Meet the GCSE PAGs Dr Crawford Kingsnorth (Biology) Dr David Paterson (Chemistry) Michelle Spiller (Physics)

Outline General Introduction Hands-on time with some activities Consolidation and questions

Practical work – more than just doing PAGs Practical work is integral to teaching and learning. Ensuring full coverage of the specification and preparation for exams With a broad practical experience across the course, the practical requirements should be more than covered.

Requirements of the new GCSEs All schools should Provide a broad and balanced practical experience for all learners Take account of the practical requirements AND learning outcomes detailing practical work Provide an annual written ‘practical science statement’ to the exam board Requirements on the schools.

Requirements of the new GCSEs All learners should Complete a minimum of eight or sixteen (CS) practical activities. Have the opportunity to cover all required Apparatus and Techniques. Keep up-to-date records of their practical activities (e.g. write-ups) General requirements on the learners

The OCR approach to practical skills DfE list of apparatus and techniques OCR Practical Activity Groups (PAGs) The eight DfE statements were mapped to … … eight key areas of practical science OCRs approach to the practical work required for the GCSE Sciences started with us looking at the successful approach being used at A Level to see how we could ensure flexibility and also help teachers to embed practical work into their teaching and learning. So we took the list of apparatus and techniques that the DfE decided for Biology and mapped them to eight key areas of Biology. We called these eight key areas PAGs or Practical Activity Groups which mirrors the A Level approach. This also happens to be the minimum number of activities that students need to do over their GCSE course.

OCR Practical Activity Groups Biology Chemistry Physics 1 Microscopy 1 Reactivity trend P1 Materials 2 Testing for biological molecules 2 Electrolysis P2 Forces 3 Sampling techniques 3 Separation techniques P3 Motion 4 Rates of enzyme-controlled reactions 4 Distillation P4 Measuring waves 5 Photosynthesis 5 Identification of species P5 Energy 6 Physiology, responses, respiration 6 Titration P6 Circuit components 7 Microbiological techniques 7 Production of salts P7 Series and parallel circuits 8 Transport in and out of cells 8 Measuring rates of reaction P8 Interaction of waves

Resourcing – external activities You can use any relevant practical work, e.g. scientific organisations publishing companies developed yourself

OCR suggested activities Three styles of suggested activities Traditional / bench-scale activity Micro / reduced scale activity Kitchen / home activity / science on a shoe string The general OCR model for producing sample activities.

Hands on today Biology: Chemistry: Simple experiments with commonly available resources (baby rice, yeast, apples…) Chemistry: Microscale electrolysis (Electrolysis PAG) Microscale rates (Measuring the rates of reaction PAG)

There is no obligation to use OCR administration resources. Keeping track There is no obligation to use OCR administration resources. However, they are provided should you wish to use them Learner Record Sheets GCSE Practical Activity Tracker

Learner Record Sheets The learner record sheets, available for Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Combined Science.

Learner Record Sheets

THE GCSE PAG TRACKER THE GCSE PAG Tracker: Introduction sheet.

THE GCSE PAG TRACKER Simple mapping of the apparatus and techniques.

THE GCSE PAG TRACKER Putting in the learners names.

THE GCSE PAG TRACKER Noting the dates activities were carried out.

THE GCSE PAG TRACKER Summary of the opportunities all learners/classes have had.

Example: Chemistry Identifying all the learning outcomes in chemistry that have something to do with practical work. Notes, these are not all covered by the required Apparatus and Techniques – more practical work than the minimum 8/16 should be carried out as part of a broad and balanced programme of study.

OCR – HERE TO HELP Subject specialists ScienceGCSE@ocr.org.uk Specimen assessment materials INSET – face to face, online, webinars E-community - www.ocr.org.uk/community Social media – Facebook, twitter @ocr_science uyseg-c21@york.ac.uk @C21Science Scheme of work builder