A Science teacher by trade, I've also been known to be found teaching Maths and PE! However, strange as it may seem, my real love is designing resources that can be used by other teachers to maximise the experience of the students. I am constantly thinking of new ways to engage a student with a topic and try to implement that in the design of the lessons.
A Science teacher by trade, I've also been known to be found teaching Maths and PE! However, strange as it may seem, my real love is designing resources that can be used by other teachers to maximise the experience of the students. I am constantly thinking of new ways to engage a student with a topic and try to implement that in the design of the lessons.
This bundle of 10 lessons covers the majority of the content in Topic C2 (Bonding, structure and properties of matter) of the AQA Trilogy GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics covered within these lessons include:
Formation of ions
Ionic bonding
Ionic compounds
Covalent bonding
Metallic bonding
Simple molecular substances
Polymers and Giant covalent structures
Allotropes of carbon
States of matter
Changing state
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This is a detailed and engaging lesson presentation (59 slides) that combines exam questions and progress checks along with quiz competition rounds to enable students to assess their understanding of the specification content within topics C1 - 3 of the OCR GCSE Combined Science Gateway A 9 - 1 as can be assessed in Paper 3.
All of the exam questions and progress checks have displayed answers as well as sections where content is recapped so that students can understand how an answer was obtained.
The revision rounds in the competition include “The need to BALANCE”, “Number crazy” and “React to the REACTION”.
This lesson has been designed for GCSE students.
This fully-resourced REVISION LESSON has been designed to provide the students with numerous opportunities to assess their understanding of the content of module 5.2.2 (Respiration) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification. The importance of this metabolic reaction is obvious and this is reflected in the volume of questions in the terminal exams which require an in depth knowledge of the stages of both aerobic and anaerobic respiration.
The lesson contains a wide range of activities that cover the following points of the specification:
Glycolysis as a stage of aerobic and anaerobic respiration
The use and production of ATP through respiration
Anaerobic respiration in mammalian muscle tissue
The stages of aerobic respiration that occur in the mitochondrial matrix
Oxidative phosphorylation
The use of respirometers
Calculating the respiratory quotient value for different respiratory substrates
Revision lessons which cover the other sub-modules of module 5 are uploaded and tie in well with this content
A fully resourced revision lesson that uses a combination of exam questions, understanding checks, quick tasks and quiz competitions to help the students to assess their understanding of the topics found within unit C9 (Chemistry of the atmosphere) of the AQA GCSE Combined Science specification (specification point C5.9).
The topics that are tested within the lesson include:
The proportion of different gases in the atmosphere
The Earth’s early atmosphere
Greenhouse gases
Atmospheric pollutants
Students will be engaged through the numerous quiz rounds whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which require further attention
This fully-resourced lesson focuses on the events of meiosis which specifically contribute to genetic variation. The detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the 4th and final part of point 4.3 of the AQA A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to describe how meiosis produces daughter cells that are genetically different from each other.
In order to understand how the events of meiosis like crossing over and random assortment and independent segregation can lead to variation, students need to be clear in their understanding that DNA replication in interphase results in homologous chromosomes as pairs of sister chromatids. Therefore the beginning of the lesson focuses on the chromosomes in the parent cell and this first part of the cycle and students will be introduced to non-sister chromatids and the fact that they may contain different alleles which is important for the exchange that occurs during crossing over. Time is taken to go through this event in prophase I in a step by step guide so that the students can recognise that the result can be new combinations of alleles that were not present in the parent cell. Moving forwards, the lesson explores how the independent segregation of chromosomes and chromatids during anaphase I and II results in genetically different gametes. The final part of the lesson looks at the use of a mathematical expression to calculate the possible combinations of alleles in gametes as well as in a zygote following the random fertilisation of haploid gametes. Understanding and prior knowledge checks are interspersed throughout the lesson as well as a series of exam questions which challenge the students to apply their knowledge to potentially unfamiliar situations.
Due to the detail of this lesson, it is estimated that this will take about 2 hours of A-level teaching time to deliver
This is a fully-resourced revision resource which has been designed to encourage students to evaluate their understanding of the content in TOPIC 4 of the AQA A-level Biology specification (Genetic information, variation and relationships between organisms) . The resource includes an engaging PowerPoint (96 slides) and associated worksheets, some of which have been differentiated to allow those struggling with the content to access the work.
