This is a fully-resourced lesson that explores the meaning of irradiation and contamination and challenges the students to make links to the different types of radiation in order to state which type of radiation is most dangerous outside of the body and inside the body. This lesson includes an engaging lesson presentation (28 slides) and a differentiated worksheet which gives assistance to those students who find the task of writing the letter difficult. The lesson has been written to include real life examples to try to make the subject matter more relevant to the students. Therefore, whilst meeting the term contamination, they will briefly read about the incident with Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 to understand how the radiation entered the body. Moving forwards, students will learn that there are examples of consensual contamination such as the injection of an isotope to act as a tracer. At this point of the lesson, links are made to the topic of decay and half-lives and students are challenged to pick an appropriate isotope based on the half-life and then to write a letter to the patient explaining why they made their choice. The remainder of the lesson challenges students to decide which type or types of radiation are most dangerous when an individual is irradiated or contaminated and to explain their answers. This type of progress check can be found throughout the lesson along with a number of quick competitions which act to maintain engagement as well as introduce new terms. This lesson has been written for GCSE aged students

This is a detailed lesson which looks at the topic of reaction times and guides students through calculating a reaction time using the results of the well known ruler-drop test. In addition, students will see how reaction times can be applied in athletics but also in the calculation of the thinking distance for drivers. The lesson includes an engaging lesson presentation (32 slides) and a student task worksheet. The lesson begins by introducing the key term, reaction time, and teaching students that the average reaction time is 0.2 seconds. Moving forwards, a step by step guide is used to show the students how to take the value for distance travelled by a ruler in the drop test and use the equations of motion and change in velocity equation to calculate the reaction time. There is a large mathematical element to the lesson which challenges the students ability to rearrange formula, convert between units and leave answers to a specified number of significant figures. The answers and methods in obtaining these are always displayed at the end of each task so that the students can assess their understanding and recognise where errors were made if any were. Students will have to follow the provided method to obtain 5 results in the ruler drop test and ultimately find out their own reaction time. The remainder of the lesson looks at how the thinking distance at different speeds can be calculated. This lesson has been written for GCSE students due to the high maths content but could be used with younger students of high ability.

This is a fast-paced lesson that looks at how particle size affects the rate of reaction and challenges the students to carry out a practical to obtain valid results to back up the theory. It is a fully-resourced lesson that consists of an engaging lesson presentation (19 slides) and a calculation worksheet which is differentiated two ways to enable those students who find the maths hard to have a way to access the learning. Students are guided through a method of calculating the surface area and volume of the object and calculating the surface area to volume ratio. Using the answers to their calculations, they will complete a summary passage which explains why having more exposed reacting particles leads to an increased rate of reaction. Students will then carry out a practical where they have to determine which cube of jelly to use to make jelly the fastest in order to test their summary passage is valid. This lesson has been designed for GCSE students but could be used with younger students looking at chemical reactions and investigating the factors that affect the rate.

This is a fully-resourced lesson that uses a variety of tasks and quick competitions to look at what happens to sound waves when they hit a boundary and how these properties are utilised for numerous functions and appliances. This lesson includes an engaging and informative lesson presentation (32 slides) and a worksheet which is differentiated two ways to enable students who are finding the topic difficult a chance to access the learning. The lesson begins by looking at how sound waves can be reflected and how this is commonly known as an echo. Students are challenged to use a provided equation to calculate a distance by using the time that the echo of a shout takes to be heard in the Grand Canyon. Moving forwards, students will see how this idea of reflection can be used with ultrasound in the imaging of the foetus. At this stage, as the cover image shows, students are challenged to complete a doctor’s letter to an expectant mother who is concerned about the ultrasound procedure. Assistance is given in the form of a differentiated worksheet for those who find it difficult. Moving forwards, students will learn that sound waves can be refracted at a boundary, just as light waves can. Working with the teacher, they will use key terms to build up an exemplar definition to explain how this refraction occurs. This lesson has been designed for GCSE aged students.

