This is a fully-resourced and engaging REVISION LESSON which challenges the students on their knowledge and understanding of the topic 2 content (Biological molecules) of the CIE International A-level Biology specification. This topic isn’t always well understood by students so the lesson has been designed to include a wide range of activities that include differentiated exam questions, quick tasks and quiz competitions which will engage the students whilst they assess their progress. It has been designed to cover as much of the specification as possible but the following sub-topics have received particular attention: Formation of polysaccharides by glycosidic bonds between monomers Recognising monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides The structure of starch and glycogen in relation to their function as stores and providers of energy Water as a solvent with a high specific heat capacity and a high specific latent heat of vaporisation Structure and bonding in proteins The structure of globular and fibrous proteins as demonstrated by haemoglobin and collagen The structure and function of cellulose Links are made to other topics so that students are able to see how questions can include parts from different Biological concepts.

This fully-resourced lesson describes the structure of HIV, its replication inside helper T cells and EXPLAINS how it causes the symptoms of AIDS. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources are part of the 5th lesson in a series of 7 that cover the details of point 2.4 of the AQA A-level Biology specification. The structure of viruses was covered during the lessons in topic 2.1, so this lesson starts by challenging the students to recall the capsid, genetic material in the form of viral RNA and the lipid envelope. At this point, the students are introduced to gp120, the glycoprotein which is exposed on the surface of the lipid envelope, as this structure is critical for the entry of the virus into host cells. Students will annotate a basic diagram of HIV with these four structures which also has gp41 labelled. A quick quiz competition introduces the names of the enzymes found inside the capsid and the students will learn that integrase allows the viral DNA to be integrated into the host’s genome whilst reverse transcriptase catalyses the reaction to form DNA from RNA. A prior knowledge check challenges the students to identify the helper T cells from a description of their function and they are informed that these immune cells have the CD4 glycoprotein on their surface. Moving forwards, the main part of the lesson describes how HIV binds to the helper T cells, injects its capsid and integrates its DNA into the host’s genome in order to replicate to form virus particles (virions). Students are guided through the formation of a detailed answer about the mechanism of HIV and have to input key terms and structures where information is missing. Students will learn that the increase in the number of virus particles and a decrease in helper T cells and other immune cells results in infections like TB and by opportunistic pathogens and that this stage is recognised as AIDS The final part of the lesson challenges the students to explain why antibiotics are ineffective against viruses through a series of exam-style questions and the final task gets them to work as a class where they have to study the replication process once more to suggest drug actions that might be used to treat HIV

This lesson describes the structure of a cholinergic synapse and outlines the role of these connections in the nervous system. The fully-resourced lesson has been designed to cover the content of point (9) of topic 15.1 of the CIE A-level biology specification (for assessment in 2025-27). The majority of the lesson uses the cholinergic synapse as the example but other neurotransmitters are considered at the end of the lesson to provide the students with a wider view of this topic. One of the tasks near the beginning of the lesson challenges students to identify 3 terms from a WALL of key terms that could follow synaptic, having been introduced to the synaptic cleft on the previous slide. Not only will this challenge their prior knowledge from lessons earlier in topic 15 but it will also lead to the discovery of four of the structures that are found in a synapse. Moving forwards, students are introduced to acetylcholine as the neurotransmitter involved at cholinergic synapses and they will start to add labels to the structures found in the pre-synaptic bulb. Time is taken to focus on certain structures such as the voltage gated channels as these types of channel were met previously when looking at the depolarisation of a neurone. There is plenty of challenge and discovery as students are pushed to explain why organelles like mitochondria would be found in large numbers in the bulb. With this process being a cascade of events, a bullet point format is used to ensure that the key content is taken in by the students and again key points like exocytosis and the action of acetylcholinesterase are discussed further. The final part of the lesson challenges the application aspect of the subject as students are introduced to unfamiliar situations in terms of synapses with new drugs like MDMA and are asked to work out and explain how these affect the nervous transmission. Understanding checks and prior knowledge checks are included throughout the lesson so that students can not only assess their progress against the current topic but also see whether they can make links to earlier topics.

A detailed and engaging lesson presentation (43 slides) and accompanying worksheets that introduces students to the disease, Diabetes (mellitus), and focusses on the similarities and differences between types I and II. The lesson begins by challenging the students mathematically to get the answers 1 and 2 and then to see whether they can link these numbers to a disease. A variety of tasks, which includes competitions and progress checks, are used to get the students to recognise the differences and state which of the types they belong to. This lesson has been designed for GCSE students and can be used with higher level students. However, a lesson more appropriate for A-level Biology students is named “Diabetes Mellitus Type I and II” and is available in my resources

An engaging lesson presentation (41 slides) and accompanying worksheet that looks at the different causes of variation and the different types of variation. The lesson begins by challenging the students to pick out a set of siblings from a series of pictures and then getting them to explain scientifically why they made the decision that they did. Moving forwards, students will recognise that one cause of variation is genes. Students are shown a pair of identical twins and asked to explain why they look different despite their identical genes so that they can understand that the environment also affects variation. Students will also meet discontinuous and continuous variation and will understand how this data should be represented. There are progress checks throughout the lesson to allow the students to assess their understanding. This lesson has been designed for KS3 and GCSE students.

