This fully-resourced lesson explores how the presence of particular alleles at one locus can mask the expression of alleles at a second locus in gene interactions. The detailed and engaging PowerPoint and associated resources have been designed to cover the part of point 16.2 (b) of the CIE International A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to use genetic diagrams to solve problems that involve gene interactions. This is a topic which students tend to find difficult, and therefore the lesson was written to split the topic into small chunks where examples of dominant, recessive and complimentary gene interactions are considered, discussed at length and then explained. Understanding checks, in various forms, are included throughout the lesson so that students can assess their progress and any misconceptions are immediately addressed. There are regular links to related topics such as dihybrid inheritance so that students can meet the challenge of interpreting genotypes and link to the different types of interactions

This fully-resourced lesson explores how glucose as well as the other respiratory substrates, such as lipids and proteins, can enter the respiratory pathway and therefore can be respired to produce molecules of ATP. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover points 12.1 (f) and (g) of the CIE International A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to explain the relative energy values of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins and be able to determine respiratory quotients from equations. This lesson has been written to challenge current understanding as well as introduce details of glycolysis, the link reaction and Krebs cycle as these stages have yet to be covered fully. Students will learn that lipids and proteins can be used as respiratory substrates and will recognise the different ways that they enter the respiratory pathway. A quick quiz competition is used to introduce the relative energy value for carbohydrates and students are challenged to predict how the values for lipids and proteins will compare. As a result, students will recognise that a greater number of hydrogen atoms results in a greater availability of protons to form the proton gradient to fuel the production of ATP. The rest of the lesson focuses on the calculation of the respiratory quotient and time is taken to look at how the result can be interpreted to determine which substrates were respired.

This fully-resourced lesson describes how respiration in the absence of oxygen produces a limited yield of ATP and results in lactate or ethanol formation. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying differentiated resources have been designed to cover all of the specification points under point 5.5 of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification and explains how pyruvate must be converted to lactate or ethanol using the hydrogen atoms released from reduced NAD to reoxidise this coenzyme to allow glycolysis to continue. The lesson begins with a focus on the coenzyme, NAD, and students are challenged to recall details of its role in the oxidation of glycerate-3-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 as detailed in points 5.1 - 5.5.

This fully-resourced lesson describes the relationship between the structure of the chloroplast and its role as the site of photosynthesis. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover specification point 5.7 (i) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B course. Students were introduced to the ultrastructure of eukaryotic cells in topic 2 so this lesson has been written to build on that knowledge. A version of the quiz show POINTLESS runs throughout the lesson and this maintains engagement whilst challenging the students to recall the parts of the chloroplast based on a description which is related to their function. The following structures are covered in this lesson: double membrane thylakoids (grana) stroma intergranal lamellae starch grains chloroplast DNA and ribosomes Once each structure has been recalled, a range of activities are used to ensure that key details are understood such as the role of the thylakoid membranes in the light-dependent stage and the importance of ATP and reduced NADP for the Calvin cycle. This lesson has been specifically written to prepare students for the upcoming lessons on the light-dependent stage and light-independent stage

This revision resource contains an engaging and informative PowerPoint (49 slides) and a differentiated worksheet that will enable the students to assess their understanding of the topic B2 (Cells) content of the CIE IGCSE Combined Science specification for examination in June and November 2020 and 2021. The following topics have been given particular attention in this lesson: The structure and function of red blood cells Diffusion as the movement of molecules from a high concentration to a low concentration The structure of root hair cells to allow absorption of minerals and water from the soil Osmosis investigations The effect on plant cells of immersion in solutions of different water potentials The function of the organelles found in animal and plant cells The structure and function of specialised cells This resource is ideal for revision purposes during or at the end of the topic and in the lead up to mocks or the actual IGCSE exams

