A Science teacher by trade, I've also been known to be found teaching Maths and PE! However, strange as it may seem, my real love is designing resources that can be used by other teachers to maximise the experience of the students. I am constantly thinking of new ways to engage a student with a topic and try to implement that in the design of the lessons.
A Science teacher by trade, I've also been known to be found teaching Maths and PE! However, strange as it may seem, my real love is designing resources that can be used by other teachers to maximise the experience of the students. I am constantly thinking of new ways to engage a student with a topic and try to implement that in the design of the lessons.
This lesson describes how communication occurs between cells by cell signalling. The PowerPoint and accompanying resource have been designed to cover point 5.1.1 (b) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification and focuses on the use of the nervous system for communication between the CNS and effectors and the release of hormones to bring about responses.
As this is one of the first lessons to be delivered in module 5, this lesson has been specifically planned to prepare students for the upcoming topics of neuronal and hormonal communication. Students begin by learning that cell signalling governs the basic activities of cells and coordinates multiple cell actions. Moving forwards, the next part of the lesson focuses on the nervous system and students will learn that an electrical impulse will be conducted on a somatic or an autonomic motor neurone depending upon the type of muscle to be stimulated. This provides some introductory information for modules 5.1.3 and 5.1.5. The remainder of the lesson describes how the hormones that are secreted by the cells of endocrine glands allow communication with target cells and the different actions of peptide and steroid hormones is considered.
This lesson bundle has been formed from the 13 detailed lesson PowerPoints and their accompanying resources that have been uploaded to cover a lot of the content in modules 2.1.4, 2.1.5 and 2.1.6 of the OCR A-level Biology A specification.
Each lesson contains a wide range of tasks, which include exam-style questions (with mark schemes), guided discussion points, and quick quiz competitions, that will engage and motivate the students whilst covering the following specification points:
Module 2.1.4: Enzymes
The role of enzymes in catalysing reactions that affect metabolism at a cellular and whole organism level
The role of enzymes in catalysing both intracellular and extracellular reactions
The mechanism of enzyme action
The effect of pH on enzyme activity
The effect of temperature on enzyme activity
The calculation of the temperature coefficient
The effect of enzyme and substrate concentration on enzyme activity
The need for coenzymes, cofactors and prosthetic groups in some enzyme-controlled reactions
Module 2.1.5: Biological membranes
The fluid mosaic model of membrane structure and the roles of its components
Simple and facilitated diffusion as forms of passive transport
Active transport, endocytosis and exocytosis as processes requiring ATP as an immediate source of energy
The movement of water across membranes by osmosis and the effects that solutions of different water potential can have on plant and animal cells
Module 2.1.6: Cell division, cell diversity and cellular organisation
The cell cycle
How the cell cycle is regulated
The main stages of mitosis
The significance of mitosis in life cycles
The significance of meiosis in life cycles
The main stages of meiosis
How cells of multicellular organisms are specialised for particular functions
The organisation of cells into tissues, organs and organ systems
The production of erythrocytes and neutrophils from stem cells in bone marrow
If you would like to sample the quality of the lessons in this bundle, then download the following lessons as they have been uploaded for free:
The roles of enzymes and mechanism of action
Simple and facilitated diffusion
Cell specialisation and organisation
This lesson describes the t-test can be used to compare the variation of two different populations. The detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 17.1 [c] of the CIE A-level Biology specification and also explains how to calculate the standard deviation to measure the spread of a set of data as this value is needed in the t-test formula
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 in an exam-style question. 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 t-test. The null hypothesis is introduced 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 bundle contains 7 lessons which are highly detailed and cover the following points in the surface area to volume ratio, gas exchange and digestion and absorption topics of the AQA A-level Biology specification:
The relationship between the size of an organism or structure and its surface area to volume ratio
The development of systems in larger organisms as adaptations that facilitate exchange as this ratio reduces
Adaptations of gas exchange surfaces in single-celled organisms, insects, bony fish and in the leaf of a dicotyledonous plant
The gross structure of the human gas exchange system
The essential features of the alveolar epithelium over which gas exchange takes place
Ventilation and the exchange of gases in the lungs
Digestion in mammals of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids
Mechanisms for the absorption of the products of digestion by cells lining the ileum
If you would like to sample the quality of lessons in this bundle, then download the alveolar epithelium and absorption in the ileum lessons as these have been uploaded for free
This bundle contains 8 fully-resourced lessons which have been designed to cover the following content in topic 8 of the Edexcel International A-level Biology specification:
8.1: Know the structure and function of sensory, relay and motor neurones
8.2: Understand how the nervous system of organisms can cause effectors to respond to a stimulus
