Practical Skills, Apparatus and Techniques | OCR A-Level Biology B (Advancing Biology) (H422)
Practical Skills, Apparatus and Techniques
- 171 questions
- 11 subtopics
- Practical skills, examined on all three papers
- Component 01, Component 02 and Component 03
Practical Skills, Apparatus and Techniques is examined in all three written papers — the specification states that Components 01, 02 and 03 can each assess content from any of the five modules, so nothing is confined to one paper.
It covers investigative approaches and working safely, following instructions, recording and presenting data, research, referencing and processing data with software, measuring mass, volume, time, temperature, length and pH, Colorimeters and potometers, laboratory glassware and serial dilutions, light microscopy, graticules and biological drawing, qualitative reagents for biological molecules, chromatography and electrophoresis, aseptic technique and dissection and whole-organism responses, fieldwork sampling and data logging.
Sample questions from Practical Skills, Apparatus and Techniques
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Investigative approaches and working safely
State the steps of a risk assessment for a practical activity.
Show the answer
The hazards are identified, the people who could be harmed and the seriousness of the harm are considered, and a control measure is given for each hazard. -
Following instructions, recording and presenting data
Why is an incorrect entry in a laboratory record crossed out with a single line rather than erased?
Show the answer
The original reading stays visible, so the record remains an honest account and the correction can be checked. -
Research, referencing and processing data with software
Why should the date of a source be considered when researching a medical treatment?
Show the answer
Clinical guidance changes as new evidence appears, so an out-of-date source may describe a treatment that is no longer recommended. -
Measuring mass, volume, time, temperature, length and pH
Why is a syringe often preferred to a measuring cylinder for adding small volumes of enzyme?
Show the answer
It delivers the whole measured volume without liquid clinging to the walls, and it can be read to a smaller division. -
Colorimeters and potometers
Describe how a calibration curve is produced for use with a colorimeter.
Show the answer
The absorbance of a series of solutions of known concentration is measured, and absorbance is plotted against concentration. -
Laboratory glassware and serial dilutions
Calculate the concentration remaining after three tenfold dilution steps of a 1.0 mol dm⁻³ stock solution.
Show the answer
The concentration is 1.0 × 10⁻³ mol dm⁻³. -
Light microscopy, graticules and biological drawing
What is an eyepiece graticule?
Show the answer
It is a scale etched onto a small disc placed in the eyepiece, whose divisions appear superimposed on the specimen. -
Qualitative reagents for biological molecules
Describe how a sample is tested for a non-reducing sugar.
Show the answer
It is boiled with dilute hydrochloric acid to hydrolyse the sugar, neutralised with sodium hydrogencarbonate, and then tested with Benedict's solution.
The 11 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Investigative approaches and working safely | Recall questions on taking an investigative approach, testing antiseptics on agar with a control disc, hazard and risk, the steps of a risk assessment, handling ethanol, sodium hydroxide, spilled cultures, scalpels and fresh liver safely, and the ethical treatment of invertebrates and human volunteers. | 15 |
| Following instructions, recording and presenting data | Recall questions on reading and following a method, exact and approximate volumes, recording observations immediately and honestly, drawing results tables in advance, presenting food test results, keeping raw data, the benefits and risks of spreadsheets, graph titles, histograms and frequency tables. | 17 |
| Research, referencing and processing data with software | Recall questions on primary and secondary sources, peer review, judging the reliability, date and bias of a source and its funding, citing journal articles and web pages, in-text citations, plagiarism, computer modelling of molecules, and statistical software. | 14 |
| Measuring mass, volume, time, temperature, length and pH | Recall questions on taring a balance, choosing apparatus for an accurate volume, parallax error, timing uncertainty, measuring pH precisely, and holding a mixture at a set temperature. | 16 |
| Colorimeters and potometers | Recall questions on zeroing a colorimeter and choosing its filter, building and reading a calibration curve, handling a cuvette, beetroot membrane work, and why potometer uptake overestimates transpiration. | 15 |
| Laboratory glassware and serial dilutions | Recall questions on tenfold serial dilutions and doubling dilutions, calculating concentrations and the volumes needed, mixing and using fresh pipettes, volumetric flasks and making up a standard solution, reading a meniscus, dilution factors, and viable counts in colony-forming units. | 14 |
| Light microscopy, graticules and biological drawing | Recall questions on using objective lenses, focus and the iris diaphragm, field of view and total magnification, calibrating an eyepiece graticule with a stage micrometer and measuring cells, the magnification of a drawing, drawing conventions, low power plans and high power drawings, and labels and annotations. | 17 |
| Qualitative reagents for biological molecules | Recall questions on the iodine test for starch, the Benedict's test for reducing sugars and its colour sequence, testing for non-reducing sugars such as sucrose, the biuret test for protein, the emulsion test for lipids, DCPIP for vitamin C, and negative controls. | 16 |
| Chromatography and electrophoresis | Recall questions on stationary and mobile phases, thin-layer and paper chromatography technique, calculating and using Rf values, locating amino acids with ninhydrin, loading dye in gels, and how gel electrophoresis separates DNA fragments by size and charge. | 15 |
| Aseptic technique and dissection | Recall questions on aseptic technique, flaming loops and bottle necks, working near a Bunsen flame, lifting, taping and labelling Petri dishes, autoclaving and disposing of cultures, colony-forming units, spreading a lawn for antibiotic discs, and the safety and ethics of dissecting a mammalian heart. | 15 |
| Whole-organism responses, fieldwork sampling and data logging | Recall questions on choice chamber investigations, measuring pulse rate and recovery time after exercise, random quadrat sampling and belt transects, percentage cover and frequency, mark-release-recapture and its assumptions, and the advantages of data loggers. | 17 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
OCR A-Level Biology B (Advancing Biology) Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 2,895 questions with their answers.