The wide range of activities which includes exam questions, quick tasks and quiz competitions will motivate the students whilst they assess their knowledge and recognise those areas which require even further attention. The lesson has been designed to cover as many sub-topics as possible but the following have been given particular attention:
Classification hierarchy
DNA in prokaryotes and eukaryotes
The binomial naming system
Phylogeny
Modern day classification using biological molecules
Calculating biodiversity
Selection pressures and types of selections
Transcription
Gene mutations
Physiological, behavioural and anatomical adaptations
Meiosis and variation
Non-disjunction
The mathematical element of this topic and the course is challenged throughout the lesson and helpful hints are regularly provided to help students to structure their answers. This resource can be used as a revision aid at the end of the topic, in the lead up to AS or A2 mocks or in the lead up to the actual terminal A-level exams.
An engaging lesson presentation (75 slides) and associated worksheets that uses a combination of exam questions, quick tasks and quiz competitions to help the students to assess their understanding of the topics found within unit B7(Ecology) of the AQA GCSE Biology specification (specification unit B4.7).
The topics that are tested within the lesson include:
Communities
Abiotic factors
Biotic factors
Levels of organisation
Recycling materials
Decomposition
Deforestation
Global warming
Trophic levels
Pyramids of biomass
Transfer of biomass
Students will be engaged through the numerous activities including quiz rounds like “Number CRAZY" whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which need further attention
This is a fully-resourced lesson that looks at the meaning of a limiting reactant in a chemical reaction and guides students through how to apply this to a number of calculations. Step by step guides are used to go through worked examples so students are able to visualise how to set out their work.
The lesson begins with a fun analogy involving sausages and potatoes so that students can identify that the potatoes limited the sale of food. Alongside this, students will learn the key term excess. Some time is then taken to ensure that students can spot the limiting reactant and the one in excess in actual chemical reactions and method descriptions. Moving forwards, students will be guided through two calculations that involve limiting reactants - those to calculate the theoretical yield and the other to calculate a balanced symbol equation. Other skills involved in these calculations such as calculating the relative formula mass are recalled and a few examples given to ensure they are confident. The question worksheet has been differentiated two ways so that any students who need extra assistance can still access the learning.
This lesson has been written for GCSE students.
An engaging lesson presentation (70 slides) and associated worksheets that uses a combination of exam questions, quick tasks and quiz competitions to help the students to assess their understanding of the topics found within unit C2 (Bonding, structure and properties of matter) of the AQA GCSE Combined Science specification (specification point C5.2)
The topics that are tested within the lesson include:
Chemical bonds
Ionic bonding
Ionic compounds
Properties of ionic compounds
Covalent bonding
Metallic bonding
Properties of metals and alloys
The three states of matter
State symbols
Structure and bonding of carbon
Students will be engaged through the numerous activities including quiz rounds like “The name’s BOND…” whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which need further attention
This bundle of 6 revision lessons challenges the students on their knowledge of the content of all of the topics that are detailed in the Edexcel GCSE Combined Science specification and can be assessed on the 6 terminal GCSE papers. Specifically, the range of tasks which include exam-style questions (with displayed answers), quiz competitions and discussion points, have been designed for students taking the FOUNDATION TIER papers but could also be used with students taking the higher tier who need to ensure that the key points are embedded on some topics.
The majority of the tasks are differentiated 2 or 3 ways so that a range of abilities can access the work whilst remaining challenged by the content.
If you would like to see the quality of these lessons, download the paper 2, 4 and 6 revision lessons as these have been shared for free
This lesson describes the uses and implications of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling. The lesson PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets have been primarily designed to cover point 2.15 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification but regular links are made to the earlier content of topics 1 & 2, and their knowledge of topics including the heart and circulation, monohybrid inheritance and cystic fibrosis are tested.