This fully-resourced lesson describes the process of anaerobic respiration in eukaryotes and explains how pyruvate can be converted to lactate or ethanol using the hydrogen atoms released from reduced NAD and that the reoxidation of this coenzyme allows glycolysis to continue. The engaging and detailed PowerPoint and accompanying differentiated resources have been designed to cover the first part of point 5.2.2 (i) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification which states that students should be able to demonstrate and apply their knowledge and understanding of anaerobic respiration in mammals and yeast. The lesson begins with a focus on the coenzyme, NAD, and students are challenged to recall details of its role in the oxidation of triose phosphate. Students will recall that oxidative phosphorylation in aerobic respiration allows these coenzymes to be reoxidised and therefore recognise that another metabolic pathway has to operate when there is no oxygen available. Time is taken to go through the details of the lactate and ethanol fermentation pathways and students are encouraged to discuss the conversions before applying their knowledge to complete diagrams and passages about the pathways. Understanding checks in a range of forms are used to enable the students to assess their progress whilst prior knowledge checks allow them to recognise the links to earlier topics. This lesson has been written to tie in with the other uploaded lessons on glycolysis and the stages of aerobic respiration

A concise lesson presentation (20 slides) and associated worksheet that guides students through phylogenetic trees and helps them to be able to interpret these diagrams. The lesson begins by stating three key points about the trees which will form the basis of their understanding. Moving forwards, a series of questions with explained answers are used to show how common ancestors in the past can be used to work out which present day organisms are the most closely related. Students are given lots of opportunities to assess their understanding and check that they can explain. This lesson has been written for GCSE but could be used as a recap for those students studying at A-level

An engaging lesson presentation (33 slides) and associated worksheets that introduces students to classification using the taxonomic levels and teaches them how to name species using the binomial naming system. The students are told about the domain system, as developed by Carl Woese, but then the lesson focuses on showing them the seven levels that come after this. Students are challenged to understand how the levels differ from each other in terms of sharing characteristics. Time is taken to focus on the five kingdoms and links are made to other topics such as prokaryotic cells to test their previous knowledge. Moving forwards, students are shown how the genus and species are used in the binomial naming system before being given lots of opportunities to assess their understanding through questions. This lesson has been written for GCSE students but is suitable for all age ranges

This clear and concise lesson looks at the phenomenon known as the Bohr effect and describes and explains how an increased carbon dioxide concentration effects the dissociation of oxyhaemoglobin. The PowerPoint has been designed to cover the second part of point 3.4.1 of the AQA A-level Biology specification and continually ties in with the previous lesson on the role of haemoglobin. The lesson begins with a terminology check to ensure that the students can use the terms affinity, oxyhaemoglobin and dissociation. In line with this, they are challenged to draw the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve and are reminded that this shows how oxygen associates with haemoglobin but how it dissociates at low partial pressures. Moving forwards, a quick quiz is used to introduce Christian Bohr and the students are given some initial details of his described effect. This leads into a series of discussions where the outcome is the understanding that an increased concentration of carbon dioxide decreases the affinity of haemoglobin for oxygen. The students will learn that this reduction in affinity is a result of a decrease in the pH of the cell cytoplasm which alters the tertiary structure of the haemoglobin. Opportunities are taken at this point to challenge students on their prior knowledge of protein structures as well as the bonds in the tertiary structure. The lesson finishes with a series of questions where the understanding and application skills are tested as students have to explain the benefit of the Bohr effect for an exercising individual.

This is an engaging and fully-resourced revision lesson which uses a range of exam questions, understanding checks, quiz tasks and quiz competitions to enable students to assess their understanding of the content within topic 1 (Key concepts in Biology) of the Edexcel GCSE Biology 9-1 specification. The specification points that are covered in this revision lesson include: Explain how the sub-cellular structures of eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells are related to their functions Describe how specialised cells are adapted to their function Know that changes in microscope technology, including electron microscopy, have enabled us to see cell structures and organelles with more clarity and detail than in the past Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between quantitative units in relation to cells Explain how substances are transported into and out of cells, including by diffusion, osmosis and active transport Core Practical: Investigate osmosis in potatoes Calculate percentage gain and loss of mass in osmosis The students will thoroughly enjoy the range of activities, which include quiz competitions such as “CELL, CELL, CELL” where they have to compete to quickly identify specialised cells from their descriptions whilst crucially being able to recognise the areas of this topic which need their further attention. This lesson can be used as revision resource at the end of the topic or in the lead up to mocks or the actual GCSE exams.

