I have been teaching science for over 30 years. although Biology is my specialism I have lots of experience of teaching Physics and Chemistry to GCSE. I am particularly interested in practical work and believe that all science teachers should be able to teach good practicals and give practical demos.
I have been teaching science for over 30 years. although Biology is my specialism I have lots of experience of teaching Physics and Chemistry to GCSE. I am particularly interested in practical work and believe that all science teachers should be able to teach good practicals and give practical demos.
Trialled with Year 3 students and they loved it! Fulfills Science National Curriculum - identifying common plants. Also could be used as part of an “outdoors” day activities. Part of the Wild Flower Society’s campaign to get children looking at at learning more about flowers.
This resource is for KS3 Science (Biology). It is intended to ask students to summarise the digestion and absorption of food. The power point pictures are given letters and students must number them in order to sequence the processes. They can also briefly describe each process. Alternatively you can make cards from the word document and ask the students to place the cards in sequence.
Here is information about the Brazil nut Tree, how it is pollinated and the brazil nut seeds ditributed. It is a great starter to illustrate how important biodiversity is to the survival of species.
The aim of this resource is to get children outdoors looking for wild flowers according to the month. This month's sheet is for January - with the others in preparation. Outdoor learning enhances the well-being of children, is fun and instructive. In KS1 and 2 children have to learn some of the common names of living things around them and this resource enables teachers to do this, with plants that can be found around the playground in this case. The short descriptions about each plant are written for children aged 6 to 9 years, so can be used individually as well as a class resource.
To share your children's finds – just post them on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #herbologyhunt or in our new Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/530501890646957/
A primary colleague asked me how she could incorporate some practical activity when teaching evolution to Year 6. This activity models different types of bird catching a variety of prey and how their success rate might change given a different environment. It was a huge success with Year 6. The presentation sets the scene and the students experience recording results and interpreting them. The results we got from our class are included and there is a worksheet on these that can be used or adapted. There is scope for questioning the students about reliability of results and whether this is a valid way of collecting data.
Tried and tested for Year 6 and written by a secondary school biology teacher, these activities work well. Particularly suited for teachers not confident with the content of this part of the science curriculum. Students have some "hands-on" activities and they learn the characteristics of the major groups. There are activities included on using and devising keys. There is enough material here for 2 hours work or more.
Uncertain about teaching about plants at GCSE and KS3? Here are 5 lessons - 2 about plant responses and hormones, one about the new bit in the GCSE about plant diseases, one about the leaf as an organ and one for KS3 on plant reproduction.
This resource tests students' application of knowledge and analysis as well as delivering the essential knowledge needed. The power point and worksheet were 5 star-rated resources when posted separately on TES. They are combined here with a lesson plan an additional worksheet and an answer sheet to give enough material for a whole lesson. There are also ideas for demonstrations as starters for this lesson.
A useful way to assess student's understanding of the essential key words needed to answer questions on Evolution. Students match the key words to the meanings. Includes an answer sheet for self-assessment or peer-marking.
Ideal if you want a quick homework and/or review of work done on reflection and refraction to see if students have understood basic principles. There is an answer sheet for self-marking or peer-marking and this is also presented on a power point - time-saving for the teacher!
This has a handy way to help students memorise the Kreb's cycle. There are diagrams illustrating various steps in respiration with questions for students to answer. This is useful to review or revise the topic. There is a power point with answers and a word document with answers to allow some differentiation in the way students mark their work.
This resource tells you how your students can see some stunning pictures of stomata, without using that fiddly nail varnish! It also has questions which test the student's understanding of the function of stomata, scientific method and the link between decrease in stomatal density and global warming. Suitable for KS4 and possibly useful for KS5.
This is for KS3 students to give them practice at collecting and analysing data. It proved to be very effective with a mixed ability group of Year 7 students. Although there is just one document there is enough here to keep a class busy for an hour and they are practising maths skills essential to science and some scientific skills as well
Choose this resource to liven up your lesson on plant diseases. It has a practical that works and delighted some teachers recently at a workshop. It has differentiated tasks to extend the more able. It reviews work on fungi and viruses.
Differentiated homeworks. Ideal for new teachers or busy teachers as they have answers on a presentation and in a word document suitable for self or peer assessment to save you marking time. Suitable for KS3 students.
3 homeworks on different topics with differentiation for KS3. Great for new teachers or busy teachers as they come with answers to questions that can be displayed as a power point for peer-assessment or self-marking.
Ideal for new teachers and/or busy teachers. Three different homeworks here. This resource saves time as it has answers to the questions so that the students can mark it themselves or peer-mark. One homework includes approx GCSE grades to give an idea of attainment. All homeworks have an extension question.
Measuring the population size of a common species in a habitat is a required practical for GCSE. Personally i love fieldwork, but we will all be in a situation when we have planned to teach this, but it is raining outside! Also there is always that one class that you really do not trust. This activity will help you still do that lesson, but indoors. It is not a computer simulation but involves real ecological techniques.
This is a whole lesson resource and was written for National Diploma BTEC Applied Science Level 3 , Unit 8. However it could be used to extend KS3 students in working scientifically. Sadly not included at GCSE any more. It has background information, practical instructions and a set of results that students can analyse, so you can check their understanding. Useful for non-biology specialists that are teaching this BTEC course.
Want to put a bit more fun into teaching the light topic? These ideas are not "new" but are collected together here with some background information. This will be useful for those new to teaching or those not familiar with teaching Physics. There are 3 demonstrations, some background information on refraction and a homework idea. All illustrations are my own photos or I have permission to use them.