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 lesson describes sex linkage, focusing on the the inheritance of genes on the X chromosome that lead to haemophilia and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover specification point [e] in topic 3 of A2 unit 4 of the WJEC A-level Biology specification.
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 and they will be challenged to find evidence to support this decision later in the lesson. In terms of humans, the lesson focuses on haemophilia 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 explains how to calculate the number of protons, neutrons and electrons in atoms and ions when given the atomic and mass numbers. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources are part of the second lesson in a series of 3 lessons which have been designed to cover the content of specification points 1.1.4, 1.1.5 & 1.1.6 of the AQA GCSE Chemistry and Combined Science specifications.
The lesson begins by challenging the students to put the chemical symbols for astatine, oxygen, iodine and carbon together to form the word atomic. Time is taken to explain the meaning of the atomic number and to emphasise how the number of protons in the nucleus is unique to atoms of that element. The students will learn that as the number of electrons is always the same as the number of protons in an atom, the atomic number can be used to calculate the numbers of both of these particles. Moving forwards, the mass number is considered and having been given the number of neutrons in a lithium atom, the students are challenged to articulate how the mass number and atomic number were used in this calculation. A series of worked examples are done as a class before the students are given the opportunity to challenge their understanding
The remainder of the lesson focuses on ions and how the number of protons, neutrons and electrons are calculated in these substances. Initially, the students are challenged to use their knowledge of the charge of an atom to deduce that ions must have differing numbers of protons and electrons. The standard annotation for ions are introduced and explained and a series of exam questions are then used to check understanding. Mark schemes for each of these final questions is embedded into the PowerPoint and the worksheet has been differentiated two ways
This lesson describes the key steps involved in transcription, the 1st stage of protein synthesis. The PowerPoint and accompanying resource are part of the first lesson in a series of 2 lessons which have been designed to cover the content of point 3.8 of the Edexcel GCSE Biology specification.
According to the specification, the students are expected to know this process in considerable detail, and the lesson has been planned to reflect this. In a previous lesson in topic 3, the students were introduced to the definition of a gene as a section of a DNA molecule that codes for the sequence of amino acids in a protein. They will learn that this represents coding DNA, so time is then taken to explain that not all DNA codes for proteins and that there are sections of non-coding DNA located in front and behind each gene. This is vital information as it leads into the start of the process, where the binding of RNA polymerase to a section of non-coding DNA located in front of the gene is the trigger for the start of transcription of that particular gene. Moving forwards, a step by step guide describes the key steps which include the lining up of the RNA nucleotides against the exposed bases and the formation of mRNA through the reactions catalysed by RNA polymerase. Students are given key details of RNA nucleotides, specifically the inclusion of uracil bases, and an understanding check challenges them to determine the sequence of RNA bases that will line up against a template strand. These current understanding checks along with prior knowledge checks are found throughout the lesson to allow the students to assess their progress and to challenge them to make links to previous lessons.
This lesson describes how the structure of the heart and the circulatory system is related to its function. The PowerPoint lesson and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the detail of point 8.8 of the Edexcel GCSE Biology and Combined Science specifications and includes descriptions of the role of the major blood vessels, the heart valves, and the relative thickness of the chamber walls.
The lesson starts with an extract from Friends and challenges the students to recognise that full sized aortic pumps is a thesaurus version of big hearts. This reiterates the basic function of the heart that was met at KS2 and KS3 and moving forwards, the students will learn that it is the contraction of the cardiac muscle in the walls of the four heart chambers that allows this to happen. Students are provided with a diagram throughout the lesson which will be annotated as new structures are encountered and they begin by labelling the two atria and ventricles. The focus of the lesson is the relationship between structure and function so time is taken to consider the different roles of the atria and ventricles, as well as the right ventricle versus the left ventricle. Students will be able to observe from their diagram that the left ventricle has the thickest wall and they will be challenged to explain why later in the lesson once more detailed knowledge has been added. The next part of the lesson introduces the pulmonary artery and vein and a task challenges the students to consider the relationship between the heart and the lungs, and their prior knowledge of the adaptations of the alveoli is also tested. The remainder of the lesson discusses the double circulatory system and the heart valves.
Understanding checks are found throughout the lesson and mark schemes are embedded into the PowerPoint to allow the students to assess their progress.
This is a fully-resourced lesson that looks at the role of transformers in the National Grid, explains why they increase or decrease potential difference and then uses the given equation to calculate potential difference or the number of turns on the primary or secondary coil. This lesson includes an informative lesson presentation (25 slides) and two question worksheets.
