6.3 Gas exchange in fish and insects A-Level (Year 12) biology

This resource includes a 38-slide PowerPoint that will take up to two full lessons to complete. The presentation alternates between high-quality information slides and student-focused activities and includes mini-plenaries throughout. It covers the following learning objectives for the OCR A-level specification (-with significant overlap for AQA) detailed below. Alongside each objective I have detailed the options for activities that are included in the resource. You will find every activity to have a corresponding mark scheme that is integrated into the PowerPoint to aid easy peer/self-assessment.

1. Describe the mechanism of ventilation and gas exchange in bony fish and insects (Grade C): Starter: fishy jokes; information slides on Fick’s Law, the structure of fish gills; mini-plenary to discuss how gill structure is related to function - link to video to support less able students; Gas exchange in bony fish worksheet; Mini-plenary to create a table on Ventilation Structures and Functions; Summary Qs and mark scheme.

2. Explain the countercurrent flow mechanism (Grade B): Countercurrent flow information slides; countercurrent flow - link to online animation; Becoming a gas exchange surface role play activity; Gas exchange in bony fish worksheet; Summary Qs and mark scheme.

3. Examine the gaseous exchange system of a bony fish and insect trachea (Grade A): Dissection of a bony fish - link to online method; homework task for students to write their own method; Gaseous exchange in insects information slides; Stucture and Function of the Tracheal System worksheet and mark scheme; Ventilation and one-way flow in insects information slides; Ventilation Feature and Effects mini-plenary; Quality of Written Communication Exam Question and mark scheme.

Hope it helps you save time in your planning!
Any feedback is much appreciated.