8.4: Understand how a nerve impulse is conducted along an axon
8.5: Understand the role of myelination in saltatory conduction
8.6 (i): Know the structure and function of synapses in nerve impulse transmission
8.6 (ii): Understand how the pupil dilates and contracts
8.8: Understand how the nervous system of organisms can detect stimuli with reference to rods in the retina of mammals
8.10: Know that the mammalian nervous system consists of the central and peripheral nervous systems
8.13: Understand how coordination in animals is brought about through nervous and hormonal control
8.18: Understand how recombinant DNA can be produced
8.19: Understand how recombinant DNA can be inserted into other cells
Each of the lessons contains a wide range of activities, which include exam-style questions, guided discussion periods and quick quiz competitions, and these will motivate the students whilst the difficult A-level content is covered
If you would like to see the quality of lessons included in this bundle then download the pupil reflex, saltatory conduction and nervous and hormonal control lessons as these have been uploaded for free
This detailed lesson describes the absorption of water, the movement through the root and the role of the endodermis. Both the PowerPoint and accompanying resource have been designed to cover specification points (j, k & l) in topic 3 of AS unit 2 of the WJEC A-level Biology specification and includes descriptions of the apoplast, symplast and vacuolar pathways and the Casparian strip.
The lesson begins by looking at the specialised features of the root hair cell so that students can understand how these epidermal cells absorb water and mineral ions from the soil. Moving forwards, students are introduced to key terminology such as epidermis and root cortex before time is taken to look at the different pathways that water and minerals use to transverse across the cortex. Discussion points are included throughout the lesson to encourage the students to think about each topic in depth and challenges them to think about important questions such as why the apoplast pathway is needed for the water carrying the ions. The main part of the lesson focuses on the role of the endodermis in the transport of the water and ions into the xylem. Students will be introduced to the Casparian strip and will learn how this layer of cells blocks the apoplast pathway. A step by step method using class questions and considered answers is used to guide them through the different steps and to support them when writing the detailed description.
This lesson has been written to tie in with the next lesson on the pathways and mechanisms by which water and mineral ions are transported to the leaves.
This lesson outlines how bacteria become resistant to antiobiotics and discusses its consequences and the steps taken to reduce its impact. The PowerPoint and accompanying worksheet have been designed to cover specification points 10.2 (b & c) of the CIE A-level Biology specification
President Trump’s error ridden speech about antibiotics is used at the beginning of the lesson to remind students that this is a treatment for bacterial infections and not viruses as he stated. Moving forwards, 2 quick quiz competitions are used to introduce MRSA and then to get the students to recognise that they can use this abbreviation to remind them to use mutation, reproduce, selection (and survive) and allele in their descriptions of the development of resistance by evolution through natural selection. The main task of the lesson challenges the students to form a description to explain how this strain of bacteria developed resistance to methicillin, making use of the five key terms emphasised above. Moving forwards, there is a focus on the hospital as the common location for MRSA infections and students will recognise that this opportunistic pathogen can infect through open wounds to cause sepsis and potentially death. Figures from infections and deaths in hospitals in the US are used to increase the relevance and students will learn how a MRSA prevention program in VHA facilities includes screening of surgery patients to try to reduce its impact. The lesson concludes with a discussion about other methods that can be used by hospitals and general practitioners to reduce the impact of MRSA and to try to prevent the development of resistance in other strains.
This lesson describes the development and spread of antibiotic resistance in bacteria and discusses the difficulties in controlling this spread. The PowerPoint and accompanying worksheet have been designed to cover specification points 6.4 (i & ii) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification
President Trump’s error ridden speech about antibiotics is used at the beginning of the lesson to remind students that this is a treatment for bacterial infections and not viruses as he stated. Moving forwards, 2 quick quiz competitions are used to introduce MRSA and then to get the students to recognise that they can use this abbreviation to remind them to use mutation, reproduce, selection (and survive) and allele in their descriptions of the development of resistance by evolution through natural selection. The main task of the lesson challenges the students to form a description to explain how this strain of bacteria developed resistance to methicillin, making use of the five key terms emphasised above. Moving forwards, there is a focus on the hospital as the common location for MRSA infections and students will recognise that this opportunistic pathogen can infect through open wounds to cause sepsis and potentially death. Figures from infections and deaths in hospitals in the US are used to increase the relevance and students will learn how a MRSA prevention program in VHA facilities includes screening of surgery patients to try to reduce its impact. The lesson concludes with a discussion about other methods that can be used by hospitals and general practitioners to reduce the spread of MRSA and to try to prevent the development of resistance in other strains.
