This fully-resourced lesson explores how the structure of arteries, arterioles, capillaries, venules and veins relate to their functions. The engaging and detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 3.1.2 © of the OCR A-level Biology A specification. This lesson has been written to build on any prior knowledge from GCSE or earlier in this topic to enable students to fully understand why a particular type of blood vessel has particular features. Students will be able to make the connection between the narrow lumen and elastic tissue in the walls of arteries and the need to maintain the high pressure of the blood. A quick version of the GUESS WHO game is used to introduce smooth muscle and collagen in the tunica media and externa and again the reason for their presence is explored and explained. Moving forwards, it is quite likely that some students will not be aware of the transition vessels that are the arterioles. This section begins with an understanding of the need for these vessels because the structural and functional differences between arteries and capillaries is too significant. The action of the smooth muscle in the walls of these vessels is discussed and students will be challenged to describe a number of situations that would require blood to be redistributed. The middle part of the lesson looks at the role of the capillaries in exchange and links are made to diffusion to ensure that students can explain how the red blood cells pressing against the endothelium results in a short diffusion distance. The remainder of the lesson considers the structure of the veins and students are challenged to explain how the differences to those observed in arteries is due to the lower blood pressure found in these vessels. It is estimated that it will take at least 2 hours of allocated A-level Biology teaching time to cover the detail included in this lesson

This revision resource has been designed with the simple aim of motivating the students whilst they assess their understanding of the content found in module 4.2.2 (Classification and evolution) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification. This module is often brushed over by students which leads to misconceptions and therefore time has been taken to explain the important concepts so that key points are recalled and retained. The resource includes a detailed and engaging Powerpoint (85 slides) and associated worksheets, some of which are differentiated to allow students of differing abilities to access the work. The range of activities have been designed to cover as much of the content as possible but the following sub-topics have been given particular attention: The biological classification of a species Classification hierarchy The three-domain and five-kingdom classification The features of the five kingdoms Phylogenetic trees Anatomical, physiological and behavioural adaptations Calculating the standard deviation Continuous and discontinuous variation In addition to these topics, some topics from other modules such as cell division and prokaryotic cells are tested in order to challenge the students on their ability to make links between the modules. The range of activities include exam questions and understanding checks as well as quiz competitions to maintain student engagement.

This engaging lesson covers the final details of specification point 6.4.2 of the AQA A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to describe the causes and control of diabetes mellitus type I and II. The lesson has been designed to take place in a diabetes clinic where students will be challenged to perform a number of roles such as diagnosing a patient with either type I or II and to write a letter to this patient explaining how the disease was caused and any treatments that will be recommended to control the disease. It has been planned to build on the knowledge that they will have of these diseases from GCSE and links are made to other A-level topics such as the beta cells of the pancreas which they considered during the lesson on the control of blood glucose concentration. This lesson has been designed for students taking the AQA A-level Biology course and runs alongside the uploaded lesson on the control of blood glucose concentration as well as the other lessons that have been added on topic 6

This is a highly-detailed and fully-resourced lesson which covers the part of specification point 6.4.3 of the AQA A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to describe the roles of the hypothalamus, posterior pituitary and ADH in osmoregulation. Students learnt about the principles of homeostasis and negative feedback in an earlier lesson, so this lesson acts to build on that knowledge and challenges them to apply their knowledge. A wide range of activities have been included in the lesson to maintain motivation and engagement whilst the understanding and prior knowledge checks will allow the students to assess their progress as well as challenge themselves to make links to other Biology topics. The lesson begins with a discussion about how the percentage of water in urine can and will change depending on the blood water potential. Students will quickly be introduced to osmoregulation and they will learn that the osmoreceptors and the osmoregulatory centre are found in the hypothalamus. A considerable amount of time is taken to study the cell signalling between the hypothalamus and the posterior pituitary gland by looking at the specialised neurones (neurosecretory cells). Links are made to the topics of neurones, nerve impulses and synapses and the students are challenged to recall the cell body, axon and vesicles. The main section of the lesson forms a detailed description of the body’s detection and response to a low blood water potential. The students are guided through this section as they are given 2 or 3 options for each stage and they have to use their knowledge to select the correct statement. The final task asks the students to write a detailed description for the opposite stimulus and this task is differentiated so those who need extra assistance can still access the work. This lesson has been written for students studying on the AQA A-level Biology course and ties in nicely with the other uploaded lessons which cover this specification point as well as the whole of topic 6.

