I am a secondary science teacher from Plymouth, United Kingdom. I have a passion for designing interactive, engaging and well scaffolded resources that are inclusive for all pupils. I teach all years, from years 7-13. I teach KS3 Activate (Biology, Chemistry and Physics), AQA GCSE Combined Science Trilogy (Biology and Chemistry), AQA GCSE Biology, AQA GCSE Chemistry, and A Level Biology (OCR A).
I am a secondary science teacher from Plymouth, United Kingdom. I have a passion for designing interactive, engaging and well scaffolded resources that are inclusive for all pupils. I teach all years, from years 7-13. I teach KS3 Activate (Biology, Chemistry and Physics), AQA GCSE Combined Science Trilogy (Biology and Chemistry), AQA GCSE Biology, AQA GCSE Chemistry, and A Level Biology (OCR A).
This lesson is designed for a year 7 class studying the KS3 Activate curriculum.
This lesson is focused on the menstrual cycle.
From this lesson, students should be able to describe the main changes that occur during the menstrual cycle, mostly linked to the thickness of the uterine lining.
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 8 class.
This is the 7th lesson in “Chapter 1 - Health and Lifestyle” from Activate 2, Biology.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Biology class, even by those where Biology is not their specialism.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Define the term ‘drug’
Describe the difference between medicinal drugs and recreational drugs
Name some examples of illegal drugs
Describe the effects of recreational drugs on the body
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This is the 4th lesson in “Chapter 4 - Acids and Alkalis” from Activate 1, Chemistry.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Chemistry class, even by those where Chemistry is not their specialism.
This lesson includes a practical demo (universal indicator rainbow).
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Define the term ‘base’ and identify bases by name (metal oxides, metal hydroxides and metal carbonates)
Describe how pH changes during a neutralisation reaction
Explain how antacids work
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 8 class.
This is the 1st lesson in “Chapter 1 - Electricity and Magnetism” from Activate 2, Physics.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
This lesson contains a number of practical demonstrations on static electricity (comb bending water, balloon and hair, balloon rolling a can).
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Label an atom and describe the charge of each subatomic particle
Describe how charged particles interact (attract and repel)
Describe how objects become charged
Explain what causes static electricity
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This is the 5th and final lesson in “Chapter 4 - Acids and Alkalis” from Activate 1, Chemistry.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Chemistry class, even by those where Chemistry is not their specialism.
This lesson includes a practical demo (a magic trick with “water” into “wine”) and a class practical activity (using litmus paper to test different household solutions).
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Recall the general word equation for a neutralisation reaction
Name the salts produced in reactions with acids
Complete word equations for specific neutralisation reactions
Complete word equations for the reactions between a metal and an acid
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 8 class.
This is the 6th lesson in “Chapter 1 - Electricity and Magnetism” from Activate 2, Physics.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Rearrange the formula for resistance to make current and potential difference the subject
Apply and use the appropriate formula for calculation questions
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 8 class.
This is the second lesson in “Chapter 1 - Health and Lifestyle” from Activate 2, Biology.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Biology class, even by those where Biology is not their specialism.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Label the mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine and anus on a diagram of the digestive system
Describe the role of each of these organs in the digestive system
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
This unit of work contains ten 1-hour lesson resources designed for a mixed ability year 8 class.
This unit follows "Chapter 1 - Electricity and Magnetism” from Activate 2, Physics. However, it would be suitable for any KS3 curriculum studying electricity and magnetism.
This unit of work is designed to be engaging and interactive, with plenty of practical demonstrations and class practical activities.
The lessons should be delivered in this order:
Charging up
Circuits and current
Building circuits practical
Potential difference
Resistance
Changing the subject
Series and parallel
Magnets and magnetic field
Electromagnets
Using electromagnets
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This is the first lesson in “Chapter 1 - Particles and their behaviour” from Activate 1, Chemistry.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Chemistry class, even by those where chemistry is not their specialism.
This lesson (and all lessons in this unit) is designed to be interactive and engaging, with plenty of real world examples and independent tasks.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Recall that materials are made up of particles
Recall that all particles in a substance are the same
Use the particle model to describe the properties of a substance
List the four factors that affect the properties of a substance
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 8 class.
This is the 10th and final lesson in “Chapter 1 - Electricity and Magnetism” from Activate 2, Physics.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Recall some uses for electromagnets
Compare permanent magnets to electromagnets
Explain why electromagnets are useful
Offer a simple explanation for how an electric motor works
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 8 class.
