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 specialised plant cells.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Identify two specialised plant cells from diagrams (root hair cell and palisade / leaf cell)
Describe the function of two specialised plant cells (root hair cell and palisade / leaf cell)
Describe the basic adaptations of two specialised plant cells, and link their adaptations to their functions (root hair cell and palisade / leaf 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 the structure of animal cells.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Label an animal cell (cell membrane, cytoplasm, mitochondria, nucleus)
Describe the function of each of the above organelles
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 unicellular organisms.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Name two unicellular organisms (amoeba and euglena)
Describe the basic structures found in unicellular organisms (amoeba and euglena) and their functions
Compare the structures of euglena to the structures found in animal cells and plant cells
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 fertilisation and implantation.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Describe the process of fertilisation
Describe what happens during sexual intercourse
Describe the process of implantation
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 the development of a foetus / fetus during pregnancy, and childbirth.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Label the placenta, umbilical cord and fluid sac on a diagram
Describe the roles of the placenta, umbilical cord and fluid sac
Describe the main stages of childbirth
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 mixed ability year 9 class studying the AQA GCSE Combined Science Trilogy specification, at the start of the topic ‘Quantitative Chemistry’.
This lesson is focused on calculating relative formula mass.
From this lesson, students should be able to independently calculate relative formula mass.
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 in science.
This lesson is focused on seed dispersal.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Name four different methods of seed dispersal
Describe how seeds are adapted for their dispersal method
Understand the correct order of processes that must occur from pollination and fertilisation, to seed dispersal and germination
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 in science.
This lesson is focused on ‘Elements’ from ‘Chapter 2: Elements, atoms, and compounds’ from Activate 1.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
State the definition of an element and list some examples of elements
Describe what the Periodic Table shows and use it to find a named element.
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 in science.
This lesson is focused on ‘Atoms’ from ‘Chapter 2: Elements, atoms, and compounds’ from Activate 1.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
State the meaning of ‘atom’
State the meaning of ‘element’ (in terms of its atoms)
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 unit of work from the KS3 Activate ‘reproduction’ topic (from Activate 1), designed for a mixed ability year 7 class. This unit of work contains 10 full hour lessons.
These lessons are designed to be engaging and interactive, with frequent use of AFL as well as longer independent tasks. These should be suitable to be delivered by a teacher of any specialism.
All answers and given on the slides to independent tasks.
The lessons should be delivered in this sequence:
Puberty and adolescence
Male reproductive system
Female reproductive system
Fertilisation and implantation
Development of a foetus
Menstrual cycle
Contraception
Flowers and pollination
Fertilisation and germination (in plants)
Seed dispersal
Each of my lesson resources contains:
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 unit of work from the KS3 Activate ‘cells’ topic, designed for a mixed ability year 7 class. This unit of work contains 7 full hour lessons.
The lessons should be delivered in this sequence:
Animal cells
Plant cells
Using a light microscope
Specialised animal cells
Specialised plant cells
Diffusion (movement of substances into and out of cells)
Unicellular organisms
Each of the lessons in this sequence are designed to be interactive and engaging.
Each of my lesson resources contains:
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:
Recall the solutions used to test for the presence of starch, protein, sugars and lipids in foods
Recall the colour of a positive result for each of these food tests
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 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:
Determine whether a solution is acidic or alkaline, given its colour in indicator
Describe the colour changes that occurs when red litmus paper and blue litmus paper are added to acidic, alkaline or neutral solutions
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 - Forces” from Activate 1, Physics.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics 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 effects that forces can have on objects
Describe how to measure forces
Compare contact and non-contact forces, and give examples for contact and non-contact forces
Recall that forces always come in pairs called interaction pairs, and use this concept to explain certain phenomena
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 seven 1-hour lesson resources designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This unit follows "Chapter 1 - Particles and their behaviour” from Activate 1, Chemistry. However, it would be suitable for any KS3 curriculum studying particles, states of matter and changes of state.
This unit of work is designed to be engaging and interactive, with plenty of practical demonstrations and teacher models.
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:
The particle model
Density
States of matter
Melting and freezing
Boiling
More changes of state
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 lesson designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This is the second lesson in “Chapter 1 - Forces” from Activate 1, Physics. This lesson focuses on squashing and stretching.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics 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.
This lesson includes a simple practical where students investigate stretching different materials (e.g. a spring, and elastic band etc.)
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Recall that forces can compress, stretch, twist and bend objects
Describe what is meant by a normal force or reaction force
Use a model to explain why normal force / reaction force occurs
Define the terms ‘tension’, ‘extension’ and ‘elastic limit’
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 fifth and penultimate lesson in “Chapter 1 - Forces” from Activate 1, Physics. This lesson is on forces at a distance, and specifically focuses on mass and weight.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics 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 the difference between mass and weight
Describe how mass and weight are measured
Recall that gravitational field strength is different on different planets
Calculate weight using the equation mass x gravitational field strength
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 third lesson in “Chapter 1 - Forces” from Activate 1, Physics. This lesson is on friction.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics 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.
This lesson includes a practical activity where students investigate the speed of a toy car down a ramp where different materials are used on the ramp’s surface.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Give a definition for the key term ‘friction’
Explain what causes friction to occur
Describe the effect that friction has on moving objects
Describe how to reduce the effect of friction
Investigate the effect of different material surfaces on the amount of friction a moving object experiences
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 2 - Sound” from Activate 1, Physics. This lesson is on ‘waves’, focusing on the features of waves.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics 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:
Label the amplitude, wavelength, peak and trough on a diagram of a transverse wave
Define the terms peak, trough, amplitude, frequency and wavelength
Compare transverse and longitudinal waves
Identify transverse and longitudinal waves from given examples
Describe how waves are superposed
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 7 class.
This unit follows "Chapter 1 - Forces” from Activate 1, Physics.
However, it would be suitable for any KS3 curriculum studying forces.
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 physics 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:
Introduction to forces
Squashing and stretching
Friction
Drag forces
Forces at a distance
Balanced and unbalanced 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