The lesson begins by challenging them to use this prior knowledge of topic 2 to identify the letters in the abbreviations PGD and CVS. The involvement of IVF to obtain the embryos (or oocytes) is then discussed and a series of exam-style questions are used to get them to understand how this method screens embryos prior to implantation, so that those identified as having genetic diseases or being carriers are not inserted into the female’s uterus. Mark schemes for all of the questions included in this lesson are embedded into the PowerPoint so students can constantly assess their progress.
Moving forwards, Down syndrome (trisomy 21) is used as an example of a chromosomal abnormality that can be tested for using CVS or amniocentesis. Time is taken to describe the key details of both of these procedures so students have a clear understanding of the implications and the invasiveness to the female being tested. The link between amniocentesis and an increased risk of miscarriage is considered and the results of a 2006 study are used to challenge them on their data skills.
This lesson describes how to obtain and use sampling results to calculate an estimate for the population size of a sessile, slow-moving or motile organism. The PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets are part of the second lesson in a series of 4 lessons that have been designed to cover the content of topic 7.4 (Populations in ecosystems) of the AQA A-level Biology specification and includes descriptions of the use of randomly placed quadrats, quadrats along a belt transect and the mark-release-recapture method.
As you can see from the image, step by step guides are included in the lesson that walk the students through each stage of the calculations and these are followed by opportunities to challenge their understanding by answering exam-style questions. Mark schemes for the 7 questions that are answered over the course of the lesson are embedded into the PowerPoint and this allows the students to assess their progress. When considering the mark-release-recapture method, the assumptions that are made and the precautions that need to be taken are considered and the students are challenged to link the changes in the numbers of rabbits to the topic of stabilising selection.
A highly engaging lesson that looks at the structures that are found in the 1st line of defence and explores the methods of action use by phagocytes and lymphocytes. This lesson has been designed for GCSE students but could be used as an initial recap with A-level students before they go on to learn this topic in greater detail
The lesson begins by introducing the meaning of the 1st line of defence. A quick competition is used to challenge the students to recognise the names of some of these structures when their names have some letters missing. Time is taken to discuss the action of the cilia and skin and then students are challenged to make links to the related topics of enzymes and pH as they complete a passage about the role of hydrochloric acid in the stomach. Moving forwards, students will learn that there are two types of white blood cells, phagocytes and lymphocytes, and the details of their actions is explored. Key points such as the specificity of antibodies and the involvement of enzymes are discussed in detail so that this topic can be understood to the depth needed at this level. In addition to a number of games to maintain engagement, progress checks are written into this at regular intervals to allow the students to assess their understanding.
This lesson focuses on the key terms associated with ecosystems and describes how populations are affected by a range of factors. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources are part of the 1st lesson in a series of 4 lessons that cover the details of point 7.4 of the AQA A-level Biology specification
As shown in the cover image, a modified version of the quiz competition BLOCKBUSTERS runs throughout the lesson and this introduces new terms as well as challenging students to recall key terms that were encountered in previous topics. These include population, ecosystems, competition, niche, abiotic factors and carrying capacity. Each time a term is met, time is taken to describe its meaning and to explain its relevance and context in this topic of populations in ecosystems. Exam-style questions are also used to challenge the students to apply their understanding and displayed mark schemes allow them to assess their progress. Prior knowledge checks interspersed within the lesson which check on topics such as the nitrogen cycle, adaptations and the biological classification of a species
An engaging lesson presentation (63 slides) and associated worksheets that uses a combination of exam questions, quick tasks and quiz competitions to help the students to assess their understanding of the topics found within the Chemistry unit C3 (Quantitative chemistry) of the AQA GCSE Combined Science specification (specification point C5.3). The lesson includes useful hints and tips to encourage success in assessments. For example, students are shown how to recognise whether to use Avogadro’s constant or the moles formula in a moles calculation question.
The topics that are tested within the lesson include:
Conservation of mass and balanced symbol equations
Relative formula mass
Mass changes when a reactant or product is a gas
Moles
Amounts of substances in equations
Concentration of solutions
Students will be engaged through the numerous activities including quiz rounds like “Number CRAZY” and “Are you on FORM” whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which need further attention
This is an engaging REVISION lesson which uses a range of exam questions, understanding checks, quick tasks and quiz competitions to enable students to assess their understanding of the content within topic 2 (Electricity) of the AQA GCSE Physics (8463) specification.
