This lesson is designed for a mixed ability year 7 class studying the KS3 Activate curriculum. This lesson is focused on adolescence and puberty. From this lesson, students should be able to: Define the key terms ‘adolescence’ and ‘puberty’ Describe the changes that occur to males and females during puberty, and compare and contrast them Describe the basic role of sex hormones during puberty 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: Name seven key nutrients that play a role in a healthy, balanced diet (carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, fibre, vitamins, minerals, water) Recall foods that contain each of these nutrients in large amounts Describe the role of each of these nutrients in 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 8 class. This is the 2nd 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 the rope model for electricity. From this lesson, students should be able to: Define the term ‘current’ Describe how current is measured in a circuit Identify and draw basic circuit symbols (battery, cell, lamp, switch, ammeter, buzzer, motor, wire Draw circuit diagrams 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 - 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: Name the enzymes that break down carbohydrates, proteins and lipids during digestion Name the products of digestion of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids 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 4th 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 From this lesson, students should be able to: Define the term ‘potential difference’ Describe how to measure potential difference in a circuit Recall that voltmeters must be connected to a circuit ‘in parallel’ Draw circuit diagrams and build circuits where a voltmeter is connected in parallel across a component 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 6th and penultimate lesson in “Chapter 1 - Particles and their behaviour” from Activate 1, Chemistry. This lesson is on ‘more changes in state’. I have chosen to focus this lesson on evaporation and condensation, and not discuss sublimation. 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 ‘evaporation’ Describe the changes in the arrangement and movement of particles when a liquid evaporates Compare boiling and evaporation Explain what is meant by ‘condensation’ Describe the changes in the arrangement and movement of particles when a liquid condenses 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 9th 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 class practical where students investigate the effect that increasing the potential difference on a power pack has on the number of paperclips that can be picked up by a simple electromagnet. From this lesson, students should be able to: Describe the magnetic field around a single wire with current flowing through it Describe how to make an electromagnet Describe how to increase the strength of an electromagnet 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 7th and final lesson in “Chapter 1 - Particles and their behaviour” from Activate 1, Chemistry. This lesson is on ‘diffusion’. 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 the definition for the key term ‘diffusion’ Explain why diffusion happens in terms of particles Explain how temperature, particle size and state affect the rate of diffusion 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 KS3 lesson on current in series and parallel circuits. This lesson was designed for a top set year 8 class, but could be easily adapted for another KS3 class of lower or mixed ability. This lesson involves a short practical task (could be removed if you wished). For this practical each group will need 1 cell or power pack, 1 ammeter, 2 lamps, 5 wires. This lesson contains: A 5-in-5 retrieval starter Retrieval practice hand signals quiz on circuit symbols Retrieval practice written quiz on series vs. parallel circuits Direct instruction on the rules for current in series and parallel circuits, including models Checkpoints (for cold calling) An independent worksheet to apply the rules on current in series / parallel circuits Modeled answers Practical activity with broken down instructions Written plenary

This lesson was designed for a higher ability year 11 class studying the AQA GCSE Combined Science syllabus. This lesson is an overview of the three types of cell transport, and uses movement of substances across a root hair cell as a specific example. This resource includes: A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter Direct instruction slides (dual coding, reduced cognitive load) Regular checks for understanding (quizzes) Guided ‘turn and talk’ Independent practice tasks, with answer slides Exam questions with scaffolds provided and answer slides A written plenary task

This lesson was designed for a higher ability year 11 class studying the AQA GCSE Combined Science syllabus. This lesson covers the three main factors affecting the rate of diffusion (temperature, surface area and concentration gradient). It includes a practical investigating temperature on the rate of diffusion in potassium permanganate crystals. Equipment list and method included on the slides. A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter Direct instruction slides (dual coding, reduced cognitive load) Regular checks for understanding (quizzes) Guided ‘turn and talk’ A class practical Independent practice tasks, with answer slides A written plenary task

A full 1 hour PowerPoint lesson designed for a lower ability year 11 class. This lesson covers the four main factors affecting rate of reaction, based on the AQA Combined Science syllabus. Also suitable for AQA Chemistry. This lesson includes: A 5-in-5 retrieval style starter A lesson hook Direct instruction slides, with dual coding/diagrams and reduced cognitive load Guided classroom discussions Useful teacher-led models independent tasks with scaffolding, and answer slides Guided exam questions with scaffolding, and answer slides A written plenary

These lessons were designed for a higher ability year 11 class studying the AQA GCSE Combined Science syllabus. This resource includes two PowerPoints, each one hour, guiding students through the Required Practical on osmosis in potatoes. The first PowerPoint guides students through completing the practical. The second PowerPoint is a theory-based lesson, which gets students to think about what happened and why. It also talks them through writing a conclusion, analysing their data etc.

A full 1-hour lesson resource designed for a mixed ability year 9 class studying the AQA GCSE Biology topic “Ecology”. This lesson focuses on the different types of adaptation (structural, physiological, behavioural), specifically in animals. This lesson resource includes: 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter Lesson hook - spot the camouflaged animal Introduction slides on the different types of adaptation, with examples (reduced cognitive load, dual coding) Written checkpoint - students match the types of adaptation to their definitions (answer slide included) Hand signals multiple choice quiz Embedded YouTube video with written task Reading task on adaptations of polar bears Comprehension task - students identify structural, physiological and behavioural adaptations in polar bears from the text Guided 6-mark exam question Written plenary with answer slide

A full 1-hour lesson resource designed for a mid-ability year 10 class studying the AQA GCSE Combined Science curriculum. This is a theory lesson that focuses on the effects of temperature and pH on enzyme activity. This resource contains: A ‘5 in 5’ retrieval-style starter A retrieval practice hand signals quiz, focusing on identifying enzymes, the active site, substrate and product Teacher input slides - story tellling “Goldlilocks and the three enzymes” to introduce the effect of temperature on enzymes A guided class discussion Student deliberate practice slides - explaining the graph on temperature and enzyme action, with optional scaffold slide, and answer slide Teacher input slides on pH and enzymes (dual coding, reduced cognitive load) Written multiple choice quiz Student independent task, three levels of challenge Answer slide Written plenary (exam question, with key word bank), and answer slide

From topic 2.1.4 Enzymes, spec points: a) the role of enzymes in catalysing reactions that affect metabolism at a cellular and whole organism level b) the role of enzymes in catalysing both intracellular and extracellular reactions, with catalase and amylase as examples My lesson resources always 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 lesson is designed for a year 7 class studying the KS3 Activate curriculum. This lesson is focused on specialised animal cells. From this lesson, students should be able to: Identify four specialised animal cells from diagrams (red blood cell, sperm cell, egg cell, nerve cell) Describe the function of four specialised animal cells (red blood cell, sperm cell, egg cell, nerve cell) Describe the basic adaptations of two specialised animal cells, and link their adaptations to their functions (red blood cell and sperm cell) 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 lesson is designed for a year 7 class studying the KS3 Activate curriculum. This lesson is focused on using a light microscope. From this lesson, students should be able to: Label a light microscope (eyepiece lens, objective lenses, fine focus knob, coarse focus knob, stage) Use a light microscope to view prepared slides Describe how to increase the resolution and magnification of an image using a light microscope 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