Advanced matriculation students have two hours of practical session per week in accordance with the annotations of the MATSEC syllabus. The practical programme is aimed at the acquisition of essential practical skills necessary for all those who wish to pursue further education at university level or to enter the job market.
The following lists are an indication of the possible sessions students may have during the two year course. The actual number and sequence of practicals may vary from year to year. The Subject Coordinator will communicate the exact sequence and the selection of these at the beginning of each academic year. If you want an idea on the level of skills follow the link.
Students are required to purchase a practical pack at the beginning of the academic year as instructed by the tutors and/or the Subject Coordinator. All students are encouraged to read the practical schedules beforehand and fill in the required questions in preparation for the session as directed from week to week by lab tutors and/or Subject Coordinator.
The pandemic we are currently living through impinged on these sessions and the modifications were communicated earlier on during the year.
Getting Started, introductory session
Observation, Identification and Recording
How to Use and Care for your Microscope
High power Drawings
Drawing Plant Cells
Mapping Plant Tissues Under Low Power
Preparing Temporary Microscope Slides
Identification of Biomolecules
Problem Solving Tests (at least three in first-year)
The Sensitivity of the Benedict’s Test
Investigating the Selective Permeability of Membranes
Determining Water Potential
Determining Solute Potential
Transpiration in a leafy shoot
Measuring Cell Sizes and Stomatal Density Count
Planning a Scientific Investigation
The Effect of Temperature on the Rate of an Enzyme Catalysed Reaction
The Effect of Substrate Concentration on the Rate of an Enzyme Catalysed Reaction
The Effect of Enzyme Concentration on the Rate of an Enzyme Catalysed Reaction
Diversity
Breathing and Gas Exchange in Humans
Fieldwork at a location away from JC.
Determining the relative rates of fermentation of different sugars by yeast
Animal Histology: Epithelia
Leaf and Stem Modifications
The Preparation of a Root Tip Squash to Show Stages of Mitosis
Meiosis and DNA Extractions from Plant Material
Problem Solving Test (various sessions, typically between 5 and 7 during second-year)
Separation of Photosynthetic Pigments Using Chromatography
Factors Affecting the Rate of Photosynthesis
Some Major Steps in Plant Evolution
Estimation of the Rate of Oxygen Consumption Using a Respirometer
Animal Histology: Bone, Muscle and Blood
Floral Dissection
Mendelian Inheritance in Maize Cobs
Are all Beans the Same? A Statistical Investigation
Restriction Mapping of Plasmid DNA