This is the 3rd lesson in “Chapter 1 - Electricity and Magnetism” from Activate 2, Physics. This lesson is based on the ‘circuits and current’ pages, where students have the opportunity to practice building circuits in a practical activity.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Identify series and parallel circuits from circuit diagrams
Use circuit diagrams to build simple series and parallel circuits
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 8 class.
This is the 7th lesson in “Chapter 1 - Electricity and Magnetism” from Activate 2, Physics.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Describe and apply the rule for current in series circuits
Describe and apply the rule for current in parallel circuits
Describe and apply the rule for potential difference in series circuits
Describe and apply the rule for potential difference in parallel circuits
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 8 class.
This is the 1st lesson in “Chapter 1 - Electricity and Magnetism” from Activate 2, Physics.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
This lesson includes a teacher-led practical demonstration where the magnetic field of a bar magnet is represented using iron filings, and a guided class practical where students investigate and represent the shape of a magnetic field around a bar magnet using a plotting compass.
A practical demonstration may also be used where teachers hang a bar magnet from a thread off of a clamp stand to show how it aligns with the magnetic poles of the Earth.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Describe how north and south poles of magnets interact with each other
Recall which materials are magnetic
Investigate and represent the shape of a magnetic field around a bar magnet using a plotting compass.
Describe the magnetic field of the Earth.
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This is the second lesson in “Chapter 1 - Particles and their behaviour” from Activate 1, Chemistry.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Chemistry class, even by those where chemistry is not their specialism.
This lesson (and all lessons in this unit) is designed to be interactive and engaging, with plenty of real world examples and independent tasks.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Identify and draw particle diagrams for solids, liquids and gases
Describe the arrangement and movement of particles in solids, liquids and gases
Use the particle model to explain the properties of solids, liquids and gases (e.g. explain why solids and gases cannot be compressed)
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This is the 5th lesson in “Chapter 1 - Particles and their behaviour” from Activate 1, Chemistry.
This lesson is on ‘boiling’.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Chemistry class, even by those where chemistry is not their specialism.
This lesson (and all lessons in this unit) is designed to be interactive and engaging, with plenty of real world examples and independent tasks.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Explain what is meant by the term ‘boiling’
Describe what happens to the particles in a liquid when it boils
Use given information about a substance’s melting point and boiling point to predict its state at room temperature
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
This unit of work contains six 1-hour lesson resources designed for a mixed ability year 8 class.
This unit follows "Chapter 3 - Motion and pressure” from Activate 2, Physics.
However, it would be suitable for any KS3 curriculum studying physics.
This unit of work is designed to be engaging and interactive, with plenty of practical demonstrations and teacher models. There are a couple of class practicals too which come with risk assessments and full, chunked instructions.
The lessons are designed so that they can be delivered by any member of staff, regardless of whether chemistry is their specialism. They are also suitable for students working outside the classroom, e.g. in isolation.
The lessons should be delivered in this order:
Speed
Motion graphs
Gas pressure
Pressure in liquids
Pressure on solids
Turning forces
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A science-themed Christmas quiz for secondary age students (11-16).
Quiz rounds include:
Multiple choice: Guess the silly animal name
Matching animals to their group names, e.g. a murder of crows, a pride of lions
Anagrams of scientific key words
Close up microscope images
‘The science of Christmas’ - science general knowledge with a Christmas theme
A lesson topic for KS3 Biologists on respiration, bones and muscles.
A revision lesson is included with a revision placemat worksheet.
A game of ‘grudge ball’ is also included.
Lesson topics include:
Aerobic respiration
Anaerobic respiration
Comparing aerobic with anaerobic respiration
The human skeleton
Bones and muscles
Antagonistic muscle pairs
Revision lesson
A topic on cell transport from the AQA GCSE Combined Science syllabus.
Lessons include:
Cell transport (diffusion, osmosis, active transport) with a specific focus on examples in root hair cells
Rate of diffusion, with a practical on how temperature affects the rate of diffusion
Calculating surface area to volume ratio
Gas exchange in fish gills
Gas exchange in alveoli
Active transport, with a specific focus on absorption of glucose across the small intestine
Required Practical on osmosis in potatoes
A review of the required practical on osmosis in potatoes
Based on the KS3 AQA curriculum.
Includes PowerPoints, differentiated worksheets, homework, a test and a markscheme.
Lesson topics include:
Plant structure and photosynthesis
Adaptations of leaves
Stomata and guard cells
Variegated leaf investigation
Light intensity pondweed practical
Plant reproduction
Pollination
Seed dispersal
Included are three homework tasks:
Exam Question on variegated leaves
Exam Question on seed dispersal
An open / creative tasks to design your own wind-dispersed seed