Science practical
As part of the ongoing nationwide compulsory laboratory practical activities for students of the Faculty of Sciences, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), science students at the Benin Study Centre, on Monday, May 8, 2023, have joined their counterparts in other parts of the country, to undergo their practical laboratory activities.
In a chat with NOUN News correspondent in Benin on Monday, a science assessor and physicist, Dr. Michael Awodu, revealed that in the course of the practical activities, students would be conducting experiments to determine the focal length of a convex lens.
Awodu, who was at the centre to supervise and assess the laboratory practicals, compared practical activities to the process through which a shopper seeks to determine the size, style and fitting of a shirt he has in mind to purchase.
“In terms of physics, when in search of a lens it is the focal length that is to be considered,” he explained .
In the same vein, another assessor and Chemistry scholar, Dr. Osaro Iyekowa, explained that there are special substances such as esters, which when synthesised can be used in the production of perfumes, deodorants, cream etc.
Iyekowa revealed that students, during the practicals, would demonstrate how those substances could be extracted and transformed for the making of products with sweet fragrance.
He also disclosed that the students would be taught how to separate different solvents by distillation, as well as getting them acquainted with the use of separating funnels.
The practical exercise has instigated an influx of students into the centre as students in large number were seen thronging the campus and robed in their lab coats .
The laboratory supervisors were also seen beautifully decked in their lab coats.