The lesson begins by introducing the devices that are transformers and showing the students that there are two types, step-up and step-down. Students will learn that step-up transformers increase the potential difference and step-down transformers decrease the potential difference. Moving forwards, a series of calculations are used to get the students to understand why these changes in potential difference occur. Students are guided through this section so that they are able to complete a summary passage about the roles of these devices. They will then be shown the equation connecting potential difference and number of turns which they do not need to recall but have to apply. Again, a worked example is used to visualise how workings should be set out before students are challenged to answer two sets of questions, the second of which involves the use of a second equation. Progress checks like these are found at regular intervals throughout the lesson so that students can assess their understanding.
This lesson has been written for GCSE students
This lesson describes the meaning of an isotope and explains how to calculate the relative atomic mass using the relative masses and abundance of its isotopes. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the detail of points 1.9, 1.11 & 1.12 of the Edexcel GCSE Chemistry & Combined Science specifications.
The early topic 1 lessons covered the meaning of the atomic and mass number and the calculation of the number of subatomic particles, and this lesson begins by challenging the recall of this key information. Moving forwards, a quick quiz competition is used to introduce the term “isotope” and then the students have to calculate the number of subatomic particles in K-39, K-40 and K-41 before using their answers to complete a definition about these types of substances. Time is taken to explain how isotopes are represented in standard annotation and the importance of the mass number is emphasised. A series of application questions are used to challenge them to apply their understanding and knowledge and mark schemes are embedded into the PowerPoint to allow the students to self-mark.
The remainder of the lesson explains how the existence of isotopes results in some elements having relative atomic masses that are not whole numbers and then explains how these masses can be calculated. Once an example is demonstrated, the students are again given the chance to apply their understanding to a series of questions, and this exam question worksheet has been differentiated two ways
This lesson describes the meaning of the respiratory quotient and guides students through the calculation of values from respiration equations. The PowerPoint and accompanying resource have been planned to cover the content of points 12.1 (5 & 6) of the CIE A-level biology specification (for assessment in 2025 - 2027).
The lesson begins with a recall challenge, where the students have to demonstrate their knowledge of ATP and relative energy values to reveal the two letters, RQ. The meaning of a quotient is provided and time allocated, where they are encouraged to discuss which two respiratory values might be used, using their brief knowledge of aerobic respiration from iGCSE. The formula is provided and then a worked example used to model the calculation. The obtained value of 1.0 is explained as the RQ if metabolism consists entirely of carbohydrates. Two exam-style questions are then used to challenge the students to apply their understanding and they’ll reveal the value of 0.7 for lipids. A quick quiz round introduces the range for amino acids as 0.8 - 0.9 before a final task gets them to obtain another value and to recognise that more than one type of molecule is often metabolised.
The lesson is full of understanding and prior knowledge checks, and the answers are embedded into the PowerPoint to allow students to assess their progress.
This lesson guides students through the respiratory quotient calculation and explains what the different calculated values indicate. The PowerPoint and accompanying resource have been planned to cover the content of point 7.6 of the Edexcel International A-level biology specification.
The lesson begins with a recall challenge, where the students have to demonstrate their knowledge of respiration to reveal the two letters, RQ. The meaning of a quotient is provided and time allocated, where they are encouraged to discuss which two respiratory values might be used. The formula is provided and then a worked example used to model the calculation. The obtained value of 1.0 is explained as the RQ if metabolism consists entirely of carbohydrates. Two exam-style questions are then used to challenge the students to apply their understanding and they’ll reveal the value of 0.7 for lipids. A quick quiz round introduces the range for amino acids as 0.8 - 0.9 before a final task gets them to obtain another value and to recognise that more than one type of molecule is often metabolised.
The lesson is full of understanding and prior knowledge checks, and the answers are embedded into the PowerPoint to allow students to assess their progress.
This lesson explains how labelled DNA probes can be used to screen patients for heritable conditions, their responses to drugs and to identify health risks. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the content of point 8.4.2 of the AQA A-level biology specification.
The lesson begins by introducing the BRCA genes, and the students will learn how faulty alleles of these two genes can increase an individual’s risk of developing breast cancer. Therefore, there is a need to be able to locate specific alleles like these, and this function is performed by DNA probes. The students are challenged to use the function of the probes to predict their structure and will understand that they are short lengths of single stranded DNA that have a base sequence complementary to the base sequence of part of the target allele. As shown in the cover image, a quick quiz round is used to introduce hybridisation as key term, to ensure that students recognise that the probe will bind if the complementary base sequence is encountered. Moving forwards, a DNA microarray is introduced to show that it’s possible to screen for multiple genes.