This lesson has been designed to cover the content as detailed in points 2.15, 2.16 and 2.17 (The eye as a sensory receptor and the correction of eye defects) of the Edexcel GCSE Biology specification. Consisting of a detailed and engaging PowerPoint (54 slides) and accompanying worksheets, the range of activities will motivate the students whilst ensuring that the content is covered in detail. Students will learn how the structures of the eye enable it to function as a sensory receptor, with a particular focus on the role of the cornea, lens, iris and the rod and cone cells in the retina. In addition, students will understand how eye defects such as short-sightedness and cataracts can cause problems for vision and can be corrected. Progress checks are included throughout the lesson so that students can assess their understanding of the content and any misconceptions can be addressed whilst quiz competitions are used to introduce new terms in a fun and memorable way. This lesson has been written for GCSE-aged students who are studying the Edexcel GCSE Biology specification but can be used with younger students who have a real interest in this sensory receptor as well as older students who need to know the key details for their A level course.

This fully-resourced lesson has been designed to cover the specification points about sex-linked characteristics as detailed in the supplement section of topic 17 (inheritance) of the CIE IGCSE Biology specification This resource consists of an engaging and detailed PowerPoint and an accompanying worksheet, which has been differentiated two ways so students who find the tasks difficult are given assistance to result in good outcomes. The lesson builds on the knowledge from earlier in the topic on monohybrid crosses and sex determination to show students how to draw genetic diagrams to calculate offspring outcomes when the gene is carried on the sex chromosomes. Step by step guides are used to demonstrate how to write the genotypes and gametes in these disorders by including the sex chromosomes to show gender. The lesson focuses on red-green colour blindness and haemophilia and builds up to questions on a pedigree tree to challenge the students to apply their new knowledge. This lesson has been designed for GCSE-aged students who are studying the CIE IGCSE Biology course but is suitable for A-level students who are looking at these types of genetic disorders.

This is a fully-resourced lesson consisting of an engaging PowerPoint and differentiated worksheets which have been designed to cover the content of points 7.15 & 7.16 as detailed on the Edexcel GCSE Biology & Combined Science specifications. This point states that students should be able to describe the cause of diabetes type I and II and describe how they are both controlled. There are links made throughout the lesson between this topic and the control of blood glucose concentration from specification point 7,13 and 7.14 The lesson has been designed to take the format of a diabetic clinic where the students perform the duties of the attending doctor. They will move through the different expectations of the role which includes identifying symptoms, diagnosis of type I or II and communication with the patients to reveal the findings. The wide range of activities will enable the students to learn how to spot that someone is suffering from diabetes and the similarities and differences between the different types so they can determine which one is being presented. The summary tasks challenge the students to construct a letter to a patient who is suffering from type II and to identify the correct type from another doctor’s letter. Understanding and previous knowledge checks are interspersed with quiz competitions, like the one shown in the cover image, which make the learning fun and memorable and enable the students to assess their progress. This lesson has been designed for students studying the Edexcel GCSE Biology or Combined Science course but is suitable for both younger and older students who are focusing on this disease

This engaging lesson looks at the myogenic nature of cardiac muscle and explores the roles of the SAN, AVN, Bundle of His and Purkyne fibres in the normal electrical activity of the heart. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the points 7.8 (i & ii) of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification. The lesson begins with the introduction of the SAN as the natural pacemaker and then time is given to study each step of the conduction of the impulse as it spreads away from the myogenic tissue in a wave of excitation. The lesson has been written to make clear links to the cardiac cycle and the structure of the heart and students are challenged on their knowledge of this system from topic 1. Moving forwards, students are encouraged to consider why a delay would occur at the AVN and then they will learn that the impulse is conducted along the Bundle of His to the apex so that the contraction of the ventricles can happen from the bottom upwards. The structure of the cardiac muscle cells is discussed and the final task of the lesson challenges the students to describe the conducting tissue, with an emphasis on the use of key terminology Due to the detailed nature of this lesson, it is estimated that it will take about 2 hours of A-level teaching time to cover the two specification points