This is a highly-detailed and fully-resourced lesson which covers the detail of specification point 5.1.2 (d) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification which states that students should be able to demonstrate and apply an understanding of the roles of the hypothalamus, posterior pituitary, ADH and the collecting duct in the control of the water potential of the blood. Students learnt about the principles of homeostasis and negative feedback in an earlier module, so this lesson acts to build on that knowledge and challenges them to apply their knowledge. A wide range of activities have been included in the lesson to maintain motivation and engagement whilst the understanding and prior knowledge checks will allow the students to assess their progress as well as challenge themselves to make links to other Biology topics. The lesson begins with a discussion about how the percentage of water in urine can and will change depending on the blood water potential. Students will quickly be introduced to osmoregulation and they will learn that the osmoreceptors and the osmoregulatory centre are found in the hypothalamus. A considerable amount of time is taken to study the cell signalling between the hypothalamus and the posterior pituitary gland by looking at the specialised neurones (neurosecretory cells). Links are made to the topics of neurones, nerve impulses and synapses and the students are challenged to recall the cell body, axon and vesicles. The main section of the lesson forms a detailed description of the body’s detection and response to a low blood water potential. The students are guided through this section as they are given 2 or 3 options for each stage and they have to use their knowledge to select the correct statement. The final task asks the students to write a detailed description for the opposite stimulus and this task is differentiated so those who need extra assistance can still access the work. This lesson has been written for students studying on the OCR A-level Biology A course and ties in nicely with the other uploaded lessons in module 5.1.2 which include the structure of the nephron, ultrafiltration and selective reabsorption.

This fully-resourced lesson covers the content of the first part of specification point 5.1.3 (d) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification that states that students should be able to demonstrate and apply an understanding of the structures and roles of synapses in nervous transmission. The majority of the lesson uses the cholinergic synapse as the example but other neurotransmitters are considered to provide the students with a wider view of this topic. The lesson begins by using a version of the WALL (as shown in the cover image) which asks the students to group 12 words into three groups of 4. Not only will this challenge their prior knowledge from topics earlier in this module but it will also lead to the discovery of four of the structures that are found in a synapse. Moving forwards, students are introduced to aectylcholine as the neurotransmitter involved at cholinergic synapses and they will start to add labels to the structures found in the pre-synaptic bulb. Time is taken to focus on certain structures such as the voltage gated channels as these types of channel were met previously when looking at the depolarisation of a neurone. There is plenty of challenge and discovery as students are pushed to explain why organelles like mitochondria would be found in large numbers in the bulb. With this process being a cascade of events, a bullet point format is used to ensure that the key content is taken in by the students and again key points like exocytosis and the action of acetylcholinesterase are discussed further. The final part of the lesson challenges the application aspect of the specification as students are introduced to unfamiliar situations in terms of synapses with new drugs like MDMA and are asked to work out and explain how these affect the nervous transmission. Understanding checks and prior knowledge checks are included throughout the lesson so that students can not only assess their progress against the current topic but also see whether they can make links to earlier topics. This lesson has been designed for students studying the OCR A-level Biology A course but could be used with very able GCSE students who are keen to develop their understanding of synapses over and above the small detail that is provided at that level. This lesson also ties in nicely with the other uploaded lessons from module 5.1.3 (neuronal communication) which are sensory receptors, neurones, nerve impulses and summation.

