A short picture quiz in which students have to guess which organisms have been genetically engineered. Some have been genetically engineered while others have been selectively bred or are naturally occurring.
UPDATED for AQA syllabus to be examined from 2014: broken links mended and additional materials added.
A scheme of work consisting of 8 lessons covering section P1.1 of the AQA Physics A specification. Topics include kinetic theory, heat, temperature, conduction, convection, radiation, insulation and heat capacity. Weblinks in the document (all working as of May 2014) point to resources which can be used with the scheme.
You could use this activity at the start of the KS3 (Ages 11-14) topic 'Microbes and Disease' . Print out and laminate the three PowerPoints, and stick them on the walls around the classroom. Each student goes round the room finding the information to fill in their summary sheet on bacteria, fungi and viruses. (The &'Extras&'; pages of the PowerPoints do not contain any of the essential information, but extra stuff that might interest some students.) Depending on the group, takes 20-50 minutes.
I have also used this to introduce pathogens to KS4 (Ages 14-16) classes.
Suitable for KS3 (and perhaps lower ability KS4) when teaching energy resources. I printed out the PPT slides, laminated each one, and stuck them on the walls around the classroom. I gave each student a summary sheet, and they had to go around the room finding the information to fill in their sheet.
3 PPTs in which charge and current, then voltage, and finally resistance, are introduced and explained. There are notes under the slides. My aim in developing these resources was to enable my bright top-set Year 10s to understand the meaning of current and voltage rather than just memorising the 'circuits rules'. As a result of this they were all able to derive and explain the circuits rules (V’s in parallel are the same, V’s in series add up to the battery voltage, current is the same everywhere in a series circuit, currents split at a junction), and answer GCSE questions on circuits.
<p>For a topic on reproduction (asexual/sexual, puberty, fertilisation, pregnancy, birth). A target sheet to give students at the start of the topic, some practice questions for revision, and a test to give at the end. The test questions are from KS3 SAT papers. Designed for a school which follows the international Cambridge Secondary 1 curriculum, but which uses UK National Curriculum levels. Could be used for either curriculum, most likely in year 8.</p>
A presentation introducing the key points about the nervous system for GCSE Biology (designed with AQA B1 in mind). Includes images of neurones, synapses, the reflex arc and more. Read the notes under each slide for extra information.
Set of 15 cards - some contain pieces of information and others contain questions. Small groups of students are each given the whole set, and have to make sense of it and answer the questions. I usually tell students that they'll be learning about a topic to do with heat, but don't tell them what it is. They leave a gap in their books for the title, because they will figure out themselves what it is by the time they've done the activity. Higher ability students complete this in about 40 minutes, and much prefer learning this way rather than listening to me spoonfeeding them!
<p>Used for KS4 teaching about expansion of the universe, and redshift. You will need round and long balloons, and marker pens for drawing on them (check that the pen still shows up after the ballons have been blown up - some don’t). Worksheet contains instructions to students on what to do, along with questions to answer. NOTE: YOU WILL NEED TO ADD SIMPLE PICTURES IN THE GAPS! (These pictures are to illustrate what students should draw on their balloons.) I did this with a middle set and they struggled a bit; might be better for higher.</p>
A 12-question quiz based on a series of thermograms. Reinforces the relationship between colour and infrared emission, and the idea that hotter objects emit more infrared radiation. Gives students practice in interpreting thermograms.
This presentation introduces students to the study of cells. It puts the subject into context by showing some history of cell discoveries and models, starting with Hooke. There are notes accompanying each slide - please read those for additional information.
A series of questions about the extraction of metals, and their properties, uses and alloys. Suitable websites are given to help students find the information, with links to a couple of short films for them to watch along the way. This activity is specifically geared towards the Metals topic in AQA GCSE Science Chemistry Module 1 - I created it as a an interactive way to get students to find out lots of the waffly facts they need to know.
A detailed scheme of work for a sequence of 34 lessons on Fields (gravitational fields, electric fields and magnetic fields, including sections on motors, generators and capacitors). Written to match the AQA A2 Physics syllabus examined in 2012 and 2013.
Scheme includes hyperlinks to a wide variety of resources including simulations, experiment instructions and student question sheets. I have made a lot of use of the IOP's Teaching Advanced Physics resources among others.
All links working as of 26/09/12.
Instructions, questions and answers for a short true/false quiz on factors and multiples. This plan gives an outline of the activity and extension work. Suitable for KS3/ KS4 and can be used as a starter or plenary
<p>Summary sheet (either one- or two-sided) for each of the seven types of electromagnetic radiation, along with a worksheet on which students can fill in information about the properties (penetration, uses and hazards) of each. I printed a couple of sets out in colour, laminated them and put them around the room for students to go and find the information.</p>
The main part of this resource is a 'spot the centre of gravity' game, a bit like the old 'spot the ball' games where you had to say where the football was - but this time you mark the centres of gravity of gymnasts and athletes with crosses on laminated pictures. Included are some additional suggestions for centre of gravity activities, including some ideas for starters.
A lesson plan and accompanying resources for a KS4 lesson on terminal velocity. Includes a starter about why cats (sometimes) survive falls from tall buildings.
A practical write-up template, for a practical in which students investigate the relationship between heat and temperature. Also some notes for teachers running the activity. Students try to add the same amount of heat, using a Bunsen burner, to two different amounts of water, and measure the effect on the temperatures. I allowed them to plan it however they wanted to, checking only that their methods were safe. I let them make their own mistakes - I think this made the activity more interesting for the students, and it allowed for differentiation by outcome.
Give students the Word document, in pairs or small groups. They cut out the statements (e.g. "Energy stored in one new AA battery", "Energy to make the human heart beat once") and try to put them in order of the amount of energy involved. The accompanying PowerPoint page reveals the correct order, along with the (approximate!) energies in Joules. I used this when introducing the idea of Joules to Year 7.
A PowerPoint about detritus feeders and decomposers, geared towards AQA Biology (Energy Flows). Mainly consists of pictures to show students while discussing the topic. There are notes under each slide containing further information and some web links.