This detailed lesson describes the process of translation and the roles of the mRNA, tRNA, rRNA and amino acids during this second stage of protein synthesis. Both the PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the second part of points 2.5 (i) & (ii) of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A specification and contains constant links to the previous lessons in this topic on transcription and the structure of DNA and RNA. Translation is a topic which is often poorly understood and so this lesson has been written to support the students in answering the different types of questions by knowing and including the details of the key structures involved. The lesson begins by challenging the students to consider why it is so important that the amino acids are assembled in the correct order during the formation of the chain. Moving forwards, a quick quiz round called “LOST IN TRANSLATION” is used to check on their prior knowledge of the mRNA strand, the tRNA molecules and the ribosomes. The next task involves a very detailed description of translation that has been divided into 14 statements which the students have to put into the correct order. By giving them a passage that consists of this considerable detail, they can pick out the important parts to use in the next task where they have to answer shorter questions worth between 3 and 4 marks. These types of questions are common in the assessments and by building up through the lesson, their confidence to answer this type should increase. The final two tasks of the lesson involve another quiz, where the teams compete to transcribe and translate in the quickest time before using all that they have absorbed to answer some questions which involve the genetic code and the mRNA codon table

This fully-resourced lesson describes the movement of molecules by active transport, endocytosis and exocytosis and explains the need for ATP. The PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets have been designed to cover the second part of point 2.4 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology specification. The first part of 2.4, concerning simple and facilitated diffusion, was covered in the previous lesson. The start of the lesson challenges the students to use their prior knowledge of biological molecules to come up with the abbreviation ATP and they will learn that this is a phosphorylated nucleotide that contains adenine, ribose and three phosphate groups. Students may not have known this as the energy currency from GCSE so time is taken to explain that this molecule must be broken down to release energy and students are challenged to recall which type of reaction will be involved and to predict the products of such a reaction. This hydrolysis of ATP can be coupled to energy-requiring reactions within the cell and the rest of the lesson focuses on the use of this energy for active transport, endocytosis and exocytosis. Students are challenged to answer a series of questions which compare active transport against the forms of passive transport and to use data from a bar chart to support this form of transport. In answering these questions they will discover that carrier proteins are specific to certain molecules and time is taken to look at the exact mechanism of these transmembrane proteins. A quick quiz round introduces endocytosis and the students will see how vesicles are involved along with the enery source of ATP to move large substances in or out of the cell. The lesson concludes with a link to a future topic as the students are shown how exocytosis is involved in a synapse.

This fully-resourced lesson describes how reproductive isolation can lead to allopatric and sympatric speciation. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 3.2 (iii) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification. The lesson begins by using the example of a hinny, which is the hybrid offspring of a horse and a donkey, to challenge students to recall the biological classification of a species. Moving forwards, students are introduced to the idea of speciation and the key components of this process, such as isolation and selection pressures, are covered and discussed in detail. Understanding and prior knowledge checks are included throughout the lesson to allow the students to not only assess their progress against the current topic but also to make links to earlier topics in the specification. Time is taken to look at the details of allopatric speciation and how the different mutations that arise in the isolated populations and genetic drift will lead to genetic changes. The example of allopatric speciation in wrasse fish because of the isthmus of Panama is used to allow the students to visualise this process. The final part of the lesson considers sympatric speciation and again a wide variety of tasks are used to enable a deep understanding to be developed.

An informative lesson presentation (30 slides) that ensures that students know the meaning of the independent, dependent and control variables in an investigation and are able to identify them. Students are challenged to use their definitions to spot the independent and dependent variable from an investigation title. Moving forwards, they are shown how they can use tables and graphs to identify them. The rest of the lesson focuses on the control variables and how these have to be controlled to produce valid results This lesson is suitable for students of all ages studying Science as it is such a key skill

