Each week, you’ll study a self-contained topic, including the following:
Scales in space and time
Scale – dealing with the minuscule to the massive, over milliseconds to millennia – is central to all the sciences. You’ll go to the absolute limits of what we can measure – all through a study of an oak tree!
Rocks: recycling the planet
You’ll use a digital collection of minerals and rocks to learn about the materials that make up the solid Earth, the processes by which they are transformed into rocks, and how rocks reveal their history.
Geological time
Earth is 4.6 billion years old. How do we know that? How do we know the history of life on Earth? You’ll understand the methods used to determine rocks' relative and absolute ages and the processes that formed them.
Plate tectonics
Plate tectonics – the process that allows Earth’s interior, surface and atmosphere to interact – constantly reshapes the earth. You’ll study evidence for the plate tectonics theory, one of science's most influential ideas.
Cycles
Biogeochemical cycles describe how chemical elements cycle through living things and the physical environment. You’ll study three important cycles – water, carbon and nitrogen – and how human behaviour can disrupt them.
Ecological interactions
Ecosystems contain many interlinked biological components that interact with their physical environment, yet there are consistent patterns in the way energy flows through them. These patterns allow us to explore, describe, and compare ecosystems, which is necessary for understanding disruptions.
Environmental change
Ecosystems react to environmental changes caused by both natural and human factors. You’ll learn about natural environmental change and what happens when an invasive species is introduced to an unprepared ecosystem. You’ll understand how we know environmental change is taking place and how it can be managed.
Forces around you
Forces are central to the motion and stability of the world around us. You’ll learn how to identify and manipulate forces in various everyday situations.
Introduction to energy
Energy is another central concept that will be revisited. This week, we look at potential and kinetic energy and explore the concepts of heat and temperature.
Material worlds
You’ll explore the materials which make up the world around you and learn how to describe and record your observations of the physical behaviour of materials. You’ll link the macroscopic world to the microscopic by examining the behaviour of the particles from which materials are formed.
The quantum realm
Quantum mechanics is a big idea for understanding the world of atoms. You’ll learn how this is important for physics, chemistry and even biology processes.
Why chemical reactions happen
You’ll explore chemical change by understanding how particles interact and rearrange and learning the rules that govern these interactions. This will allow you to make predictions about chemical behaviour.
Make me a molecule
You’ll discover how knowledge of the microscopic world enables the creation of new materials and how everyday items can be both made and improved.
Energy in chemistry and the life sciences
Beginning with the nature of chemical bonds in simple molecules, you’ll explore how living cells transform and distribute energy, why we can’t run marathons as fast as we sprint 100 m, and the amazing capability of our eyes and ears as detectors of light and sound waves.
DNA: life’s replicating book of recipes
You’ll learn about DNA's twin functions: as a store of the information required for life and as a molecule capable of replication, allowing its information to be inherited.
Proteins: how DNA makes life
Proteins are how inherited information is turned into life. This topic introduces how these fascinating molecules are made and the myriad of essential functions they carry out.
The multicellular organism: cells in harmony
The basic unit of life is the cell; most plants and animals are multicellular organisms. You’ll learn how, in a multicellular organism, different cell types are produced from the same set of instructions, and how multicellular organisms' health depends on each cell type working together.
Energy in society
In your third look at energy, you’ll explore the science of powering the world! You’ll look at fossil fuels, nuclear energy and renewable energy, and will meet one of the most famous equations in science, E = mc2.
You’ll also choose two topics you find most interesting or will study at a higher level. You’ll go on to complete investigation tasks on your chosen topics, and pick one to prepare a short presentation on:
The two distinct practical blocks cover (1) observation and (2) controlling variables. In the first, you’ll explore making observations and accurately recording them. You’ll take weather station readings and, in a team of fellow students, access a weather-data archive to address a question posed by your tutor. You’ll also undertake an online experiment from your choice of scientific discipline. In the second, you’ll take part in a group activity. You’ll then choose one activity from biology, chemistry, physics, Earth science, or environmental science and ecology.
