Practical Skills Pack for BTEC National Applied Science Unit 3

Gain mastery of the skills required to succeed in Unit 3 of the BTEC Level 3 National Applied Science course with this set of 10 student-friendly practicals.

Encourages independence

E Holmes, HoD & Peer Reviewer

Ideal for simulating actual assessments and boosting students' confidence:

I would gladly purchase this resource for teaching purposes

K Lewis, Teacher & Peer Reviewer
  1. Familiarises and prepares students and teachers before each practical
  2. Provides scaffolding and prompts for students to develop essential skills during practicals
  3. Consolidates learning and develops analysis and evaluation techniques after practicals

Includes 2 practicals for each area of essential content:

  • Enzymes in action
  • Diffusion of molecules
  • Plants and their environment
  • Energy content of fuels
  • Electrical circuits

PLUS technician hints and tips!

This fully comprehensive pack contains:

  • Teacher notes for easy-to-teach, engaging lessons
  • Pre-lab tasks with original activities for homework or prep work
  • Step-by-step student instructions and support
  • Sample data for when an experiment doesn't quite go as planned
  • Exam-style comprehension questions and easy-to-mark answers

What do teachers say about this resource? (11125)

An excellent resource for the new specification for BTEC National unit 3 practical assessment or for any specification which has similar topics. A very good range of experiments on Physics, Chemistry and Biology and test questions which cover the required part of the specification in Science and can be used for other examination boards which assess similar skills. The answers and sample results given are very useful and are specific to each experiment. It also tests a range of practical skills.

It would enhance learning in several ways:
- It could highlight weak areas in students' understanding and practical skills of certain topics or subject areas.
- It can be used to practice certain practical techniques and timing of experiments.
- Some of the questions can be used as revision on certain practical skills and understanding.
- It can also be used to see how students work in pairs or on their own to follow instructions in a practical test setting.

Good presentation and layout for each experiment shown. Each has an included student task, starter, sample results and teacher information clearly for each experiment which is very easy to follow. It also has comprehension questions for each which is very useful. Answers and sample results are clear together with statistical and error analysis.

The resource matches the BTEC National Specification very closely. Skills mentioned in the specification such as variables, data handling, safety requirements, graphical skills, conclusions and evaluation and selection of equipment have been well represented and shown in many experiments such as in experiment 5, 6 and 7.

I would gladly purchase this resource for teaching purposes. An excellent and much needed resource.

K Lewis, Teacher & Peer Reviewer

Really liked this resource as a whole. Liked the lay-out and clear progression through the tasks in each area. I like the clear links and notes on advance teaching so that students can access all the tasks. The starter questions in the teacher's notes are useful to support the students and teacher in thinking about the practical activity. The resource encourages independence with the pre-task and post-task, while making it easy for the teacher to check that students have used the materials and have done set tasks. The resource matches the spec well as it considers practical activities for each area but also because it links the ideas to how a student may be assessed in the exam. I particularly like the sample data as changes in the assessment this year [2020] means that students must be able to use sample data and explain findings and the experiment without necessarily carrying out the experiment. The practicals included in the resource are all practicals considered in the specification or endorsed text books so matches and interprets the specification well.

E Holmes, HoD & Peer Reviewer

Very useful, especially for the non-specialist subjects.
It fitted in with the practicals we were doing in the lessons. It fits very well with the specification.
It goes over the maths skills that the students need help with.

K Parker, Teacher