SS001 Laboratory Skills for Science

This short residential school provides the opportunity for laboratory-based practical work, helping to build confidence in practical science techniques including recording, reporting and interpreting data.

Information for 2023

Venue: The Open University Campus, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA

Duration: 2.5 days

Tuition Fee: £195

Laboratory school dates:
Tuesday 11th July 2023 - Thursday 13th July 2023
or
Tuesday 18th July 2023 - Thursday 20th July 2023

Make sure your travel plans allow you to register between 12:30 and 13:00 on the afternoon of day 1.

Registration: for SS001 can only be completed by telephone. Call +44 (0) 300 303 5303. Lines are open between 8am and 5:30pm Monday to Friday. Registration will open on 1 March 2023 and will close at the end of June.

Information for 2024

Venue: The Open University Campus, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA

Duration: 2.5 days

Tuition Fee: £250

Laboratory school dates:
Monday 15th - Wednesday 17th July 2024
or
Monday 22nd - Wednesday 24th July 2024
Make sure your travel plans allow you to register between 12:30 and 13:00 on the afternoon of day 1.

Registration: We will update this page when registration for 2024 is open.

Travel and accommodation:

You will need to book and pay for your own accommodation, travel and food associated with the laboratory school. These additional costs cannot be covered with a part-time tuition fee loan. When booking accommodation please be aware of transportation requirements as the campus is several miles from the centre of Milton Keynes.

A hotel within walking distance to the OU MK Campus is Delta Hotels by Marriot Milton Keynes, Kents Hill Park, Timbold Drive, Kents Hill, Milton Keynes. MK7 6HL. Telephone: +44 (0) 1908 694433. For 2023 the corporate rate for OU students is £105.00 per night for Bed and Breakfast.

Experiments and techniques covered in the practical sessions 

There are three activities at the laboratory school.  Activity A: the determination of water hardness and radioactivity; Activity B: analysing our environment and Activity C: a biology seed experiment.

In Activity A you will:

• Determine the hardness of water samples by carrying out titrations and hence, calculate the ‘hardness’ of a water sample. Techniques used: preparing solutions, pipetting and titrations.
• Use a Geiger counter to measure background count, the radioactivity of various radioactive sources and the absorption of radiation by various sources. Techniques used: handling radioactive sources, recording data, plotting graphs and interpreting results.

In Activity B you will:

• Use qualitative and quantitative methods to determine various metal ions in a water sample. Techniques used: preparing solutions, colorimetry, observing and recording changes in chemical reactions, plotting calibration graphs and interpreting results.
• Qualitatively identify various metals in solids, using flame tests and a hand-held spectroscope. Techniques used: flame tests using Bunsen burners, interpreting line spectra, recording observations and interpreting results.
• Determine the angles of diffraction of spectral lines from a sodium source and identify unknown metals and other elements using a grating spectrometer.  Techniques used: spectrometry, diffraction, numerical calculations, recording and interpreting data. 

In Activity C you will:

• Investigate the effect of salt solution on seedling germination and growth.  
• Take measurements, perform numerical calculations, record and interpret data