This extensive lesson describes the structure of the human brain and the functions of its parts. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to be in line with point 5.1.5 (h) of the OCR A-level biology A specification and therefore covers the gross structure of the human brain and the function of the cerebrum, cerebellum, medulla oblongata, hypothalamus and the pituitary gland. The lesson begins with a knowledge recall challenge, where the students have to complete the diagram showing the organisation of the nervous system, as covered in the previous lesson. This reminds them that the brain is part of the CNS and also reintroduces the autonomic nervous system which will be useful when describing the medulla oblongata. As this is an extensive lesson covering a lot of detail, it has been planned to contain 5 quiz rounds as part of a competition which will help to maintain engagement whilst checking on their recall and understanding of content. There are also multiple understanding and prior knowledge checks which allow the students to assess their progress against the current topic and to make links to previously covered content. All answers to these knowledge checks are embedded into the PowerPoint. The lesson describes the structure of the cerebrum as two hemispheres and then considers the localisation of function of the 4 lobes of the cerebral cortex. It moves onto the cerebellum, focusing on its role of perfecting and coordinating movement, and explains how this is achieved through neural connections with the cerebrum. The control of heart rate by the medulla oblongata is described before the lesson concludes with an exploration of the connections between the hypothalamus and the two lobes of the pituitary gland, specifically in the mechanisms of osmoregulation and thermoregulation. Two of the worksheets have been modified to allow students of different understanding levels to access the work. It is likely that this lesson will take between 2 - 3 hours of teaching time, but sections can be edited and removed if the teacher doesn’t want to look at a particular structure in that detail at this stage of study.

This lesson uses a 10 question multiple-choice assessment to provide students with the opportunity to assess their knowledge of neuronal communication. Module 5.1.3 of the OCR A-level biology A specification covers the role of mammalian sensory receptors, the structure and function of neurones, the generation and transmission of nerve impulses and the structure and roles of synapses and these 10 questions attempt to challenge their overall understanding of this content. The lesson also includes a PowerPoint with the answers to the questions and also further understanding checks to challenge knowledge not directly covered by the multiple-choice assessment. There are also some prior knowledge checks and links to the future.

This lesson describes the course of events that lead to atherosclerosis and explains how the human body can be affected by this inflammatory disease. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been planned to cover the content of point 1.10 of the Edexcel International A-level biology specification and therefore includes descriptions of endothelial dysfunction, plaque formation and raised blood pressure. The lesson begins with a task where the students have to use their knowledge of the numbers associated with biology to move forwards and backwards through the alphabet to reveal the name of the disease, atherosclerosis. Students will learn that this is a chronic inflammatory disease. As shown in the cover image, the main part of the lesson uses a step-by-step guide to go through the events, from endothelium damage, monocyte recruitment, macrophage differentiation and eventually the protrusion of plaques into the lumen of the artery. Understanding and prior knowledge checks and quiz quiz competitions are used during this section of the lesson to allow the students to assess their progress and to introduce key terms in a memorable fashion. All answers to any questions are embedded into the PowerPoint. The final part of the lesson uses a series of exam-style questions to consider how atherosclerosis in different blood vessels could lead to medical issues such as myocardial infarctions and strokes.

This lesson describes the differences between skeletal, smooth (involuntary) and cardiac muscle. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources form part of the 1st lesson in a series of 3 lessons which have been planned to cover the content of point 5.1.5 (l) (i) of the OCR A-level biology A specification. The other two lessons are “neuromuscular junctions” and “the sliding filament model of muscular contraction”. The lesson begins with a bit of fun by challenging the students to identify the prep room skeleton from a description and then to recognise that the reason the skeleton doesn’t have free movement or locomotion is because “he” lacks muscles. More specifically, it is the lack of skeletal muscles which prevents bones from moving and this leads into the introduction of this type of muscle tissue as being attached to bones. Time is taken to consider tendons, and more specifically the protein collagen, and students are challenged on their recall of this fibrous protein from module 2.1.2. This lesson contains numerous prior knowledge checks like this, to encourage them to identify the links between topics and modules. All answers to these prior knowledge and understanding checks are embedded into the PowerPoint to allow the students to assess their progress. The structure of skeletal muscle is covered in the 3rd lesson in this series, but this lesson does focus on the structural and functional differences between smooth and cardiac muscle. Students are introduced to intercalated discs and gap junctions in cardiac muscle and are challenged to explain how these features support the stages of the cardiac cycle. Earlier in this module, they covered the regulation of heart rate and a SPOT THE ERRORS task will challenge the detail of their knowledge of this control system. The remainder of the lesson focuses on smooth muscle, using examples in the gut wall, iris and arterial walls to increase relevance.

