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

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

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

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

This is a fully-resourced lesson which is designed for GCSE students and explores the topic of compounds, specifically focusing on naming these chemicals based upon the elements within them and from their chemical formula. The lesson includes an engaging lesson presentation (46 slides) and a worksheet containing three tasks for the lesson. The lesson begins with some simple multiple choice questions to check that students can spot the chemical symbol and definition of an element, but more importantly pick out the formula for a compound. Time is taken to go through the explanation of why substances are elements or compounds and specific examples given. A quick understanding check, in the form of a competition called “To COM or NOT TO COM”,is used to check that students can identify elements or compounds from a name or given formula. The remainder of the lesson focuses on naming compounds. Students are challenged to spot a pattern when presented with the names of two compounds, which contain 2 elements only. For both compounds that contain 2 elements or 3 or more, the rules to naming are introduced before examples are shown so that students can visualise how to construct their answer. They are then given an opportunity to apply this to a number of questions in the set tasks. The last part of the lesson moves this forward by looking at how these same rules can be applied when the chemical formula of a compound is given and this is related to another topic as they are challenged to write a word equation containing a range of compounds when presented with the symbol equation. Progress checks are written into the lesson at regular intervals so that students can constantly assess their understanding. Although this is written for GCSE students, it is perfectly suitable for use with younger students who are learning about elements, compounds and mixtures and the teacher wants to push them along.

This detailed and engaging lesson has been written to challenge the students on their recall and application of the 23 equations which they have to know for the AQA GCSE Physics exams. The lesson is designed to not only check that they know these equations but also on their ability to rearrange formulae when required and to convert between units. The main task of the lesson consists of 13 exam-style questions which challenge 12 of these recall equations and then an engaging quiz competition and class discussions are used to identify the other 11. Students are guided throughout the lesson in the use of the mathematical skills and are shown examples to aid their progress. This lesson has been designed to tie in with the other 8 uploaded revision lessons which cover the content of the 8 topics on the AQA GCSE Physics specification

A concise lesson presentation (20 slides) that looks at how the collision theory is related to the rate of reaction. This is a short lesson that would be taught at the beginning of the topic that looks at the rate of reaction and the factors that affect the rate. Students are challenged with a quick competition that gets them to recognise keywords which are involved in the collision theory. Some time is then taken to focus on "activation energy" and how this is shown on a reaction profile. Finally, students will use their keywords to form a clear definition for the collision theory which includes its link to the rate of reaction so this can be used in the upcoming lessons This lesson has ultimately been designed for GCSE students but can be used with all age groups as an introduction to the topic

This is a fully-resourced lesson about group 7 of the Periodic Table, the halogens, which includes a lesson presentation (34 slides) and a differentiated worksheet. The lesson begins by challenging students to recognise and explain why the electronic structure of group 1 and group 7 means that they react together easily. As the lesson progresses, students will learn more and more properties about the halogens and key terms such as diatomic are used throughout so that students become accustomed to these. Moving forwards, students will carry out a series of displacement reactions so that they can recognise that the reactivity of these elements decreases as they go down the group. Students are challeged to explain this with reference to electron configuration and a differentiated worksheet will help those who need assistance to access this work. This lesson has been designed for GCSE students (14 - 16 year olds in the UK) but is suitable for younger students who might be carrying out a project on the Periodic Table

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 detailed, engaging and informative lesson presentation (50 slides) and accompanying worksheets that looks at the commonly misunderstood topic of chromatography. This lesson goes through paper, thin-layer and gas chromatography so that students can analyse and interpret the results that would be found on a chromatogram. The lesson begins by challenging the students to recall details of this separation method when they met it at KS3. Students will meet the two chemical phases, mobile and stationary, and begin to understand that this method relies on the distribution of substances between these two phases. Students will meet the calculation for retention factor and be shown how to tackle questions on this topic before trying themselves. Time is taken to go over the details of gas chromatography, in a step by step guide format, as this is a poorly understood topic. There are progress checks throughout the lesson, which include mark schemes and detailed explanations, so that students can assess their understanding and address any misconceptions that could arise. This lesson has been written for GCSE students but could be used with A-level students