The remainder of the lesson considers how the DNA probes are used to screen for heritable conditions and drug responses, and real-life examples are used to increase relevance.
Prior knowledge checks are embedded throughout the lesson to encourage the students to make links to content from earlier topics including inheritance and genetic drift.
This bundle of 3 lessons covers all of the content in the sub-topic B3.3 (Maintaining internal environments) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics covered within these lessons include:
The importance of maintaining a constant internal environment in response to internal and external change
Explain how insulin controls blood sugar levels
Explain how glucagon controls blood sugar levels
Compare type I and II diabetes
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 bundle of 4 lessons covers the majority of the content in Topic C1i (Electrolysis) of the Edexcel iGCSE Chemistry specification. The topics and specification points covered within these lessons include:
Understand why ionic compounds conduct electricity only when molten or in aqueous solution
Describe experiments to investigate electrolysis of molten compounds and aqueous solutions
Write ionic half equations for the reactions at the electrodes
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 bundle of 3 lessons covers a lot of the content in Topic C5 (Electricity and chemistry) of the core and supplement sections of the Cambridge iGCSE Science Double Award specification. The topics and specification points covered within these lessons include:
Be able to describe electrolysis as the breakdown of an ionic compound when in molten form or in solution
Know the products at the electrodes for the electrolysis of molten salts and solutions
Be able to construct half-equations for the formation of elements at the electrodes
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
A deep understanding of the topic of cells is crucial for the success of any A-level Biologist and these lessons not only provide the depth of detail needed at this level but also make links to the upcoming 18 topics in the CIE course.
Contained within the 4 lesson PowerPoints and multiple resources that are included in this bundle are a wide range of activities to motivate and engage the students whilst they cover the content as detailed in topic 1.2 of the CIE A-level Biology specification. The majority of the resources are differentiated to allow students of differing abilities to access the work and to be challenged at all times.
The following specification points are covered in this bundle:
The relationship between the structure and function of the structures of eukaryotic cells
The structure and role of ATP in cells
The structural features of prokaryotic cells
Comparing eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells
The key features of viruses as non-cellular structures
If you would like to sample the quality of these lessons, then download the eukaryotic cell structures and functions and viruses lessons as these have been shared for free
This lesson bundle contains 3 lessons which have been intricately planned to build on the knowledge acquired in the previous lesson and in earlier topics of the course to allow students to gain a deep understanding of classification. The lesson PowerPoints and accompanying resources contain a wide range of tasks which will engage and motivate the students whilst all of the content of topic 18.2 of the CIE A-level Biology specification is covered as detailed below:
Describe the classification of species into the taxonomic hierarchy of domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species
The characteristic features of the three domains
The characteristic features of the kingdoms
The classification of viruses, separate to the three-domain model of classification of cellular organisms
If you would like to sample the quality of the lessons in this bundle, then download the “features of the kingdoms” lesson as this has been shared for free
This bundle of three lessons has been designed to cover the detail in points 1.1.4, 1.1.5 & 1.1.6 of the AQA GCSE Chemistry & Combined Science specifications which concern atomic structure. The lessons are fully resourced and are filled with a range of activities which will engage and motivate the students whilst challenging them on their current understanding as well as checking on their ability to make links to content covered earlier in topic 1.
If you would like to see the quality of these resources then download the size and mass of atoms lesson as this has been shared for free.
All 3 lessons included in this bundle are detailed and engaging and have been planned at length to cover the content of topic 5.3 of the AQA A-level biology specification, which is titled energy and ecosystems. The lessons contain a variety of tasks which introduce the biological content and then provide the students with opportunities to assess their understanding. There are also prior knowledge checks to make links to content from earlier in topic 5 and in topics 1 - 4. All the answers to the checks are embedded in the PowerPoint.
If you would like to check the quality of these lessons, download the lesson titled “GPP, NPP & N” as this has been shared for free.
Both of the lessons in this bundle are fully-resourced and have been planned to contain a variety of tasks which cover the following content in the populations topic (7.2) of the AQA A-level biology specification:
Species exist as one or more populations
The concepts of gene pool and allele frequency
Application of the Hardy-Weinberg equation
Both lessons contain understanding checks to allow students to assess their knowledge of the current topic as well as prior knowledge checks to encourage them to make links to content from earlier in topic 7 and from topics 1 - 6.