This lesson describes how epigenetics is the control of gene expression by factors other than changes in the DNA sequence. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been planned to cover the content of point (h) from topic 3 of A2 unit 4 of the WJEC A-level biology specification. As shown in the cover image, the lesson began with a challenge, where the students had to recognise that the prefix epi could go before 4 terms. They will learn that this prefix means on or above in Greek meaning epigenetics can be described as factors causing changes to gene function beyond the genetic code. One of several discussion periods is used to encourage them to identify what is not involved here (i.e. gene mutations), and so, epigenetics is introduced as heritable changes in gene function without changes to the base sequence. Moving forwards, the process of DNA methylation is introduced, and students are challenged to predict how the addition of a methyl group could inhibit transcription before they have to use their prior knowledge of key terms to complete a passage about this concept. The details of a study which considered the correlation between DNA methylation and atherosclerosis are provided to broaden their knowledge and then they have to answer questions about the study using their knowledge of content from previously covered topics. The remainder of the lesson discusses acetylation and students will learn that the removal of acetyl groups from histones causes the chromatin to become highly condensed and prevents the transcription of the gene.

This detailed lesson describes and explains the pressure and volume changes and associated valve movements that occur during the cardiac cycle to maintain the unidirectional flow of blood. The PowerPoint and accompanying resource have been designed to cover the 5th part of point 3.4.1 of the AQA A-level Biology specification. The start of the lesson introduces the cardiac cycle as well as the key term systole, so that students can immediately recognise that the three stages of the cycle are atrial and ventricular systole followed by diastole. Students are challenged on their prior knowledge of the structure of the heart as they have to name and state the function of an atrioventricular and semi-lunar valve from an internal diagram. This leads into the key point that pressure changes in the chambers and the major arteries results in the opening and closing of these sets of valves. Students are given a description of the pressure change that results in the opening of the AV valves and shown where this would be found on the graph detailing the pressure changes of the cardiac cycle. They then have to use this as a guide to write descriptions for the closing of the AV valve and the opening and closing of the semi-lunar valves and to locate these on the graph. By providing the students with this graph, the rest of the lesson can focus on explaining how these changes come about. Students have to use their current and prior knowledge of the chambers and blood vessels to write 4 descriptions that cover the cardiac cycle. The final part of the lesson covers the changes in the volume of the ventricle. This lesson has been written to tie in with the other uploaded lessons on the circulatory system as detailed in topic 3.4.1 (Mass transport in animals)

This detailed lesson describes how the movement of water molecules by osmosis can affect both plant and animal cells. Both the PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover specification point 2.1.5 (e) [i] as detailed in the OCR A-level Biology A specification and there is a particular focus on solutions of different water potentials. It’s likely that students will have used the term concentration in their osmosis definitions at GCSE, so the aim of the starter task is to introduce water potential to allow students to begin to recognise osmosis as the movement of water molecules from a high water potential to a lower potential, with the water potential gradient. Time is taken to describe the finer details of water potential to enable students to understand that 0 is the highest value (pure water) and that this becomes negative once solutes are dissolved. Exam-style questions are used throughout the lesson to check on current understanding as well as prior knowledge checks which make links to previously covered topics such as the lipid bilayer of the cell membrane. The remainder of the lesson focuses on the movement of water when animal and plant cells are suspended in hypotonic, hypertonic or isotonic solutions and the final appearance of these cells is described, including any issues this may cause. This lesson has been specifically written to tie in with the previous two lessons covering 2.1.5 (b) & (d) where the cell membrane, diffusion and active transport were described.

This fully-resourced lesson describes the relationship between the structure, properties and functions of triglycerides in living organisms. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets have been designed to cover the first part of point (f) as detailed in AS unit 1, topic 1 of the WJEC A-level Biology specification and links are also made to related future topics such as the importance of the myelin sheath for the conduction of an electrical impulse which is covered in A2. The lesson begins with a focus on the basic structure and roles of lipids, including the elements that are found in this biological molecule and some of the places in living organisms where they are found. Moving forwards, the students are challenged to recall the structure of the carbohydrates from earlier in topic 1 so that the structure of a triglyceride can be introduced. Students will learn that this macromolecule is formed from one glycerol molecule and three fatty acids and have to use their understanding of condensation reactions to draw the final structure. Time is taken to look at the difference in structure and properties of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids and students will be able to identify one from the other when presented with a molecular formula. The final part of the lesson explores how the various properties of a triglyceride mean that it has numerous roles in organisms including that of an energy store and source and as an insulator of heat and electricity.