This engaging and fully-resourced lesson covers the content of specification points 5.1.4 (e and f) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification which states that students should be able to demonstrate and apply an understanding of the differences between diabetes mellitus type I and II and the potential treatments of this disease. The lesson has been designed to take place in a diabetes clinic where students will be challenged to perform a number of roles such as diagnosing a patient with either type I or II and to write a letter to this patient explaining how the disease was caused and any treatments that will be recommended to control the disease. It has been planned to build on the knowledge that they will have of these diseases from GCSE and links are made to other A-level topics such as the beta cells of the pancreas which they considered during the lesson on the control of blood glucose concentration. The final part of the lesson looks at the potential treatments which include the genetic modification of bacteria. This topic is covered in greater detail in module 6.1.3 so this section of the lesson focuses on the enzymes involved as well as the plasmid DNA from a bacterial cell. This lesson has been designed for students studying the OCR A-level Biology A course and runs alongside the uploaded lesson on the control of blood glucose concentration as well as the other lessons that have been added for module 5.1.4

This fully-resourced lesson covers the content of the first part of specification point 6.2.2 of the AQA A-level Biology specification that states that students should be able to describe the detailed structure of a cholinergic synapse and a neuromuscular junction and be able to compare the transmission across both of these structures. The majority of the lesson uses the cholinergic synapse as the example but other neurotransmitters and drugs are considered so students are prepared to describe the differing effects on the synapse. The lesson begins by using a version of the WALL (as shown in the cover image) which asks the students to group 12 words into three groups of 4. Not only will this challenge their prior knowledge from topics earlier in this module but it will also lead to the discovery of four of the structures that are found in a synapse. Moving forwards, students are introduced to aectylcholine as the neurotransmitter involved at cholinergic synapses and they will start to add labels to the structures found in the pre-synaptic bulb. Time is taken to focus on certain structures such as the voltage gated channels as these types of channel were met previously when looking at the depolarisation of a neurone. There is plenty of challenge and discovery as students are pushed to explain why organelles like mitochondria would be found in large numbers in the bulb. With this process being a cascade of events, a bullet point format is used to ensure that the key content is taken in by the students and again key points like exocytosis and the action of acetylcholinesterase are discussed further. The next part of the lesson challenges the application aspect of the specification as students are introduced to unfamiliar situations in terms of synapses with new drugs like MDMA and are asked to work out and explain how these affect the nervous transmission. The final part of the lesson focuses on the NMJ and challenges the students to use the knowledge gained from earlier in the lesson to develop their understanding of these junctions. Time is taken to look at the structure of the sarcolemma to enable students to understand how the binding of the acetylcholine leads to the wave of depolarisation passing to the transverse tubules. Understanding checks and prior knowledge checks are included throughout the lesson so that students can not only assess their progress against the current topic but also see whether they can make links to earlier topics. This lesson has been designed for students studying the AQA A-level Biology course but could be used with very able GCSE students who are keen to develop their understanding of synapses over and above the small detail that is provided at that level. This lesson also ties in nicely with the other uploaded lessons from topic 6

This fully-resourced lesson is highly detailed and in combination with the uploaded lesson on the causes of diabetes type I and II, it covers all of specification point 6.4.2 of the AQA A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to describe the homeostatic control of blood glucose concentration using negative feedback mechanisms that release insulin or glucagon. A wide range of activities will maintain motivation and engagement whilst the content is covered in detail to enable the students to explain how the receptors in the pancreas detect the concentration change and how the hormones attaching to receptor sites on the liver triggers a series of events in this effector organ. This is a topic which has a huge amount of difficult terminology so time is taken to look at all of the key words, especially those which begin with the letter G so students are able to use them accurately in the correct context. The action of adrenaline is also considered and linked to the breakdown of glycogen to glucose during glycogenolysis. This lesson has been written for students studying on the AQA A-level Biology course and ties in with the already mentioned lesson on diabetes but also with the other uploaded lessons on topic 6 such as nerve impulses and kidney function