A fully-resourced lesson which prepares students for the range of mathematical-based questions that they could encounter on the two AQA GCSE Chemistry papers. The lesson contains a wide range of activities which include exam-style questions with markschemes embedded within the PowerPoint to enable the students to assess their current understanding. There are also 8 quiz competition rounds interspersed throughout the lesson to maintain engagement and motivation. The mathematical skills covered in this lesson include: Calculating the number of sub-atomic particles in atoms and ions Writing chemical formulae for ionic compounds Identifying isotopes Using Avogadro’s constant to calculate the number of particles Calculating the relative formula mass Calculating amount in moles using the mass and the relative formula mass Balancing chemical symbol equations Calculating reacting masses Gas calculations using molar volume Calculating the concentration of an unknown solution Calculating the atom economy and percentage yield Calculating energy changes in reactions Temperature and pressure and the position of equilibrium Most of the resources have been differentiated two ways to allow students of differing abilities to access the work whilst still being challenged. In addition, step by step guides are used to demonstrate how to carry out some of the more difficult calculations such as the harder mole calculations and calculating masses in reactions

A concise lesson presentation (16 slides) and associated worksheet that looks at the motion topic of Momentum and guides students through how to answer these questions. The lesson begins by giving the students the units for momentum and challenging them to use this to work out the other factors involved in the equation. Moving forwards, a number of progress checks are used to see whether the students can apply their new found knowledge. All progress checks have displayed mark schemes. This lesson has been designed for GCSE students and ties in nicely with my other resources, "Conservation of momentum" and "Changes in momentum"

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

A concise lesson presentation (19 slides) and associated worksheet (newspaper articles) that introduces students to the process of homeostasis in the human body and the three main factors (water potential, blood glucose, temperature) that are controlled by this system. The lesson begins by getting the students to work out a code to give them an exemplary definition for homeostasis. A newspaper article is used to get the students to recognise the three factors that are controlled. A quick competition is used to show the students the main parts of any homeostatic control system. This lesson is designed for GCSE students but could be used with both KS3 and A-level as a quick recap

A detailed lesson presentation (25 slides) that introduces students to the difficult topic of specific heat capacity. Students are guided through the equation for energy transferred and shown how to rearrange the equation, so they are able to tackle the question, no matter the subject of the question. There are regular opportunities for students to apply their new found knowledge to questions and to assess themselves against the answers. Quick games and competitions are also used to maintain engagement. If you choose to download this lesson, it would be much appreciated if you would take just a few seconds to write a review so I can improve my practice and other teachers can see if this resource is right for them. Thank you in advance.

This revision resource contains an engaging PowerPoint (44 slides) and associated worksheets, all of which have been differentiated two ways to allow students of differing abilities to access the work. The range of activities cover the content of Topic C11 (Air and water) of the CIE IGCSE Combined Science specification, for examination in June and November 2020 and 2021. The aim was to cover as much of the content as possible but the following topics have received particular attention: The composition of clean air Changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels The formation of carbon dioxide Common air pollutants and their effects on health and structures The treatment of water to make it safe The chemical tests for water A number of quiz competitions are included in the lesson such as “POLLUTE the air…with the answer” where students compete to be the first to identify a common pollutant from the clues. These competitions act to engage them whilst the exam questions and quick tasks will enable them to assess their understanding of the content.

This fully-resourced lesson explores the relationship between the structure of arteries, arterioles and veins and their respective functions. The engaging and detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the 6th part of point 3.4.1 of the AQA A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to describe the structure of these blood vessels in relation to their function. This lesson has been written to build on any prior knowledge from GCSE or earlier in this topic to enable students to fully understand why a particular type of blood vessel has particular features. Students will be able to make the connection between the narrow lumen and elastic tissue in the walls of arteries and the need to maintain the high pressure of the blood. A quick version of the GUESS WHO game is used to introduce smooth muscle and collagen in the tunica media and externa and again the reason for their presence is explored and explained. Moving forwards, the importance of the arterioles as a transition between the artery and capillary is discussed and students will see how the smooth muscle in the walls of this blood vessel allows for the redistribution of blood during exercise. The final part of the lesson considers the structure of the veins and students are challenged to explain how the differences to those observed in arteries is due to the lower blood pressure found in these vessels. It is estimated that it will take about 2 hours of allocated A-level Biology teaching time to cover the detail included in this lesson