Blood Tests

 Playing detective identifying blood using simple ABO blood tests on artificial blood. Fun and educational, leading to an understanding of tissue rejection and markers on cells for identification.

Testing Water

 In GCSE Chemistry, water samples from Rivers, rainwater, and the sea were tested for pH. Rainwater had the lowest pH, and seawater had the salt extracted and desalinized. In biology, the same water was tested for bugs. River water won having the most colonies of bacteria—but it was from the Thames, so there was no surprise here.

Paper 2 Practice

 The students are now working hard on GCSE Maths Paper 2 Practice and A Level Paper 1 Practice, so they are ready for next week's exams. It may be a holiday for some, but the students are working hard, perhaps harder than they have worked before.

How an Oscilloscope works

 There was a time when students had met CRT screens but now with LED this and LED that they have little experience of seeing these let alone knowing how they work. when I showed them a valve they had no idea.

Proteins and Evolution

 Why do some proteins and reactions work the way they do? RuBisCO was probably created when Oxygen levels were lower and Carbon Dioxide Levels were higher, and there were not strong enough evolutionary pressures to create something better.

Changing Standards

 We looked at how standards in computing have changed, how Serial and Parallel came and went, and how firewire was a thing. We also looked at how cards for cameras and others have changed and adapted over the years.

Titrations

Students are getting lots of practice on how to do titrations. They are attempting to get single drops and very similar values on each repeat.