This fully-resourced lesson describes the light independent reaction of photosynthesis and explains how reduced NADP is used to form a simple sugar. The detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the second part of point 5.1 of the AQA A-level Biology specification and lengthy planning has ensured that links are continually made to the previous lesson on the light-dependent reaction so that students can understand how the products of that stage are essential for the Calvin cycle The lesson begins with an existing knowledge check where the students are challenged to recall the names of structures, substances and reactions from the light-dependent stage in order to reveal the abbreviations of the main 3 substances in the light-independent stage. This immediately introduces RuBP, GP and TP and students are then shown how these substances fit into the cycle. The main section of the lesson focuses on the three phases of the Calvin cycle and time is taken to explore the key details of each phase and includes: The role of RuBisCO in carbon fixation The role of the products of the light-dependent stage, ATP and reduced NADP, in the reduction of GP to TP The use of the majority of the TP in the regeneration of RuBP A step-by-step guide, with selected questions for the class to consider together, is used to show how 6 turns of the cycle are needed to form the TP that will then be used to synthesise 1 molecule of glucose. A series of exam-style questions are included at appropriate points of the lesson and this will introduce limiting factors as well as testing their ability to answer questions about this stage when presented with an unfamiliar scientific investigation. The mark schemes are included in the PowerPoint so students can assess their understanding and any misconceptions are immediately addressed. This lesson has been specifically written to tie in with the previous lessons on the structure of a chloroplast and the light-dependent stage as well as upcoming lesson on limiting factors

This lesson describes the role of haemoglobin in transport and explains the change in the dissociation curve when there is an increased concentration of carbon dioxide (the Bohr effect). The detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover points 1.9 (i) & (ii) of the Edexcel International A-level Biology specification and this lesson also compares the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve of foetal haemoglobin against maternal haemoglobin. The lesson begins with a version of the quiz show Pointless and this introduces haemotology as the study of the blood conditions. Students are told that haemoglobin has a quaternary structure as it is formed of 4 polypeptide chains which each contain a haem group with an iron ion attached and that it is this group which has a high affinity for oxygen. Time is taken to discuss how this protein must be able to load (and unload) oxygen as well as transport the molecules to the respiring tissues. Students will plot the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve and the S-shaped curve is used to encourage discussions about the ease with which haemoglobin loads each molecule. At this point, foetal haemoglobin and its differing affinity of oxygen is introduced and students are challenged to predict whether this affinity will be higher or lower than adult haemoglobin and to represent this on their dissociation curve. Moving forwards, the different ways that carbon dioxide is transported around the body involving haemoglobin are described and the dissociation of carbonic acid into hydrogen ions is discussed so that students can understand how this will affect the affinity of haemoglobin for oxygen in the final part of the lesson on the Bohr effect. 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. 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 lesson describes how enzymes can be immobilised in calcium alginate and compares their activity against enzymes that are free in solution. The PowerPoint and the accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 3.2 (d) of the CIE A-level Biology specification. The lesson has been planned to challenge the students on their ability to apply knowledge to a potentially unfamiliar situation. A series of exam-style questions which include “suggest” and “describe and explain” questions are used throughout the lesson and these will allow the students to recognise the advantages and disadvantages of a particular method. Although the alginate method is the only one referenced in this specification point, the adsorption and covalent bonding methods are introduced and then briefly analysed to allow students to understand that a matrix doesn’t involve these bonds which could disrupt the active site. The remainder of the lesson introduces some actual examples of the use of immobilised enzymes with the aim of increasing the relevance. Please note that this lesson has been written to explain the effect of immobilisation on enzyme activity. The practical element of carrying out the investigation is described in a separate lesson.