This is a fully-resourced lesson that covers the content of specification point 15.1 (k) of the CIE International A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to explain the sliding filament model of muscular contraction. The wide range of activities included in the lesson will engage and motivate the students whilst the understanding and previous knowledge checks will not only allow them to assess their progress but also challenge them to make links to other Biology topics. The start of the lesson is designed to encourage the students to consider how a sarcomere can narrow but the lengths of the myofilaments can remain the same. In doing so, they will be introduced to the idea of the sliding filament model and the main task of the lesson involves the formation of a bullet point description of this model where one event is the trigger for the next. Time is taken during this section to focus on the involvement of the calcium ions but also ATP and the idea of the sources of this molecule, including creatine phosphate, are discussed in more detail later in the lesson. The final part of the lesson involves students having to apply their knowledge by describing the effect on muscle contraction when a part of a structure is unable to function correctly. This lesson has been designed for students studying the CIE International A-level Biology course and ties in well with the other uploaded lessons on this topic, particularly the lesson which covers the ultrastructure of striated muscle

This lesson has been written to cover the 2nd part of specification point 14.1 (f) of the CIE International A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to describe how the process of selective reabsorption is involved in the formation of urine. It has specifically been designed to build on the knowledge gained in the previous lessons on the structure of the nephron and ultrafiltration. The lesson begins by challenging the students to recall the substances that are found in the glomerular filtrate so that each of them can be considered over the course of the rest of the lesson. Moving forwards, the first of the numerous discussion points which are included in the lesson is used to get students to predict the component of the filtrate which won’t be found in the urine when they are presented with pie charts from each of these situations. Upon learning that glucose is 100% reabsorbed, along with most of the ions and some of the water, the rest of the lesson focuses on describing the relationship between the structure of the PCT and the function of selective reabsorption. Again, this section begins by encouraging the students to discuss and to predict which structures they would expect to find in a section of the kidney if the function is to reabsorb. They are given the chance to see the structure (as shown in the cover image) before each feature is broken down to explain its importance. Time is taken to look at the role of the cotransporter proteins to explain how this allows glucose, along with sodium ions, to be reabsorbed from the lumen of the PCT into the epithelial cells. The final part of the lesson focuses on urea and how the concentration of this substance increases along the tubule as a result of the reabsorption of some of the water. This lesson has been designed for students studying on the CIE International A level Biology course and ties in closely with the other lessons on the kidney

This fully-resourced lesson explores the inheritance of sex-linked diseases in humans and then challenges the students to apply their knowledge to examples in other animals. The detailed PowerPoint and associated differentiated resources have been designed to cover the part of point 7.1 of the AQA A-level specification which states that students should be able to use fully-labelled genetic diagrams to predict the results of crosses involving sex-linkage. Key genetic terminology is used throughout and the lesson begins with a check on their ability to identify the definition of homologous chromosomes. Students will recall that the sex chromosomes are not fully homologous and that the smaller Y chromosome lacks some of the genes that are found on the X. This leads into one of the numerous discussion points, where students are encouraged to consider whether females or males are more likely to suffer from sex-linked diseases. In terms of humans, the lesson focuses on haemophilia and red-green colour blindness and a step-by-step guide is used to demonstrate how these specific genetic diagrams should be constructed and how the phenotypes should then be interpreted. The final tasks of the lesson challenge the students to carry out a dihybrid cross that involves a sex-linked disease and an autosomal disease before applying their knowledge to a question about chickens and how the rate of feather production in chicks can be used to determine gender. All of the tasks are differentiated so that students of differing abilities can access the work and all exam questions have fully-explained, visual markschemes to allow them to assess their progress and address any misconceptions

