduction to science. Several topics are coved including both the water and carbon cycles as well as precipitation rates and surface temperature.

The highlight of this book for me was the rain gauge experiment. Here we are asked to implement 2 rain gauges, one with a funnel the other without, from household materials and then measure the daily rainfall over a two week period. I spent a long time working out what I would use as my gauges. The obvious choice was to use soft drinks bottles, however as we were asked to measure the depth of the rain collected (rather than the volume) and the bottom of these bottles is not flat I had to work out a method of flattening them. I eventually settled on pouring self-levelling floor compound (it's like mortar used by builders but very runny) and then sealing it with waterproof carpenters glue. This worked a treat especially when I attached a printed depth gauge to each one.

In all a very interesting start to the course and a book I enjoyed reading.

Nearly 6 months since my last post !!!

Wow, ive been very lax in my postings since the beginning of the year.

Life has been hectic over the last 6 months but I have promised myself I will start regular postings as soon as I can.

Here is a brief update.
Im still enjoying S104, just starting Book 5 which is all about biology. i intend to post mini reviews of books 1 - 4 in the next couple of weeks.

Im off to Brighton next month for SXR103, which i'm really looking forward to. Ive got some prep work to go through beforehand which I will post about.

Im in the process of picking my next course (most likely S205 The Molecular World). More on this soon.