This lesson describes the structure and functions of the organelles that are found in eukaryotic cells. The engaging and detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point (a) in AS Unit 1, topic 2 of the WJEC A-level Biology specification As cells are the building blocks of living organisms, it makes sense that they would be heavily involved in all 6 modules in the OCR course and intricate planning has ensured that links to the lessons earlier in AS unit 1 are made as well as to the upcoming topics in the other units. The lesson uses a wide range of activities, that include exam-style questions, class discussion points and quick quiz competitions, to maintain motivation and engagement whilst describing the relationship between the structure and function of the following organelles: nucleus nucleolus centrioles ribosomes rough endoplasmic reticulum Golgi body lysosomes smooth endoplasmic reticulum mitochondria cell surface membrane vacuole chloroplasts plasmodesmata All of the worksheets have been differentiated to support students of differing abilities whilst maintaining challenge Due to the detail that is included in this lesson, it is estimated that it will take in excess of 3 hours of allocated A-level teaching time to go through all of the tasks

This detailed lesson describes how recombinant DNA is produced using restriction endonucleases and DNA ligase and is inserted into other cells. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover points 8.18 & 8.19 of the Edexcel International A-level Biology specification. The lesson begins with a definition of genetic engineering and recombinant DNA to allow students to begin to understand how this process involves the transfer of DNA fragments from one species to another. Links are made to the genetic code and transcription and translation mechanisms, which were met in topic 2, in order to explain how the transferred gene can be translated in the transgenic organism. Moving forwards, the method involving reverse transcriptase and DNA polymerase is introduced and their knowledge of the structure of the polynucleotides and the roles of enzymes is challenged through questions and discussion points. Restriction endonucleases are then introduced and time is taken to look at the structure of a restriction site as well as the production of sticky ends due to the staggered cut on the DNA. A series of exam-style questions with displayed mark schemes are used to allow the students to assess their current understanding. The second half of the lesson looks at the culture of transformed host cells as an in vivo method to amplify DNA fragments. Students will learn that bacterial cells are the most commonly transformed cells so the next task challenges their recall of the structures of these cells so that plasmid DNA can be examined from that point onwards. Time is taken to explore the finer details of each step such as the addition of the promoter and terminator regions, use of the same restriction enzyme to cut the plasmid as was used to cut the gene and the different types of marker genes. As well as understanding and prior knowledge checks, quick quiz competitions are used throughout the lesson to introduce key terms such as cDNA and EcoR1 in a fun and hopefully memorable way

This highly detailed and engaging lesson which explains how a nerve impulse (action potential) is conducted along an axon). The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 8.3 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification which states that students should be able to describe how the changes in the membrane permeability to sodium and potassium ions results in conduction. This topic is commonly assessed in the terminal exams so a lot of time has been taken to design this resource to include a wide range of activities that motivate the students whilst ensuring that the content is covered in the depth of detail that will allow them to have a real understanding. Interspersed within the activities are understanding checks and prior knowledge checks to enable the students to not only assess their progress against the current topic but also to challenge themselves on the links to earlier topics such as methods of movements across cell membranes and saltatory conduction. There are also a number of quiz competitions which are used to introduce key terms and values in a fun and memorable way and discussion points to encourage the students to consider why a particular process or mechanism occurs. Over the course of the lesson, the students will learn and discover how the movement of ions across the membrane causes the membrane potential to change. They will see how the resting potential is maintained through the use of the sodium/potassium pump and potassium ion leakage. There is a real focus on depolarisation to allow students to understand how generator potentials can combine and if the resulting depolarisation then exceeds the threshold potential, a full depolarisation will occur. At this point in the lesson students will discover how the all or nothing response explains that action potentials have the same magnitude and that instead a stronger stimulus is linked to an increase in the frequency of the transmission. The rest of the lesson challenges the students to apply their knowledge to explain how repolarisation and hyperpolarisation result and to suggest advantages of the refractory period for nerve cells.