A fully resourced revision lesson which uses a range of exam questions (with explained answers), quick tasks and quiz competitions to enable the students to assess their understanding of the topics found within Topic 7 (Run for your life) of the EDEXCEL A-level Biology specification. The topics tested within this lesson include: The sliding filament theory Aerobic respiration Lactate and anaerobic respiration The cardiac cycle How heart rate is increased Structure of a muscle fibre Homeostasis Student will enjoy the range of tasks and quiz rounds whilst crucially being able to recognise any areas which require further attention

This is a fully-resourced REVISION lesson that consists of a detailed and engaging PowerPoint (86 slides) and associated worksheets that challenge the students on their knowledge of the content of Topic 5 (Health, disease and the development of medicines) of the Edexcel GCSE Biology specification. A wide range of activities have been written into the lesson to maintain motivation and these tasks include exam questions (with answers), understanding checks, differentiated tasks and quiz competitions. The lesson has been designed to include as much which of the content from topic 5, but the following sub-topics have been given particular attention: Identification of bacterial, fungal and viral diseases in animals and plants The treatment of bacterial infections The reduction and prevention of the spread of pathogens The body’s response to immunisation The physical defences of humans and plants The risk factors of CHD and possible treatments BMI The production and use of monoclonal antibodies This lesson can be used at numerous points over the duration of the course, as an end of topic revision aid, in the lead up to the mocks or in the lead up to the actual GCSE exams.

This fully-resourced lesson explains the meaning of gross and net primary production and net production and describes how they are calculated. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources are part of the second lesson in a series of 3 lessons which have been designed to cover the detail in point 5.3 of the AQA A-level Biology specification. Due to the fact that the productivity of plants is dependent on photosynthesis, a series of exam-style questions have been written into the lesson which challenge the students to explain how the structure of the leaf as well as the light-dependent and light-independent reactions are linked to GPP. All of the exam questions have displayed mark schemes which are included in the PowerPoint to allow students to immediately assess their understanding. A number of quick quiz competitions as well as guided discussion points are used to introduce the formulae to calculate NPP and N and to recognise the meaning of the components. Once again, this is immediately followed by the opportunity to apply their understanding to selected questions. As well as linking to photosynthesis from earlier in topic 5, this lesson has been specifically planned to challenge students on their understanding of ecosystem terminology from the previous lesson as well as preparing them for the next lesson on the efficiency of energy transfer

An engaging lesson presentation (16 slides) which looks at the surface area to volume ratio and ensures that students can explain why this factor is so important to the organisation of living organisms. This is a topic which is generally poorly misunderstood by students and therefore time has been taken to design an engaging lesson which highlights the key points in order to encourage greater understanding. The lesson begins by showing students the dimensions of a cube and two answers and challenges them to work out what the questions were that produced these answers. Students are shown how to calculate the surface area and the volume of an object before it is explained how this can then be turned into a ratio. Time is taken at this point to ensure that students can apply this new-found knowledge as they have to work out which of the three organisms in the “SA: V OLYMPICS” would stand aloft the podium. Students are given the opportunity to draw conclusions from this task so that they can recognise that the larger the organism, the lower the surface area to volume ratio. The lesson finishes by explaining how larger organisms, like humans, have adapted in order to increase the surface area at important exchange surfaces in their bodies. There are regular progress checks throughout the lesson to allow the students to check on their understanding. This lesson has been written for GCSE students but is perfectly suitable for A-level students who want to look at this topic from a basic level

This clear and concise lesson explains how the inheritance of two or more genes that have loci on the same autosome demonstrates autosomal linkage. The engaging PowerPoint and associated resource have been designed to cover the part of point 6.1.2 (b[ii]) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification which states that students should be able to demonstrate and apply their knowledge and understanding of the use of phenotypic ratios to identify autosomal linkage. This is a topic which can cause confusion for students so time was taken in the design to split the concept into small chunks. There is a clear focus on how the number of original phenotypes and recombinants can be used to determine linkage and suggest how the loci of the two genes compare. Important links to other topics such as crossing over in meiosis are made to enable students to understand how the random formation of the chiasma determines whether new phenotypes will be seen in the offspring or not. Linkage is an important cause of variation and the difference between observed and expected results and this is emphasised on a number of occasions. The main task of the lesson acts as an understanding check where students are challenged to analyse a set of results involving the inheritance of the ABO blood group gene and the nail-patella syndrome gene to determine whether they have loci on the same chromosome and if so, how close their loci would appear to be. This lesson has been written to tie in with the other lessons from module 6.1.2 (Patterns of Inheritance)