This lesson describes and explains how increasing the concentration of inhibitors affects the rate of an enzyme-controlled reaction. The PowerPoint and accompanying resource are the last in a series of 5 lessons which cover the content detailed in point 1.4.2 of the AQA A-level Biology specification and describes the effect of both competitive and non-competitive inhibitors. The lesson begins with a made up round of the quiz show POINTLESS called “Biology opposites” and this will get the students to recognise that inhibition is the opposite of stimulation. This introduces inhibitors as substances that reduce the rate of a reaction and students are challenged to use their general knowledge of enzymes to identify that inhibitors prevent the formation of the enzyme-substrate complex. Moving forwards, a quick quiz competition generates the abbreviation EIC (representing enzyme-inhibitor complex) and this introduces competitive inhibitors as substances that occupy the active site. The students are asked to apply their knowledge to a new situation to work out that these inhibitors have a similar shape to the enzyme’s substrate molecule. A series of exam-style questions are used throughout the lesson and at this point, the students are challenged to work out that an increase in the substrate concentration would reduce the effect of a fixed concentration of a reversible competitive inhibitor. The rest of the lesson focuses on non-competitive inhibitors and time is taken to ensure that key details such as the disruption of the tertiary structure is understood and biological examples are used to increase the relevance. Again, students will learn that increasing the concentration of the inhibitor results in a greater inhibition and a reduced rate of reaction but that increasing the substrate concentration cannot reduce the effect as was observed with competitive inhibitors.

This fully-resourced lesson describes the effects of enzyme and substrate concentration on enzyme activity. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources are the third in a series of 3 lessons which cover the details of point 2.1.4 (d) [i] of the OCR A-level Biology A specification and students are also challenged on their recall of the details of transcription and translation as covered in module 2.1.3. The first part of the lesson describes how an increase in substrate concentration will affect the rate of reaction when a fixed concentration of enzyme is used. Time is taken to introduce limiting factors and students will be challenged to identify substrate concentration as the limiting factor before the maximum rate is attained and then they are given discussion time to identify the possible factors after this point. A series of exam-style questions are used throughout the lesson and the mark schemes are displayed to allow the students to assess their understanding and for any misconceptions to be immediately addressed. Moving forwards, the students have to use their knowledge of substrate concentration to construct a graph to represent the relationship between enzyme concentration and rate of reaction and they have to explain the different sections of the graph and identify the limiting factors. The final section of the lesson describes how the availability of enzymes is controlled in living organisms. Students will come to recognise that this availability is the result of enzyme synthesis and enzyme degradation and a SPOT THE ERRORS task is used to challenge their recall of protein synthesis. Please note that this lesson explains the Biology behind the effect of concentration on enzyme activity and not the methodology involved in carrying out such an investigation as this is covered in the lessons designed in line with point 2.1.4 (d) [ii]

This lesson explains the effects of temperature increases on enzyme activity and describes how to calculate the temperature coefficient. The PowerPoint and the accompanying resource are part of the second lesson in a series of 3, which cover the content detailed in point 2.1.4 (d) [i] of the OCR A-level Biology A specification and this lesson has been specifically planned to tie in with an earlier lesson covering 2.1.4 (a, b & c) where the roles and mechanism of action of enzymes were introduced. The lesson begins by challenging the students to recognise optimum as a key term from its 6 synonyms that are shown on the board. Time is taken to ensure that the students understand that the optimum temperature is the temperature at which the most enzyme-product complexes are produced per second and therefore the temperature at which the rate of an enzyme-controlled reaction works at its maximum. The optimum temperatures of DNA polymerase in humans and in a thermophilic bacteria and RUBISCO in a tomato plant are used to demonstrate how different enzymes have different optimum temperatures and the roles of the latter two in the PCR and photosynthesis are briefly described to prepare students for these lessons in modules 6 and 5. Moving forwards, the next part of the lesson focuses on enzyme activity at temperatures below the optimum and at temperatures above the optimum. Students will understand that increasing the temperature increases the kinetic energy of the enzyme and substrate molecules, and this increases the likelihood of successful collisions and the production of enzyme-substrate and enzyme-product complexes. When considering the effect of increasing the temperature above the optimum, continual references are made to the previous lesson and the control of the shape of the active site by the tertiary structure. Students will be able to describe how the hydrogen and ionic bonds in the tertiary structure are broken by the vibrations associated with higher temperatures and are challenged to complete the graph to show how the rate of reaction decreases to 0 when the enzyme has denatured. The final part of the lesson introduces the Q10 temperature coefficient and students are challenged to apply this formula to calculate the value for a chemical reaction and a metabolic reaction to determine that enzyme-catalysed reactions have higher rates of reaction Please note that this lesson has been designed specifically to explain the relationship between the change in temperature and the rate of enzyme activity in a reaction and not the practical skills that is part of a lesson covering specification point 2.1.4 (d) [ii]