This lesson explores how certain farming methods reduce biodiversity and considers the importance of a balance between conservation and farming. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources are the second in a series of 2 lessons which cover the detail in point 4.6 (biodiversity within a community) of the AQA A-level biology specification.
The lesson begins by challenging the students to use the % change formula to calculate the predicted population in the UK by mid 2030. This increase to almost 70 million will lead into the recognition that farmers are under constant pressure to grow and provide enough food to feed this ever-growing population. A series of tasks and discussions will consider farming methods such as continuous monoculture and herbicides and insecticides which reduce biodiversity. This introduces conservation as active management to prevent the loss of biodiversity and several methods including the CSS and buffer strips are explored to encourage the students to think about the aims of these strategies.
The other lesson covering specification point 4.6 is uploaded and named “biodiversity within a community”.
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.
All 9 of the lessons included in this bundle are fully resourced and have been designed to cover the detailed content of module 5.2.2 (Respiration) of the OCR A-Level Biology A specification.
The following specification points are covered by this bundle of lessons:
The need for cellular respiration
The structure of the mitochondrion
The process and site of glycolysis
The link reaction and its site in the cell
The process and site of the Krebs cycle
The importance of coenzymes in cellular respiration
The process and site of oxidative phosphorylation
The chemiosmotic theory
The process of anaerobic respiration in eukaryotes
The difference in the relative energy values of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins
The use and interpretation of the respiratory quotient
All of the lessons are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks so that students can assess their understanding of the current topic as well as prior knowledge checks to enable links between topics and modules to be seen
It is estimated that these lessons will cover in excess of a month’s A-level Biology teaching time
This lesson bundle contains 5 detailed lesson PowerPoints and their accompanying resources which have been designed to cover the content of module 5.1.4 (Hormonal communication) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification. They contain a wide variety of tasks which include exam-style questions with displayed mark schemes that challenge the students on their current understanding as well as their ability to make links to previously covered topics.
The following specification points are covered in this bundle:
Endocrine communication by hormones
The structure and functions of the adrenal glands
The histology of the pancreas
The regulation of blood glucose concentration by the release of insulin and glucagon
The control of insulin secretion
The difference between type I and II diabetes mellitus
The potential treatments for diabetes mellitus
If you would like to sample the quality of the lessons in this bundle, then download the endocrine communication lesson as this has been uploaded for free
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
A fully resourced revision lesson that uses a combination of exam questions, understanding checks, quick tasks and quiz competitions to help the students to assess their understanding of the topics found within modules B1, B2 and B3 of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Biology specification as will be covered in Biology paper 1
The topics that are tested within the lesson include:
Cell structures
What happens in cells
Respiration
Photosynthesis
Supplying the cell
The challenge of size
The nervous system
The endocrine system
Maintaining internal environments
Students will be engaged through the numerous quiz rounds whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which require further attention
A fully-resourced lesson which looks at the structure of DNA in the detail which is required at GCSE level (14 - 16 year olds in the UK). The lesson includes an engaging lesson presentation (35 slides) and associated worksheets. The main aim of the lesson is to ensure that students recognise key terminology that comes with this topic such as nucleotide and (nitrogenous) bases. Engaging tasks have been written into the lesson, in order to maintain the motivation, such as when students are introduced to complimentary base pairing through a version of the gameshow “Take me Out”. Additional knowledge is provided at appropriate times in the lesson to stretch and challenge the more able. There are regular progress checks throughout the lesson so that students can assess their understanding of the structure.
As stated above, this lesson has been written for GCSE students but could be used with younger students and also with A-level students as a means of a recap before they learn about this in greater detail.
