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Practical Approach

  • Practical Approach

A Practical Approach - Building your PSOW

ESS requires that you complete at least 30 hours of practical work which should be recorded on a PSOW form (Practical Scheme of Work). These 30 hours include the 10 hours that the Independent Investigation (IA) requires but does not include any allocation for a Group 4 project as this is not required.

Topic 1 Practical Ideas

Topic 1 doesn't lend itself to many practical activities but there are some simple introductory activities and simple labs which you could try. I have categorised these labs and activities per subtopic....

Topic 2 Practical Ideas

There are many practical activities and labs which can be done during this topic. You will need to think about when you teach these units as some of these practicals can work in classroom settings with...

Topic 3 Practical Ideas

I always find it tricky to complete traditional lab activities in this topic but there are some nice activities if you have time and I always visit a zoo if possible. That is one of the most popular field...

Topic 4 Practical Ideas

Students need to be able to monitor aquatic ecosystems and so there are some practical ideas which should be introduced in this topic. The ideas in this section involve students collecting and analysing...

Topic 5 Practical Ideas

Topic 5 includes several possibilities in terms of soil and food production depending upon the time available. At a minimum, students should have the chance to do some simple soil tests and feel different...

Topic 6 Practical Ideas

There are many activities that can be undertaken to do with the various types of pollution in this topic. In fact, I always used to do an assessed lab in this area under the old syllabus. In this new...

Topic 7 Practical Ideas

There are few labs and practical activities which lend themselves to Topic 7. In the Swiss Alps we even managed to do a succession study, post glacial retreat in a couple of locations.I've already included...

Topic 8 Practical Ideas

Topic 8 provides many opportunities for students to compare how we, as humans, live in different parts of the world and how we impact the world. It gives them a chance to examine their own lives or that...

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