This lesson explains how the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is used to amplify DNA. The PowerPoint has been designed to cover point 6.17 of the Edexcel International A-level Biology specification. A quick quiz competition is used to introduce the PCR abbreviation before students are encouraged to discuss the identity of the enzyme involved and to recall the action of this enzyme. Students will learn that this reaction involves cyclical heating and cooling to a range of temperatures so the next part of this lesson looks at these particular temperatures so the important parts of each of the steps can be understood. Time is taken to examine the key points in detail, such as the specific DNA polymerase that is used and how it is not denatured at the high temperature as well as the involvement of the primers.

This lesson describes the meaning of ecological terms and explains how biotic and abiotic factors control the distribution of organisms in a habitat. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover points 5.11, 5.12 and 5.13 in unit 4 of the Edexcel International A-level Biology (Salters Nuffield) specification and therefore cover the biological definitions of ecosystem, community, population and habitat. A quiz round called REVERSE Biology Bingo runs throughout the lesson and challenges students to recognise the following key terms from descriptions called out by the bingo caller: community ecosystem abiotic factor photosynthesis respiratory substrate biomass calorimetry distribution niche The ultimate aim of this quiz format is to support the students to understand that any sugars produced by photosynthesis that are not used as respiratory substrates are used to form biological molecules that form the biomass of a plant and that this can be estimated using calorimetry. Links are made to photosynthesis and net primary productivity as these will be met later in topic 5 as well as challenging their prior knowledge of adaptations, heterozygosity index classification and biological molecules. The final part of the lesson uses an exam-style question to get the students to recognise that biotic and abiotic factors control the distribution of organisms in a habitat and to recall the concept of niche.

This lesson describes how large molecules are hydrolysed to smaller molecules by the enzymes produced by the digestive system in mammals. The detailed PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets are part of the 1st lesson in a series of 2 which have been designed to cover the content of point 3.3 of the AQA A-level Biology specification and this lesson includes descriptions of the action of amylase, disaccharidases, lipase, endopeptidases, exopeptidases and dipeptidases. The lesson has been designed to walk the students through the functions of the digestive system at each point of the digestive tract up until the duodenum and focuses on the action of the enzymes produced in the mouth, stomach and small intestine and by the accessory organs of the system. Time is taken to describe and explain key details, such as the fact that endopeptidases cleave peptide bonds within the molecules, meaning that they cannot break down proteins into monomers. The lesson is filled with exam-style questions which will develop their understanding of the current topic as well as checking on their knowledge of related topics which have been previously-covered such as the structure of the biological molecules and qualitative tests. In addition to the detailed content and regular questioning, the lesson PowerPoint contains guided discussion periods and two quick quiz competitions which introduce a key term and a key value in a fun and memorable way This lesson has been specifically planned to prepare the students for the very next lesson where the mechanisms for the absorption of the products of digestion are described.

This lesson explains the properties of typical covalent simple molecular compounds and introduces diamond and graphite as giant substances. The lesson PowerPoint and accompanying resource have been primarily designed to cover point 1.34 of the Edexcel GCSE Chemistry & Combined Science specifications but also links to points 1.35 - 1.37 where the structure and uses of the giant covalent substances are described. The lesson begins with a quick recap task where students have to recognise a covalent bond from a description and fill the missing part. Moving forwards, they are introduced to the fact that covalent molecules can be simple or giant. They are then presented with a table showing some properties of covalent molecules and having to group them as simple or giant in the short space of time that the table remains displayed on the board. This task challenges their observational skills, something which will again be tested later in the lesson as they study the structure of graphite and diamond. Time is taken to ensure that key details such as the strong covalent bonds in both sets of molecules is understood and that it is the weak intermolecular forces which are actually responsible for the low melting and boiling points. The last part of the lesson introduces diamond and graphite as allotropes of carbon and students will briefly learn why one of these conducts electricity whilst the other doesn’t. If you want a lesson about these allotropes in more detail, then please look for “Diamond and Graphite”. Progress checks have been written into the lesson at regular intervals so that students are constantly assessing their understanding and so misconceptions are quickly identified.