The specification points that are covered in this revision lesson include:
Standard circuit diagram symbols
Current, resistance and potential difference
Resistors
Series and parallel circuits
Direct and alternating potential difference
Mains electricity
Power
Static charge
The students will thoroughly enjoy the range of activities, which include quiz competitions such as “GRAFT over these GRAPHS” where they have to compete to be the 1st to recognise one of the graphs associated with the resistors whilst all the time evaluating and assessing which areas of this topic will need their further attention. This lesson can be used as revision resource at the end of the topic or in the lead up to mocks or the actual GCSE exams
An engaging lesson presentation (64 slides) and associated worksheets that uses a combination of exam questions, quick tasks and quiz competitions to help the students to assess their understanding of the topics found within unit C2 (Elements, compounds and mixtures) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Chemistry specification.
The topics that are tested within the lesson include:
Relative formula mass
Empirical formula
Pure and impure substances
Separation methods
Electronic structures
Forming ions
Ionic compounds
Simple molecules
Giant covalent substances
Carbon
Nanoparticles
Students will be engaged through the numerous activities including quiz rounds like “SEPARATE the fact from the fiction” and “Higher or Lower” whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which need further attention
An engaging and informative lesson presentation (43 slides) that shows students how to write accurate chemical formulae for ionic compounds.
In order to write accurate chemical formulae, students need to know the charges of the ions involved. For this reason, the lesson begins by reminding students how they can use the Periodic Table to work out the charge of the charged atoms. Students are shown how they can use these ion charges to write the formula and then are given the opportunity to apply this to a number of examples. Moving forwards, students are shown how some formulae need to contain brackets. The lesson finishes with a competition called “Ye Olde Chemical Formula Shop” where students get points if they are the first to work out the formula of a given substance.
This lesson has been written for GCSE students.
This is a fully-resourced revision lesson that includes a detailed and engaging powerpoint (81 slides) that uses a combination of exam questions, understanding checks, quick differentiated tasks and quiz competitions to enable students to assess their understanding of the content found within Topic 8 (Grey Matter) of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification.
The specification points that are tested within the lesson include:
Know the structure and function of sensory, relay and motor neurones including the role of Schwann cells and myelination.
Understand how the nervous systems of organisms can cause effectors to respond to a stimulus.
Understand how the pupil dilates and contracts.
Understand how a nerve impulse (action potential) is conducted along an axon including changes in membrane permeability to sodium and potassium ions and the role of the myelination in saltatory conduction.
Know the structure and function of synapses in nerve impulse transmission, including the role of neurotransmitters, including acetylcholine.
Understand how IAA bring about responses in plants to environmental cues
Know the location and functions of the cerebral hemispheres, hypothalamus, cerebellum and medulla oblongata in the human brain.
Understand how magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) scans are used in medical diagnosis and the investigation of brain structure and function.
Understand how imbalances in certain, naturally occurring brain chemicals can contribute to ill health, including dopamine in Parkinson’s disease and serotonin in depression, and to the development of new drugs.
Understand the effects of drugs on synaptic transmissions, including the use of L-Dopa in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and the action of MDMA in Ecstasy.
Students will be engaged by the numerous quiz rounds such as “From NUMBERS 2 LETTERS” and “COMMUNICATE the WORD” whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which require their further attention during general revision or during the lead up to the actual A-level terminal exams
This bundle of 9 revision lessons covers the specification content in all of the topics of the Pearson Edexcel GCSE Biology 9-1 specification.
Topic 1: Key concepts in Biology
Topic 2: Cells and control
Topic 3: Genetics
Topic 4: Natural selection and modification
Topic 5: Health, disease and the development of medicines
Topic 6: Plant structures and functions
Topic 7: Animal coordination, control and homeostasis
Topic 8: Exchange and transport in animals
Topic 9: Ecosystems and material cycles
All of the lessons have been written to include a range of activities to engage the students whilst enabling them to assess and evaluate their content knowledge so that they recognise those areas which will need further attention prior to the exams.