This lesson describes the location and functions of the cerebral hemispheres, cerebellum, medulla oblongata and hypothalamus and pituitary gland. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 8.14 of the Edexcel International A-level biology specification.
The lesson begins with a multiple-choice question, where the students will learn that cerebrum is the Latin word for brain. This brain structure is described as two hemispheres and students will be introduced to the localisation of function of the 4 lobes of the cerebral cortex. It moves onto the cerebellum, focusing on its role of perfecting and coordinating movement, and explains how this is achieved through neural connections with the cerebrum. The control of heart rate by the medulla oblongata was covered in topic 7 and their recollection of the connections between receptors, the control centre and the effectors is challenged before the lesson concludes with an exploration of the connections between the hypothalamus and the two lobes of the pituitary gland, specifically in the mechanism of thermoregulation.
This is an extensive lesson covering a lot of detail, so as shown in the cover image, the lesson plan contains 5 quiz rounds as part of a competition which will help to maintain engagement whilst checking on their recall and understanding of content. There are also multiple understanding and prior knowledge checks which allow the students to assess their progress against the current topic and to make links to previously covered content. All answers to these knowledge checks are embedded into the PowerPoint.
It is likely that this lesson will take between 2 - 3 hours of teaching time.
This lesson describes the location and functions of the cerebral hemispheres, cerebellum, medulla oblongata and hypothalamus. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 8.8 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level biology A (SNAB) specification and also includes descriptions of the link between the hypothalamus and the anterior and posterior lobes of the pituitary gland.
The lesson begins with a multiple-choice question, where the students will learn that cerebrum is the Latin word for brain. This brain structure is described as two hemispheres and students will be introduced to the localisation of function of the 4 lobes of the cerebral cortex. It moves onto the cerebellum, focusing on its role of perfecting and coordinating movement, and explains how this is achieved through neural connections with the cerebrum. The control of heart rate by the medulla oblongata is described before the lesson concludes with an exploration of the connections between the hypothalamus and the two lobes of the pituitary gland, specifically in the mechanisms of osmoregulation and thermoregulation.
This is an extensive lesson covering a lot of detail, so as shown in the cover image, the lesson plan contains 5 quiz rounds as part of a competition which will help to maintain engagement whilst checking on their recall and understanding of content. There are also multiple understanding and prior knowledge checks which allow the students to assess their progress against the current topic and to make links to previously covered content. All answers to these knowledge checks are embedded into the PowerPoint.
It is likely that this lesson will take between 2 - 3 hours of teaching time, but sections can be edited and removed if the teacher doesn’t want to look at a particular structure in that detail at this stage of study.
This extensive lesson describes the structure of the human brain and the functions of its parts. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to be in line with point 5.1.5 (h) of the OCR A-level biology A specification and therefore covers the gross structure of the human brain and the function of the cerebrum, cerebellum, medulla oblongata, hypothalamus and the pituitary gland.
The lesson begins with a knowledge recall challenge, where the students have to complete the diagram showing the organisation of the nervous system, as covered in the previous lesson. This reminds them that the brain is part of the CNS and also reintroduces the autonomic nervous system which will be useful when describing the medulla oblongata. As this is an extensive lesson covering a lot of detail, it has been planned to contain 5 quiz rounds as part of a competition which will help to maintain engagement whilst checking on their recall and understanding of content. There are also multiple understanding and prior knowledge checks which allow the students to assess their progress against the current topic and to make links to previously covered content. All answers to these knowledge checks are embedded into the PowerPoint.
The lesson describes the structure of the cerebrum as two hemispheres and then considers the localisation of function of the 4 lobes of the cerebral cortex. It moves onto the cerebellum, focusing on its role of perfecting and coordinating movement, and explains how this is achieved through neural connections with the cerebrum. The control of heart rate by the medulla oblongata is described before the lesson concludes with an exploration of the connections between the hypothalamus and the two lobes of the pituitary gland, specifically in the mechanisms of osmoregulation and thermoregulation.
Two of the worksheets have been modified to allow students of different understanding levels to access the work.
It is likely that this lesson will take between 2 - 3 hours of teaching time, but sections can be edited and removed if the teacher doesn’t want to look at a particular structure in that detail at this stage of study.