This is a fully-resourced lesson that looks at the reflection of light waves and uses a series of practical based tasks to discover the rules of reflection as well as introducing the critical angle. In addition, students will encounter how total internal reflection can be used in medicine in endoscopy and will be challenged to carry out a task where they act as a doctor to explain to a patient how the procedure works. The lesson contains a variety of tasks, progress checks to check on understanding and a few quick competitions, which introduce key terms. For example, the cover image shows one of these competitions called REFLECT THE WORD where students have to work out the key term - the normal in this case. The understanding of key terminology such as the normal is important so that students can construct ray diagrams in this lesson and in associated topics such as refraction. This lesson has been designed for GCSE aged students but could be used with younger students who are looking to go into this topic in greater depth than perhaps would normally be encountered at their level

This is a fully-resourced lesson that looks at the different parts of the National Grid, specifically focusing on the roles of the step-up and step-down transformers. The lesson includes an informative lesson presentation (25 slides) and a calculations worksheet which challenges the students to apply their mathematical skills to work out why the potential difference is increased and decreased by the transformers. Time has been taken to make links to related topics such as electrical circuits as well as the conservation of energy. Students will recognise that a high current would have led to a lot energy being dissipated to a thermal energy store if step-up transformers weren’t involved and also that decreasing the potential difference before it enters the homes as mains electricity is important to reduce the risk of electrocution. A number of quick competitions are used to introduce key terms or to check on understanding such as ORDER, ORDER which is shown on the cover image where students have to recognise when the parts of the National Grid are finally shown in the correct order. This lesson has been designed for GCSE aged students.

This is an engaging and informative lesson that looks at the wires inside a UK plug and considers their role in terms of the supply of mains electricity. The safety features of the plug, such as the fuse, are also discussed so that students can understand how a particular fuse is chosen. As the cover image shows, the lesson begins by challenging the students to use their knowledge of all three of the Sciences to come up with the three names of the wires. Some students will know that these are the wires in a UK plug but some wont. Key terminology such as three-core cable is used throughout, as well as a running theme with the colours, so that students become accustomed to identifying a particular wire by its plastic insulation. Through a range of tasks which encourage student discovery and educated predictions, the students will learn the functions of each of the wires as well as their potential difference. The fuse is introduced to the students and links are made to the electrical circuits topic by considering the resistance of the wire inside the fuse and challenging them to use the electrical power equation to calculate a current and choose an appropriate fuse for that plug. The aim of the lesson is to get students to absorb information as the lesson progresses in order to eventually label a black and white diagram of the plug. The last part of the lesson looks at two-core cables and then relates this back to the importance of the earth wire in a UK plug. This lesson has been written for GCSE aged students but is suitable for use with younger students who are learning about this topic.

This is a fully-resourced lesson that looks at the functional and structural differences between the transport tissues in a plant, the xylem and phloem. The lesson includes an engaging lesson presentation (41 slides), which includes numerous student-led tasks, progress checks and quick competitions and two question worksheets, one of which is a differentiated version to enable those students who are finding this topic difficult to still be able to access the learning. The lesson begins with the introduction of the two tissues as well as a brief introduction to the substances which they each carry. The next part of the lesson focuses on the xylem cells and the resulting xylem vessel, and key terms such as lignin are brought into the lesson so that students can understand how these cells are waterproofed, which causes them to decay and form hollow tubes. Having met a lot of information, students are challenged to act like an examiner to form a table based question to compare the xylem against the phloem where they have to come up with features which could be compared against. This table will form the backbone of the lesson and students will use it later in the lesson when they have to write summary passages about each of the tissues. Moving forwards, a quick competition is used to enable the students to meet the names of the cells that form the phloem tissue, the sieve tube elements and the companion cells. Students will see how they are involved in the functioning of the phloem and questions are posed which relate to other topics such as the involvement of mitochondria wherever active transport occurs. Progress checks like this are found at regular intervals throughout the lesson so that students can constantly assess their understanding. This lesson has been designed for GCSE students. If you are looking to teach about these tissues but to a higher standard, you could use my uploaded alternative called Xylem and Phloem (A-level)