This lesson describes how the role of carrier of proteins and ATP in active transport and the co-transport of sodium ions and glucose in the ileum. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources are part of the final lesson in a series of 3 that have been designed to cover the details of point 2.3 of the AQA A-level Biology specification and also includes descriptions of endocytosis and exocytosis The start of the lesson focuses on the structure of this energy currency and challenges the students prior knowledge as they covered ATP in topic 1.6. As a result, they will recall that this molecule consists of adenine, ribose and three phosphate groups and that in order to release the stored energy, ATP must be hydrolysed. Time is taken to emphasise the key point that the hydrolysis of ATP can be coupled to energy-requiring reactions and this leads into a series of exam-style questions where students are challenged on their knowledge of simple and facilitated diffusion to recognise that ATP is needed for active transport. These questions also challenge them to compare active transport against the forms of passive transport and to use data from a bar chart to support this form of transport. In answering these questions they will discover that carrier proteins are specific to certain molecules and time is taken to look at the exact mechanism of these transmembrane proteins. A quick quiz round introduces endocytosis and the students will see how vesicles are involved along with the energy source of ATP to move large substances in or out of the cell. The students are then shown how exocytosis is involved in a synapse and in the release of ADH from the pituitary gland during osmoregulation which they will cover in later topics. The final part of the lesson describes the movement of sodium ions and glucose from the ileum to the epithelial cells to the blood using a range of proteins which includes cotransporter proteins and students will learn that similar mechanisms are seen in the phloem and in the proximal convoluted tubule.

This fully-resourced lesson describes the the overall reaction of photosynthesis that takes place in the grana and stroma of the chloroplast. The detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover points 5.1 & 5.5 in unit 4 of the Edexcel International A-level Biology specification and also describes the relationship between the structure and role of the chloroplast Students will have some knowledge of photosynthesis from iGCSE and were introduced to the ultrastructure of eukaryotic cells in topics 3 and 4 so this lesson has been written to test and to build on that knowledge. A version of the quiz show POINTLESS runs throughout the lesson and this maintains engagement whilst challenging the students to recall the parts of the chloroplast based on a description which is related to their function. The following structures are covered in this lesson: double membrane thylakoids (grana) stroma intergranal lamellae starch grains chloroplast DNA and ribosomes Once each structure has been recalled (or introduced) , a range of activities are used to ensure that key details are understood. As the main focus of the lesson is the reaction of photosynthesis, extra time is taken to introduce the details of the light-dependent and light-independent reactions that take place in the grana and stroma respectively. This includes descriptions of the role of the thylakoid membranes in the light-dependent reactions and the importance of ATP and reduced NADP for the reduction of GP to GALP in the Calvin cycle of the light-independent reactions. Links to other related topics are also made throughout and this is exemplified by the final task of the lesson where students are challenged on their recall of the structure, properties and function of starch (as originally covered in topic 1) As described above, this lesson has been specifically planned to prepare students for the upcoming lessons that cover the details of specification points 5.3 & 5.4 (i) and (ii).

This fully-resourced lesson provides examples of anatomical, behavioural and physiological adaptations of organisms to their environment. The engaging and detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 4.19 in unit 2 of the Edexcel International A-level Biology specification and also describes the concept of a niche and makes continual links to related topics such as natural selection A quick quiz competition at the start of the lesson introduces the different types of adaptation and a series of tasks are used to ensure that the students can distinguish between anatomical, behavioural and physiological adaptations. The Marram grass is used to test their understanding further, before a step by step guide describes how the lignified cells prevent a loss of turgidity. Moving forwards, the students are challenged to explain how the other adaptations of this grass help it to survive in its environment. A series of exam-style questions on the Mangrove family will challenge them to make links to other topics such as osmosis and the mark schemes are displayed to allow them to assess their understanding. The final part of the lesson focuses on the adaptations of the anteater but this time links are made to the upcoming topic of taxonomy so that students are prepared for this lesson on species and classification hierarchy.