This revision lesson has been designed to challenge the students on their use of a range of mathematical skills that could be assessed on the six OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science papers. The mathematical element of the GCSE Combined Science course has increased significantly since the specification change and therefore success in those questions which involve the use of maths can prove to be the difference between one grade and another or possibly even more. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources contain a wide range of activities that include exam-style questions with displayed mark schemes and explanations so that students can assess their progress. Other activities include differentiated tasks, class discussion points and quick quiz competitions such as “It doesn’t HURT to CONVERT”, “YOU DO THE MATH” and “FILL THE VOID”. The following mathematical skills (in a scientific context) are covered in this lesson: The use of Avogadro’s constant Rearranging the formula of an equation Calculating the amount in moles using mass and relative formula mass Calculating the relative formula mass for formulae with brackets Using the Periodic Table to calculate the number of sub-atomic particles in atoms Changes to electrons in ions Balancing chemical symbol equations Empirical formula Converting between units Calculating concentration in grams per dm cubed and volumes of solutions Calculating size using the magnification equation Using the mean to estimate the population of a sessile species Calculating percentages to prove the importance of biodiversity Calculating percentage change The BMI equation Calculating the acceleration from a velocity-time graph Recalling and applying the Physics equations Understanding prefixes that determine size Leaving answers to significant figures and using standard form Helpful hints and step-by-step guides are used throughout the lesson to support the students and some of the worksheets are differentiated two ways to provide extra assistance. Due to the detail of this lesson, it is estimated that it will take in excess of 3 hours of GCSE teaching time to cover the tasks and for this reason it can be used over a number of lessons as well as during different times of the year for revision

This extensive revision lesson challenges students on their knowledge and understanding of the content of topics 5 - 8 of the AQA A-level specification. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain a selection of tasks which challenge the following points: Directional, stabilising and disruptive selection Saltatory conduction and other factors affecting conductance speed The structure of a motor neurone Sensory receptors, depolarisation and initiation of an action potential Hardy-Weinberg principle Genetic terminology Codominance and sex-linkage Autosomal linkage Chi-squared test Phosphorylation The stages of aerobic respiration Explaining lower ATP yields in anaerobic respiration Skeletal muscle contraction Structure and function of slow and fast twitch muscle fibres The control of heart rate Electrophoresis and genetic fingerprinting The secondary messenger model The students are tested through a variety of tasks including exam questions, understanding checks, and quiz rounds to maintain engagement. Due to the mathematical content in all A-level exams, there is also a focus on these skills. The answers to all questions are embedded into the PowerPoint so students can use this resource outside of the classroom. The delivery of the whole lesson will likely need at least 2 or 3 hours of contact time so this resource could be used with students in the final weeks building up to their paper 2 exam, or alternatively with students before their mocks on these topics.

A detailed and engaging lesson presentation (74 slides) which consists of a series of exam questions, quick tasks and competitions to enable the students to assess their understanding of the topics found within Module 2. All of the exam questions have displayed mark schemes with explanations so that students can recognise errors and misconceptions and address them. Students will thoroughly enjoy the numerous competitions which include "Name the 007 bonds" and "Biology catchphrase".

An engaging lesson presentation (70 slides) which covers a range of communicable diseases which are caused by each of the four pathogens and discusses how the spread of these diseases can be prevented. The lesson begins by challenging the students to make the link between communicable diseases and pathogens and ensures that they are comfortable with protoctists as this is a pathogen that a lot of them will not have met or at least known the name for. Moving forwards, a focus is given to each pathogen, looking at why they are so effective at causing disease and also looks at examples of diseases that they cause. A range of quiz competitions are used to introduce key terms and maintain engagement. The remainder of the lesson focuses on how the spread of these communicable diseases can be prevented and attempts are made to link to other topics such as contraception. Progress checks have been written into the lesson at regular intervals so that students can constantly assess their understanding and any misconceptions can be immediately addressed. This lesson has been written for GCSE students (14 - 16 year olds in the UK) but can be used with both younger and older students.

This fully-resourced lesson describes the ultrastructure of eukaryotic cells and the functions of each of the organelles in these cells. The engaging and detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover points 3.1, 3.2 & 3.3 of the Edexcel International A-level Biology specification and therefore this lesson also describes how all living organisms are made of cells and that these cells are organised into tissues, organs and organ system in multicellular organisms. As cells are the building blocks of living organisms, it makes sense that they would be heavily involved in all of the 8 topics in the Edexcel course and intricate planning has ensured that links to previously covered topics as well as upcoming ones are made throughout the lesson. The cell theory is introduced at the start of the lesson and the first 2 principles are explained. Students will see how epithelial cells are grouped together to form different types of epithelium in the respiratory tract and their prior knowledge of gas exchange at the alveoli from topic 2 is tested with a series of questions. The rest of the lesson uses a wide range of activities, that include exam-style questions, class discussion points and quick quiz competitions, to maintain motivation and engagement whilst describing the relationship between the structure and function of the following organelles: nucleus nucleolus centrioles ribosomes rough endoplasmic reticulum Golgi apparatus lysosomes smooth endoplasmic reticulum mitochondria cell surface membrane All of the worksheets have been differentiated to support students of differing abilities whilst maintaining challenge Due to the detail that is included in this lesson, it is estimated that it will take in excess of 3 hours of allocated A-level teaching time to go through all of the tasks