South Africa's CAPS Physical Sciences: practicals that every learner can do
The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for Physical Sciences includes prescribed experiments and practical investigations that count towards school-based assessment. In many schools, especially in rural and township areas, the equipment needed is missing or incomplete.
Where virtual labs help
- Electric circuits: Ohm's law, series and parallel resistors and internal resistance.
- Mechanics: Newton's laws and motion on an inclined plane.
- Optics and waves: reflection, refraction and lenses.
- Chemistry: rates of reaction, acids and bases, and titration.
Preparing for prescribed experiments
- Students rehearse the experiment in the virtual lab.
- They complete the same worksheet they will use for the formal task.
- Where equipment exists, they then perform the real experiment with confidence.
- Where it does not, the virtual results support discussion and analysis.
Check your provincial guidelines on how virtual work can be used in formal assessment.
Building towards the NSC
Grade 12 Physical Sciences papers include questions on experimental design, variables and data analysis. Regular virtual practice from Grade 10 builds these skills.
Coding and robotics
South Africa has been piloting a coding and robotics curriculum in the earlier grades. Logitarium and the Robot design lab support teachers who are new to this area.
Getting started
Choose one prescribed experiment your school cannot do with real equipment this term and plan it in the virtual lab.
Sign up free or book a demo for your department.