S206/SXF206-Environmental science

Are you ready for S206/SXF206? is a web-based set of diagnostic self-assessment questions for prospective students of either of these environmental science modules.

The questions are broken into two sets, one covering requisite mathematical skills and the other key scientific concepts. You will receive feedback on each question as you complete it, and, at the end, overall feedback on each set that should enable you to judge for yourself whether or not you have an appropriate level of knowledge to embark on Environmental science.

You should expect to spend a few hours working through the questions.

Is your computer ready for Are you ready for S206/SXF206?

You will need an appropriate web browser in order to complete the questions. We support

• Internet Explorer version 6 onwards.
• Firefox version 1 onwards. The latest version of Firefox can be obtained here.

Some questions make provision for you to enter superscripts (e.g. 1 × 10⁴) and subscripts (e.g. H₂O) that are unlikely to be supported by other browsers.

Click the link to run Are you ready for S206/SXF206?

Please note: if any interactive materials fail to load, please use the ‘Back’ button on your browser and click the link again to reload it.

Alternatively a PDF version is available 

Suggested prior OU study

In S206 and SXF206 it is assumed that you have a certain amount of existing scientific knowledge from your earlier studies. 

If you’re studying towards the environmental science (Q52) qualification or the Diploma of Higher Education in Environmental Science (W47), you need to register for SXF206. For this module, you should have studied the OU level 1 module Science: concepts and practice (S112) – or the discontinued module Exploring science (S104) – to make sure your scientific knowledge and skills are at the right level for SXF206. You should also have studied Environment: journeys through a changing world (U116) as this teaches many of the skills and scientific concepts developed in SXF206, and gives you an appreciation of how to approach issues from a multidisciplinary perspective.

For all qualifications apart from Q52 and W47, you should register for S206. For this module we recommend that you’ve passed Science: concepts and practice (S112), as it gives a broad foundation in the relevant science, maths and IT skills. Questions in Science (S111) and Environment: journeys through a changing world (U116) are also appropriate if you're confident in your maths skills. If you are unsure about your maths skills, Maths for science (S151) will prepare you with the maths knowledge you need to study S206.

If it has been a while since you studied an OU level 1 science module, we advise you to buy The Sciences Good Study Guide by A. Northedge et al. (2003, The Open University – ISBN 978-0749234119).

Preparation for S206 or SXF206

We have produced an S206/SXF206 Preparation website to help students to prepare properly for their studies on the module. If you find the ‘Are you ready for?’ questions hard, then we would strongly advise you to spend some time looking through this website, focussing on those areas that you need most help with. Even if you did well in the quiz, it would still be a good idea to take a look at the Preparation website. The quiz cannot cover all of the skills that you need, so there may well be topics there that you would find it useful to revise.