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 is a fully-resourced lesson that looks at the reflection of light waves and uses a series of practical based tasks to discover the rules of reflection as well as introducing the critical angle. In addition, students will encounter how total internal reflection can be used in medicine in endoscopy and will be challenged to carry out a task where they act as a doctor to explain to a patient how the procedure works. The lesson contains a variety of tasks, progress checks to check on understanding and a few quick competitions, which introduce key terms. For example, the cover image shows one of these competitions called REFLECT THE WORD where students have to work out the key term - the normal in this case. The understanding of key terminology such as the normal is important so that students can construct ray diagrams in this lesson and in associated topics such as refraction.
This lesson has been designed for GCSE aged students but could be used with younger students who are looking to go into this topic in greater depth than perhaps would normally be encountered at their level
This is a fast-paced lesson that looks at how particle size affects the rate of reaction and challenges the students to carry out a practical to obtain valid results to back up the theory. It is a fully-resourced lesson that consists of an engaging lesson presentation (19 slides) and a calculation worksheet which is differentiated two ways to enable those students who find the maths hard to have a way to access the learning. Students are guided through a method of calculating the surface area and volume of the object and calculating the surface area to volume ratio. Using the answers to their calculations, they will complete a summary passage which explains why having more exposed reacting particles leads to an increased rate of reaction. Students will then carry out a practical where they have to determine which cube of jelly to use to make jelly the fastest in order to test their summary passage is valid.
This lesson has been designed for GCSE students but could be used with younger students looking at chemical reactions and investigating the factors that affect the rate.
Alongside the “properties of waves” lesson, this lesson is also designed to be fast-paced with a focus on the key terminology of the waves topic as well as looking at the different calculations that can be carried out. It is written for GCSE students and challenges their mathematical skills throughout, by asking them to rearrange formulae, convert units and write in standard form. The lesson begins by recalling the definitions for wavelength, frequency and wave velocity and then introducing them to the equation that links them. The velocity of sound waves in three mediums is the initial focus, so that students can recognise that the velocity is higher in liquids and solids than in air. Moving forwards, the concept of an echo is discussed and again a calculation used to show them how distance could be worked out with the added extra of the final division by 2. There are progress checks such as these written throughout the lesson so that students have the opportunity to assess their understanding. A number of quick competitions are also included, in order to maintain engagement whilst check understanding in a different form.
This bundle of 6 lessons covers the majority of the content in Topic P6 (Global challenges) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics and specification points covered within these lessons include:
Everyday motion
Explain methods of measuring human reaction times and recall typical results
Explain the factors which affect stopping distance
The main energy sources available on Earth
The differences between renewable and non-renewable energy sources
The use of transformers to increase and decrease potential difference
The National grid and mains electricity
The differences in function of the wires in a three core cable
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This bundle of 9 lessons covers a lot of the content in Topic P8 (Global challenges) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Physics specification. The topics and specification points covered within these lessons include:
Everyday motion
Reaction time and thinking distance
Braking distance and stopping distance
Energy sources
Using resources
The National Grid
Mains electricity
The Big Bang
Satellites and orbits
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This bundle of 3 lessons covers most of the content in sub-topic P6.1(Physics on the move) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics or specification points covered within these lessons include:
Everyday motion
Reaction time and thinking distance
Stopping distances
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This is a fast-paced lesson that explores the structural differences (and similarities) between sensory and motor neurones. The lesson uses a range of tasks, progress checks and quick competitions to enable the students to recognise how these neurones differ in terms of the cell body, axon and dendron. Students will also understand that both neurones are myelinated which allows saltatory conduction to occur. Relay neurones are briefly discussed during the final section of the lesson.
This lesson has primarily been designed for A-level students but can be used with the content means that it is suitable for use with GCSE students too who are studying the nervous system.
This bundle of 3 lessons covers the majority of the content in the sub-topic C2.3 (Properties of materials) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics covered within these lessons include:
Recall that carbon can form four covalent bonds
Explain the properties of diamond, graphite, fullerenes and graphene in terms of their structures and bonding
Use data to predict states of substances under given substances
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This bundle of 7 lessons covers all of the content in the sub-topic B3.2 (Coordination and control - the endocrine system) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics and specification points covered within these lessons include:
Describe hormonal coordination by the human endocrine system
Explain the roles of adrenaline and thyroxine in the body
Describe the role of hormones in human reproduction (the menstrual cycle)
The hormonal and non-hormonal methods of contraception
Explain the use of hormones to treat infertility
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This bundle of 4 lessons covers the majority of the content in the sub-topic C3.3 (Types of chemical reactions) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics and specification points covered within these lessons include:
Explain reduction and oxidation in terms of the loss or gain of oxygen and the loss or gain of electrons
Recall that acids form hydrogen ions when they dissolve in water and solutions of alkalis contain hydroxide ions
Recognise and describe neutralisation reactions
Write balanced equations for the reactions of carbonates and metals with acids
Recall that relative acidity and alkalinity are measured by pH and describe techniques and apparatus to take these measures
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This bundle of 7 lessons covers the majority of the content in the sub-topic B2.2(The challenges of size) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics covered within these lessons include:
Explain the need for exchange surfaces and a transport system in a multicellular organism due to the low SA:V ratio
The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide with the blood at the alveoli
Explain how the structure of the heart and the blood vessels are adapted to their function
Explain how the red blood cells and plasma are adapted to their transport function in the blood
Describe the processes of transpiration and translocation
Explain how the structure of the xylem and phloem are adapted to their functions in the plant
Explain the effects of a variety of factors on the rate of water uptake
Describe how a simple potometer can be used to investigate the rate of water uptake
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This bundle of 4 lessons covers the majority of the content in the sub-topic B5.2 (Natural selection and evolution) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics and specification points covered within these lessons include:
Developments in biological classification systems
Explain how evolution occurs through natural selection
Describe the evidence for evolution
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This bundle of 10 lessons covers all of the content in the sub-topic C2.1 (Purity and separating mixtures) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics covered within these lessons include:
Explain what is meant by the purity of a substance and use melting point to distinguish pure from impure
Calculate the relative formula mass separately and in a balanced symbol equation
Deduce the empirical formula of a compound
Explain that many useful materials are formulations of mixtures
Describe and explain the processes of filtration, crystallisation, simple distillation and fractional distillation
Describe the processes of paper and thin-layer chromatography
Recall that chromatography involves a mobile and stationary phase
Interpret chromatograms
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This is an engaging lesson that looks at how vaccinations are used in medicine and considers how the introduction of these preventative measures has reduced the incidence of disease.