This lesson describes the principles of hormone production by endocrine glands and the two modes of action on target cells. The detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been primarily designed to cover points 9.2 (i) & (ii) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification but can also be used as a revision tool to check on their knowledge of topics like biological molecules and transcription factors Students should have a base knowledge of the endocrine system from GCSE so this lesson has been planned to build on that knowledge and to add the detail needed at this level. The lesson begins by challenging this knowledge to check that they understand that endocrine glands secrete these hormones directly into the blood. Students will learn that most of the secreted hormones are peptide (or protein) hormones and a series of exam-style questions are used to challenge them on their recall of the structure of insulin as well as to apply their knowledge to questions about glucagon. Moving forwards, the students are reminded that hormones have target cells that have specific receptor sites on their membrane. The relationship between a peptide hormone as a first messenger and a second messenger on the inside of the cell is described to allow students to understand how the activation of cyclic AMP triggers a cascade of events on the inside of the cell. The rest of the lesson focuses on steroid hormones and specifically their ability to pass through the membrane of a cell and to bind to transcription factors, as exemplified by oestrogen.

This lesson describes the relationship between the specialised features of the mammalian egg and sperm and their functions. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 3.11 of the Edexcel International A-level Biology specification and includes a focus on the acrosome in the head of the sperm and the zona pellucida in the egg The lessons at the start of topic 3 (Cell structure, Reproduction and Development) described the ultrastructure of eukaryotic cells, so this knowledge is referenced throughout the lesson and the students are challenged on their recall and understanding through a range of prior knowledge checks. For example, two of the exam-style questions that are included in the resources challenge the students to explain why a sperm cell is classified as an eukaryotic cell and to recognise the centrioles and the nucleus from structural descriptions. Along with the mitochondria, time is then taken to discuss and to describe the role of these organelles in relation to the function of the sperm cell. When considering the fusion of the haploid nuclei to form a diploid nucleus in the nucleus, links are made to the upcoming topic of mitosis and the significance of this form of nuclear division. The importance of the enzymes that are found inside the acrosome is emphasised and this leads into the second half of the lesson where the layers surrounding the plasma membrane of the egg cell (corona radiata and zona pellucida) are examined The final part of this lesson has been specifically planned to prepare the students for the next lesson in topic 3, where the acrosome reaction, cortical reaction and the fusion of nuclei that are involved in fertilisation are described

This lesson describes the characteristic features of the Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protoctista and Prokaryotae kingdoms. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point (d) in AS unit 2, topic 1 of the WJEC A-level Biology specification This lesson begins with a knowledge recall as students have to recognise that prior to 1990, kingdom was the highest taxa in the classification hierarchy. Moving forwards, they will recall the names of the five kingdoms and immediately be challenged to split them so that the prokaryotae kingdom is left on its own. An opportunity is taken at this point to check on their prior knowledge of the structure of a bacterial cell as covered in unit 1, topic 2. These prior knowledge checks are found throughout the lesson (along with current understanding checks) as students are also tested on their knowledge of the structure and function of cellulose. This is found in the section of the lesson where the main constituent of the wall can be used to distinguish between plantae, fungi and prokaryotae. Quick quiz competitions, such as YOU DO THE MATH and SAY WHAT YOU SEE are used to introduce key values and words in a fun and memorable way. The final part of the lesson looks at the protoctista kingdom and students will come to understand how these organisms tend to share a lot of animal or plant-like features. Both of the accompanying resources have been differentiated to allow students of differing abilities to access the work and this lesson has been written to tie in with the previously uploaded lesson on classification and the binomial naming system

This lesson introduces the three-domain system and describes some of the biochemical methods used in classification to overcome the problems of morphological convergence. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover points [c] and [e] in AS unit 2, topic 1 of the WJEC A-level Biology specification The lesson begins with an introduction of Carl Woese and goes on to describe how he is most famous for his definition of the Archaea as a new domain of life. Students were introduced to domains and the other classification taxa in a previous lesson, so their recall of this knowledge is continually tested and built upon as details are added. Students will discover the key differences between Archaea and Bacteria that led to the splitting of the prokaryotae kingdom and the addition of this higher classification rank. Moving forwards, the rest of the lesson considers other molecules that can be compared between species for classification purposes and the primary structure of cytochrome is described and discussed. At this point in the lesson, the students are also tested on their knowledge of the nature of the genetic code and have to explain how mutations to DNA can also be used for comparative purposes. The use of DNA genetic fingerprinting is briefly introduced and this is described in greater detail in a future lesson about assessing biodiversity at a molecular level

