Practical assessment
7.2 Paper 5: Practical Test Biology Candidates may be asked to carry out exercises involving: •
follow instructions and handle apparatus and material safely and correctly
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observe and measure biological material, carry out a biological experiment using appropriate equipment / characters / units
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carefully drawing, using a sharp pencil, and labelling specimens of plant or animal material
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record observations and measurements in a suitable form such as a table or bar chart
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representing results graphically, using appropriate scales, intervals and axes, drawing suitable lines. Understanding that points on a graph maybe experimental and joining the points serves no purpose
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interpret and evaluate observational and experimental data from specimens or from experiments
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comment on an experimental method used and suggest possible improvements
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devise an experiment to enable a task to be performed.
The list below details the apparatus expected to be generally available for examination purposes. The list is not exhaustive: in particular, items that are commonly regarded as standard equipment in a science laboratory (such as Bunsen burners, tripods, hot water baths, etc.) are not included. It is expected that the following items would be available for each candidate.
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rulers capable of measuring to 1 mm
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mounted needles or seekers or long pins with large head
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means of cutting biological materials such as scalpels, solid edged razor blades or knives
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scissors
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forceps
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means of writing on glassware
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beakers, 100 cm3, 250 cm3
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test-tubes, 125 mm × 15 mm and 150 mm × 25 mm including some hard glass test-tubes
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means of measuring small and larger volumes of liquids such as syringes and measuring cylinders
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dropping pipette
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white tile
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hand lens
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a thermometer, –10°C to +110°C at 1°C graduations
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clock (or wall clock) to measure to an accuracy of about 1s.
Cambridge IGCSE Co-ordinated Sciences (Double Award) 0654. Syllabus for examination 2015.