S103 Discovering Science Study Calendar



(Key - Coursework TV Programme Tutor Marked Assignment cut-off date)

Feb 1 Block 2 A temperate Earth?
Mar 1 Block 3 The Earth and its place in the Universe
Mar 11 TMA02 (covering Block 2)
Mar 14 The Science of Climate (BBC2, 1:30am)
Mar 29 Block 4 Unity within diversity
Apr 4 A Formidable Foe (malaria) (BBC2, 1:30am)
Apr 8 TMA03 (covering Block 3)
Apr 12 Block 5 Energy
Apr 25 Sickle Cell - A Lethal Advantage (BBC2, 1:30am)
Apr 26 Catch-up week (that’s what it says!)
May 3 Block 6 Our world and its atoms
May 6 TMA04 (covering Blocks 4 and 5)
May 16 A Thread of Quicksilver (BBC2, 1:30am)
May 24 Block 7 The quantum world (sections 1-5)
May 30 Uncertain Principles (main ideas of quantum physics) (BBC2, 1:30am)
May 31 Block 8 Building with atoms
Jun 3 TMA05 (covering Block 6)
Jun 21 *Block 9 Continuity and change
Jul 4 The Birth of Liquid Crystals (BBC2, 1:30am)
Jul 1 **TMA06 (covering section 1-5 of Block 7 and Block 8)
Jul 18 Hidden Visions (observational skills) (BBC2, 1:30am)
Jul 26 *Block 10 Earth and life through time
Jul 29 **TMA07 (covering Block 9)
Aug 8 Lifelines (Darwin, Mendel and Meischer) (BBC2, 1:30am)
Aug 23 Block 7 The quantum world (sections 6-10)
Aug 26 **TMA08 (Covering Block 10)
Aug 29 Lost Worlds (extinctions etc) (BBC2, 1:30am)
Aug 30 Block 11 Universal processes
Sep 13 Block 12 Life in the Universe
Sep 16 **TMA09 (covering sections 6-11 of Block 7 and Block 11)
Sep 19 Making Contact (BBC2, 1:30am)
Sep 27 End-of-course Assessment Preparation
Oct 2 End-of-course Assessment




Assessment Strategy:

Continuous Assessment Component: TMA 02 (12.5%), TMA 03 (12.5%), TMA 04 (12.5%) and TMA 05 (12.5%) constitute 50% of this component. TMA 01 is formative and will not be used for assessment purposes.

*** You will select three TMAs from TMA 06 (16.6%), TMA 07 (16.6%), TMA 08 (16.6%) and TMA 09 (16.6%) and these three TMAs will constitute the remaining 50% of this component. You are strongly advised to include TMA 06 in your selection. You may negotiate with your tutor your own cut-off dates for TMAs 06-08 within the three week ‘late’ submission discretionary period allowed to your tutor.

In order to pass this component you need to achieve an overall score of 40% for TMAs 02-05 and an overall score of 40% for TMAs 06-09.

Substitution as described in your Student Handbook will apply for up to one TMA from TMAs 03-05 but not to TMAs 01-02 or TMAs 06-09.

End-of-course Assessment Component: The End-of-course Assessment constitutes 100% of this component and comprises two parts. To be sure of a pass in the End-of-course Assessment you need to achieve a score of 50% of the marks for Part 1 and 35% of the marks for Part II. To be sure of a pass result you need to achieve scores of 40% overall in both the continuous assessment and end-of-course components. The two components will be equally weighted when the substitution score and the overall average score are determined.



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