This lesson describes the ethical and economic reasons for the maintenance of biodiversity. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets are filled with real-life biological examples and have been designed to cover point 3.3 (ii) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification. Many hours of research have gone into the planning of the lesson so that interesting examples are included to increase the relevance of the multitude of reasons to maintain biodiversity. These include the gray wolves and beavers of Yellowstone National Park and the Za boabab in the Madagascar rainforests as examples of keystone species. Students will learn that these species have a disproportionate effect on their environment relative to their abundance and exam-style questions and guided discussion periods are used to challenge them to explain their effect on other species in the habitat. The latest A-level Biology exams have a heavy mathematical content and this is reflected in this lesson as students are challenged to complete a range of calculations to manipulate data to support their biological-based answers. All of the exam questions that are included throughout the lesson have mark schemes embedded into the PowerPoint to allow the students to assess their progress. Moving fowards, the economic ans aesthetic reasons to maintain biodiversity are considered, and there is a focus on the soil depletion that occurs when a continuous monoculture is used. The 1 Billion tree scheme that began in New Zealand in 2018 is introduced and the reasons that some groups of people are objecting to what they consider to be a pine monoculture are discussed. Students will recognise that the clear felling of the trees dramatically changes the landscape and that the increased runoff that results can have catastrophic affects for both aquatic life and for humans with floods. A number of quiz competitions are included in the lesson to introduce key terms in a fun and memorable way and some of the worksheets have been differentiated to allow students of differing abilities to access the work

This lesson describes how the standard deviation and the t-test are used to analyse data. The detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources are part of the first lesson in a series of 2 lessons that have been designed to cover point 10.1 (vi) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification. The next lesson, which uses skills covered in this lesson and has also been uploaded, describes how to analyse data using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient A step by step guide walks the students through each stage of the calculation of the standard deviation and gets them to complete a worked example with the class before applying their knowledge to another set of data. This data looks at the birth weights of humans on one day in the UK and this is used again later in the lesson to compare against the birth weights of babies in South Asia when using the student’s t-test. The null hypothesis is re-introduced, as it will encountered when considering the chi squared test in topic 8, and students will learn to accept or reject this based upon a comparison of their value against one taken from the table based on the degrees of freedom.

This lesson describes the action of bactericidal and bacteriostatic antibiotics, as illustrated by penicillin and tetracycline. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 6.3 (i) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification but it has been specifically planned to make continual links to earlier lessons in topic 6 and to protein synthesis as covered in topic 1 The lesson begins by challenging the students to use their general biological knowledge and any available sources to identify the suffixes cidal and static. Students will learn that when the prefix is added, these form the full names of two types of antibiotics. Their understanding of terminology is tested further as they have to recognise that Polymyxin B is an example of a bactericidal antibiotic as its actions would result in the death of the bacterial cell. Time is then taken to describe the action of penicillin and students will learn how inhibitors and modified versions of this antibiotic are used to overcome those bacteria who have resistance. Tetracycline is used as the example of a bacteriostatic antibiotic and students will discover that its prevention of the binding of tRNA that inhibits protein synthesis and this reduction and stopping of growth and reproduction is synonymous with these drugs. Students are challenged on their knowledge of translation and will also be given time for a class discussion to understand that these antibiotics encourage the body’s immune system to overcome the pathogen in natural, active immunity. The final part of the lesson uses a quick quiz competition and a series of exam-style questions to ensure that students can recognise these different types of antibiotics from descriptions.