VCE Vet Laboratory Skills case studies
VCE Vet Laboratory Skills · Put your knowledge to work in context.
VCE VET Laboratory Skills is a vocational education and training program delivered to senior secondary students in Victoria, usually through a school or a registered training organisation partnering with one. It introduces the practical work of a working laboratory: keeping yourself and others safe, using instruments correctly, collecting and labelling samples, measuring accurately, recording results honestly, and understanding how a lab team communicates and manages its waste. The program suits students who enjoy hands-on science, are considering further study in science or health, or want an entry point into laboratory, pathology, food, environmental or manufacturing workplaces. Assessment typically combines written tasks, multiple-choice and short-answer questions, and practical performance observed against set criteria, so preparation should be balanced: know the underlying reasons for each procedure, then practise the procedure until it is fluent. The VCE Vet Laboratory Skills case studies are 5 cases and about 3,209 words.
1The Fume Cupboard That Wasn't Quite Working
It is Tuesday afternoon in a school laboratory. A Year 11 student, Priya, is preparing to dilute 50 mL of concentrated hydrochloric acid for a titration practical.
712 words, about 4 min2The Balance That Drifted
A laboratory assistant, Marcus, is preparing a series of standard solutions for a calibration curve. He weighs 2.500 g of a primary standard on an analytical balance.
598 words, about 3 min3The Sample That Sat Too Long
A courier delivers a batch of 12 water samples to a laboratory at 4:10 pm on Friday. The samples were collected the previous morning and stored in an esky with ice, but the ice has largely melted by the time they arrive.
623 words, about 3 min4The Autoclave Load
A laboratory technician, Dev, is loading an autoclave at the end of the day. The load includes: a bag of used agar plates, a flask of liquid broth, a sharps container that is three-quarters full, and a wrapped pack of glassware.
642 words, about 3 min5The Team That Didn't Hand Over
A laboratory runs two shifts. On Friday, the morning technician, Sophie, prepares a batch of diluted bleach solution for surface disinfection.
634 words, about 3 min