The lesson begins by introducing vaccinations as the deliberate exposure to antigenic material and then reminds students of the meaning of the term, antigen, so that they understand how this will elicit the desired immune response. Lots of opportunities for discussion have been written into the lesson so that key points such as how the vaccination is altered so that isn’t harmful and how memory cells work can be discussed amongst students before being clarified by the teacher and the lesson content. Moving forwards, students will be given some figures on child mortality rate in 1900 and 2000. They are shown how to manipulate this data in order to work out the percentage change. Students are then challenged to use these skills when comparing the children that were vaccinated for whooping cough in 1968 and 1995 and to make a link between vaccinations and mortality rates. These mathematical skills are being tested more and more in Biology so this guidance will help students to understand how to manipulate data when required. Progress checks have been written into the lesson at regular intervals so that students can constantly assess their understanding.
This lesson has been designed for GCSE aged students. If you’re looking for a lesson on this same topic but for older students at A-level, then my upload “Vaccinations (A-level)” will be more suitable
This bundle of 5 lessons covers the majority of the content in Topic B3 (Infection and response) of the AQA Trilogy GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics and specification points covered within these lessons include:
Communicable (infectious diseases)
Viral diseases
Bacterial diseases
Fungal diseases
Protist diseases
Human defence systems
Vaccination
Antibiotics
Discovery and development of drugs
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This bundle of 4 lessons covers all of the content in the sub-topic B1.3 (Transport in cells) of the AQA Trilogy GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics covered within these lessons include:
Diffusion
Examples of diffusion in organisms
Factors that affect the rate of diffusion
SA:V ratio and the need for exchange surfaces
Osmosis
Active transport
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This bundle of 6 lessons covers all of the content in the sub-topic B2.1 (Supplying the cell) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics covered within these lessons include:
Explain how substances are transported into and out of cells through diffusion, osmosis and active transport
Describe the process of mitosis in growth, including the cell cycle
Explain the importance of cell differentiation
Describe the production of specialised cells
Recall that stem cells are present in embryonic and adult animals and in meristems in plants
Describe the functions of stem cells
Describe the difference between embryonic and adult stem cells
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This bundle of 4 lessons covers the majority of the content in Topic C2f (Acids, alkalis and titrations) of the Edexcel iGCSE Chemistry specification. The topics and specification points covered within these lessons include:
Describe the use of indicators to distinguish between acidic and alkaline solutions
Understand how to use the pH scale
Know that alkalis can neutralise acids
Describe how to carry out an acid-alkali titration
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This is 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 sub-topics found within Topic C5 (Separate chemistry 1) of the Edexcel GCSE Chemistry specification.
The sub-topics and specification points that are tested within the lesson include:
Recall the typical properties of the transition metals
Explain why converting pure metals into alloys often increases the strength of the product
Calculate the concentration of solutions in mol per decimetre cubed
Know the apparatus involved in an acid-alkali titration
Carry out simple titration calculations
Recall and calculate the atom economy
Describe the molar volume, at RTP, and use to calculate the volumes of gases
Recall how a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell is used to produce a voltage and water is the only product
Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of fuel cells
Students will be engaged through the numerous quiz rounds whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which require their further attention during general revision or during the lead up to the actual GCSE terminal exams
This is 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 sub-topics found within Topic C9 (Separate chemistry 2) of the Edexcel GCSE Chemistry specification.
The sub-topics and specification points that are tested within the lesson include:
Describe flame tests to identify cations in solids or solutions
Describe tests and identify anions in solids or solutions
Recall the formulae of the molecules of alkanes and alkenes
Explain why the alkanes and alkenes are described as the saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons respectively
Explain how bromine water is used to distinguish between alkanes and alkenes
Describe how the complete combustion of alkanes and alkenes leads to the production of carbon dioxide and water
Recall that a polymer is made up of repeating units
Recall the formulae of the carboxylic acids and alcohols
Know the functional groups of these homologous series
Compare the sizes of nanoparticles with atoms and molecules
Students will be engaged through the numerous quiz rounds whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which require their further attention during general revision or during the lead up to the actual GCSE terminal exams