A fully- resourced lesson which looks at the chemical reaction that is anaerobic respiration and ensures that students can understand why this form of respiration can only be used for short periods of time. The lesson includes an engaging lesson presentation (39 slides), a newspaper article and application questions.
The lesson begins by challenging the students to recall information about aerobic respiration to recognise that the sole reactant of anaerobic respiration is glucose. A newspaper article about two atheletes from the 10000m race has been written to challenge the students to recognise why one of the athletes wouldnt be able to compete again in the near future whilst the other could. As a result, students will be introduced to lactic acid and will learn how this poisonous substance prevents muscle contraction and causes cramps. Time is taken to ensure that students are familiar with ATP and specifically that they recognise that a much lower yield is produced in this type of respiration. A perfect opportunity is taken to get the students to carry out a mathematical calculation to compare the yields. Oxygen debt is discussed and related back to the original newspaper article. Finally, anaerobic respiration in plants and yeast is considered in terms of fermentation and the word and symbol equation is written so that it can be compared to those from animals.
There are regular progress checks throughout the lesson to allow the students to check on their understanding. The lesson has been written for GCSE students but could be used with higher ability KS3 students or A-level students who want a recap before covering the topic in greater detail on their course.
A fully-resourced lesson which looks at the structure of the human heart and its associated vessels and ensures that students know the journey which blood takes through this organ. The lesson includes an engaging lesson presentation (25 slides), a diagram to label and a worksheet to summarise the journey.
The lesson begins with a bit of fun as students see the script to part of an episode from Friends. Students will recognise the alternative definition of the heart and ultimately recall that the function of this organ is to pump blood around the body. Moving forwards, the main task of the lesson involves labelling the four chambers and the blood vessels which bring blood towards and away from the heart. Students are given useful hints along the way to enable them to discover the answers rather than simply being given a finished diagram. Time is taken to look at the valves and discuss their function so that students can understand this role when they encounter them in veins. The lesson concludes with one final task that challenges the students to detail the journey of blood through the heart.
There are regular progress checks throughout the lesson to allow the students to check on their understanding. As always, the lesson finishes with a slide containing advanced terminology so that students who have aspirations to take A-level Biology can extend and deepen their knowledge
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 explores the inheritance of genetic characteristics that involve multiple alleles and codominant alleles. The engaging and detailed PowerPoint and differentiated worksheets have been designed to cover the part of point 6.1.2 (b[i]) which states that students should be able to demonstrate and apply their knowledge and understanding of genetic diagrams to show patterns of inheritance including multiple and codominant alleles.
The main part of the lesson uses the inheritance of the ABO blood groups to demonstrate how the three alleles that are found at the locus on chromosome 9 and the codominance of the A and B alleles affects the phenotypes. Students are guided through the construction of the different genotypes and how to interpret the resulting phenotype. They are challenged to use a partially completed pedigree tree to determine the blood group for some of the family members and to explain how they came to their answer. To further challenge their ability to apply their knowledge, a series of questions about multiple alleles and codominance in animals that are not humans are used.
The final part of the lesson makes a link back to module 4 and the correlation between a high proportion of polymorphic gene loci and an increase in genetic diversity. Students will be expected to make links between module 4 and 6 as part of papers 2 and 3, so this demonstrates how exam questions can do just that
This lesson describes the active loading of assimilates like sucrose at the source and the translocation along the phloem to the sink. Both the detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 3.1.3 (f) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification.
The lesson begins by challenging the students to recognise the key term translocation when it is partially revealed and then the rest of the lesson focuses on getting them to understand how this process involves the mass flow of assimilates down the hydrostatic pressure gradient from the source to the sink. It has been written to tie in with 3.1.3 (b) where the structure of the phloem tissue was initially introduced and the students are continually challenged on this prior knowledge. A step-by-step guide is used to describe how sucrose is loaded into the phloem at the source by the companion cells. Time is taken to discuss key details such as the proton pumping to create the proton gradient and the subsequent movement back into the cells by facilitated diffusion using co-transporter proteins. Students will learn that the hydrostatic pressure at the source is high, due to the presence of the water and sucrose as cell sap, and that this difference when compared to the lower pressure at the sink leads to the movement along the phloem.
A number of quick quiz rounds are included in the lesson to maintain engagement and to introduce key terms and the lesson concludes with a game of SOURCE or SINK as students have to identify whether a particular plant structure is one or the other (or both)