This fully-resourced lesson describes how vaccinations are used to control disease and how immunity can be natural, artifical, active and passive. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover points 6.7 (v) & (vi) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification and there is also a description and discussion on the development of herd immunity. The previous lesson finished with a series of exam questions where students observed differences between the primary and secondary immune responses so the start of this lesson uses an imaginary game of TOP TRUMPS to challenge them on the depth of their understanding. This will act to remind them that a larger concentration of antibodies is produced in a quicker time in the secondary response. The importance of antibodies and the production of memory cells for the development of immunity is emphasised and this will be continually referenced as the lesson progresses. The students will learn that this response of the body to a pathogen that has entered the body through natural processes is natural active immunity. Moving forwards, time is taken to look at vaccinations as an example of artificial active immunity. Another series of questions focusing on the MMR vaccine will challenge the students to explain how the deliberate exposure to antigenic material activates the immune response and leads to the retention of memory cells. A quick quiz competition is used to introduce the variety of forms that the antigenic material can take along with examples of diseases that are vaccinated against using these methods. The eradication of smallpox is used to describe the concept of herd immunity and the students are given time to consider the scientific questions and concerns that arise when the use of this pathway is a possible option for a government. The remainder of the lesson looks at the different forms of passive immunity and describes the drawbacks in terms of the need for a full response if a pathogen is re-encountered.

This fully-resourced lesson describes the structure and general properties of slow and fast skeletal muscle fibres. The detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources are the second in a series of 2 lessons that cover the content detailed in point 6.3 of the AQA A-level Biology specification and due to the obvious links, this lesson also challenges the students on their knowledge of respiration, cell structures and biological molecules like glycogen and haemoglobin The following structure and properties are covered over the course of this lesson: Reliance on the aerobic or anaerobic pathways to generate ATP Resistance to fatigue mitochondrial density capillary density myoglobin content (and colour) fibre diameter phosphocreatine content glycogen content A wide variety of tasks are used to cover this content and include knowledge recall and application of knowledge exam-style questions with fully-displayed mark schemes as well as quick quiz competitions to maintain motivation and engagement. This lesson has been specifically planned to tie in with the previous lesson in topic 6.3, titled “Contraction of skeletal muscles”, and this lesson has been uploaded for free

This fully-resourced lesson describes the role of memory cells in the secondary immune response. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover specification point 6.7 (iv) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification but also contains a detailed description of the structure and function of antibodies and therefore covers this part of 6.7 (ii) As memory B cells differentiate into plasma cells that produce antibodies when a specific antigen is re-encountered, it was decided to link the immune responses and antibodies together in one lesson. The lesson begins by checking on the students incoming knowledge to ensure that they recognise that B cells differentiate into plasma cells and memory cells. This was introduced in a previous lesson on the specific immune response and students must be confident in their understanding if the development of immunity is to be understood. A couple of quick quiz competitions are then used to introduce key terms so that the structure of antibodies in terms of polypeptide chains, variable and constant regions and hinge regions are met. Time is taken to focus on the variable region and to explain how the specificity of this for a particular antigen allows neutralisation and agglutination to take place. The remainder of the lesson focuses on the differences between the primary and secondary immune responses and a series of exam-style questions will enable students to understand that the quicker production of a greater concentration of these antibodies in the secondary response is due to the retention of memory cells.

This lesson ensures that students know the meaning of key ecological terms and explains how biotic and abiotic factors control the distribution of organisms. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover points 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification and therefore cover the biological definitions of ecosystem, community, population and habitat. A quiz round called REVERSE Biology Bingo runs throughout the lesson and challenges students to recognise the following key terms from descriptions called out by the bingo caller: community ecosystem abiotic factor photosynthesis respiratory substrate biomass calorimetry distribution niche The ultimate aim of this quiz format is to support the students to understand that any sugars produced by photosynthesis that are not used as respiratory substrates are used to form biological molecules that form the biomass of a plant and that this can be estimated using calorimetry. Links are made to photosynthesis and net primary productivity as these will be met later in topic 5 as well as challenging their prior knowledge of adaptations, classification and biological molecules. The final part of the lesson uses an exam-style question to get the students to recognise that biotic and abiotic factors control the distribution of organisms in a habitat and to recall the concept of niche.