A key aim of the module is to continue your development as an independent learner so that when confronted by something you don’t know, your response is ‘I don’t know that, how can I find out about it?’, rather than ‘I haven’t been taught that.’ So, alongside developing your understanding of key concepts in the various sciences, to enable you to embrace new ideas with increasing confidence, you’ll develop the following skills:
The following are activities you’ll engage in:
You’ll get help and support from an assigned tutor throughout your module.
They’ll help by:
Online tutorials run throughout the module. While they’re not compulsory, we strongly encourage you to participate. Where possible, we’ll make recordings available.
Course work includes:
Two of the four TMAs comprise mostly of activities you'll do as part of your weekly studies with little extra work. The practical blocks each have one TMA, assessing practical and collaborative skills.
The exam is based on materials such as articles, data, figures and graphs. These materials will be available in advance to help you prepare. As well as assessing your knowledge and skills, the exam is an introduction to taking university-level examinations. It will give you practice for future examined modules that affect your degree classification.
The School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences offers optional laboratory schools in Milton Keynes at an additional cost. Laboratory schools are not part of this module but may be of interest if you wish to gain relevant hands-on laboratory experience.
Further information and instructions for booking are on the SS011 website.
You’ll have access to a module website, which includes:
Additionally, the website includes:
You can study this module on its own or use the credits you gain towards an Open University qualification.
S112 is a compulsory module in our:
S112 is an option module in our:
Science: concepts and practice (S112) starts once a year – in October.
It will next start in October 2026.
We expect it to start for the last time in October 2027.
As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the academic regulations, which are available on our Student Policies and Regulations website.
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There may be extra costs on top of the tuition fee, such as set books, a computer and internet access.
If your income is not more than £25,000 or you receive a qualifying benefit, you might be eligible for help with some of these costs after your module has started.
There may be extra costs on top of the tuition fee, such as set books, a computer and internet access.
If your personal income is £25,000 or less, or you’re on certain benefits, you could qualify for a grant and OU top-up funding to cover 100% of your course fees. Apply online at the same time as you register on your module.
For more information on how to apply, visit our Part-Time Fee Grants for students in Scotland page.
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You pay the OU through OUSBA in one of the following ways:
Joint loan applications
If you feel you would be unable to obtain an OUSBA loan on your own due to credit history or affordability issues, OUSBA offers the option to apply for a joint loan application with a third party. For example, your husband, wife, partner, parent, sibling or friend. In such cases, OUSBA will be required to carry out additional affordability checks separately and/or collectively for both joint applicants who will be jointly and severally liable for loan repayments.
As additional affordability checks are required when processing joint loan applications, unfortunately, an instant decision cannot be given. On average, the processing time for a joint loan application is five working days from receipt of the required documentation.
Read more about Open University Student Budget Accounts (OUSBA).
Studying with The Open University can boost your employability. OU courses are recognised and respected by employers for their excellence and the commitment they take to complete. They also value the skills that students learn and can apply in the workplace.
Over 30,000 employers have used the OU to develop staff so far. If the module you’ve chosen is geared towards your job or developing your career, you could approach your employer to see if they will sponsor you by paying some or all of the fees.
You can pay part or all of your tuition fees upfront with a debit or credit card when you register for each module.
We accept American Express, Mastercard, Visa and Visa Electron.
We know that sometimes you may want to combine payment options. For example, you may wish to pay part of your tuition fee with a debit card and pay the remainder in instalments through an Open University Student Budget Account (OUSBA).
We know that sometimes you may want to combine payment options. For example, you may get support from your employer to pay part of your tuition fee and pay the remainder by credit or debit card.
For more information about combining payment options, contact an adviser.
Please note: your permanent address/domicile will affect your fee status and, therefore, the fees you are charged and any financial support available to you. The fee information provided here is valid for modules starting before 31 July 2026. Fees typically increase annually. For further information about the University's fee policy, visit our Fee Rules.
