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 bundle of 7 revision lessons covers the content in the following topics of the Edexcel GCSE Chemistry specification
Topic 1: Key concepts in Chemistry
Topic 3: Chemical changes
Topic 5: Separate chemistry 1
Topic 6: Groups in the Periodic Table
Topic 7: Rates of reaction and energy changes
Topic 8: Fuels and Earth Science
Topic 9: Separate Chemistry 2
These lessons use a range of activities which include exam questions with fully explained answers, differentiated tasks and engaging quiz competitions to enable the students to assess their understanding of the different topics and crucially to recognise those areas which need further attention.
This bundle of 8 revision lessons uses a range of activities that include exam questions (with clearly explained answers), differentiated tasks and quiz competitions to engage students whilst they are revising the following topics that are found on the AQA GCSE Physics specification:
Topic 1: Energy
Topic 2: Electricity
Topic 3: Particle model of matter
Topic 4: Atomic structure
Topic 5: Forces
Topic 6: Waves
Topic 7: Magnetism and electromagnetism
Topic 8: Space Physics
These lessons can be used for revision at the end of the topic or in the lead up to the mocks or actual GCSE exams so that students can assess the areas of the specification which need their further attention
If you want to see the quality of the lessons, download the topic 1 and 5 lessons as these are free
This is a concise REVISION lesson that contains an engaging powerpoint (43 slides) and associated worksheets. The lesson uses a range of activities which include exam questions (with displayed answers), differentiated tasks and quiz competitions to engage students whilst they assess their knowledge of the content that is found within topic P8 (Space Physics) of the AQA 9-1 GCSE Physics specification.
The following sub-topics in the specification are covered in this lesson:
Our Solar System
The life cycle of a star
Natural satellites
Red-shift
This lesson can be used throughout the duration of the GCSE course, as an end of topic revision lesson or as a lesson in the lead up to mocks or the actual GCSE exams
This is a fully-resourced REVISION lesson that consists of a detailed and engaging PowerPoint (86 slides) and associated worksheets that challenge the students on their knowledge of the content of Topic 5 (Health, disease and the development of medicines) of the Edexcel GCSE Biology specification. A wide range of activities have been written into the lesson to maintain motivation and these tasks include exam questions (with answers), understanding checks, differentiated tasks and quiz competitions.
The lesson has been designed to include as much which of the content from topic 5, but the following sub-topics have been given particular attention:
Identification of bacterial, fungal and viral diseases in animals and plants
The treatment of bacterial infections
The reduction and prevention of the spread of pathogens
The body’s response to immunisation
The physical defences of humans and plants
The risk factors of CHD and possible treatments
BMI
The production and use of monoclonal antibodies
This lesson can be used at numerous points over the duration of the course, as an end of topic revision aid, in the lead up to the mocks or in the lead up to the actual GCSE exams.
This is a fully-resourced REVISION resource that consists of an engaging PowerPoint (127 slides) and associated worksheets that challenge the students on their knowledge of topic 7 (Genetics, populations, evolution and ecosystems) of the AQA A-level Biology specification.
A wide range of activities have been written into this resource to maintain motivation and these tasks include exam questions (with answers), understanding checks, differentiated tasks and quiz competitions.
The lesson has been designed to cover as much of the content as possible, but the following sub-topics have been given particular attention:
Genetic terminology
Using genetic diagrams to calculate phenotypic ratios and percentages for the inheritance of a single gene
Applying the Hardy-Weinberg principle
Sex-linkage
Codominance, multiple alleles and interpreting genetic trees
Types of variation
Ecological terminology
Dihybrid inheritance
Using the chi-squared test to determine significance
Epistasis
Succession
Sampling to estimate populations and consider distribution
The mathematic elements of this topic and specification are challenged throughout the resource and useful hints given to enable the students to pick up vital marks from questions on this topic.
Due to the size of this resource, teachers may choose to use it over the course of a number of lessons and it is suitable for use at the end of topic 7, in the lead up to the mocks or in the lead up to the actual A-level exams.
A series of 5 exam questions that challenge students to work out the actual size of a section as seen under a microscope or the magnification. These questions will test their ability to convert between measurements and give answers in micrometers. These questions are suitable for GCSE and A-level students
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 clear and detailed lesson describes the process of oxidative phosphorylation, including the roles of the electron carriers, oxygen and the mitochondrial cristae and explains the role of chemiosmosis. The PowerPoint has been designed to cover points 5.2.2 (g) and (h) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification and includes details of the electron transport chain, proton gradients and ATP synthase.
The lesson begins with a discussion about the starting point of the reaction. In the previous stages, the starting molecule was the final product of the last stage but in this stage, it is the reduced coenzymes which release their hydrogen atoms. Moving forwards, the process of oxidative phosphorylation is covered in 7 detailed steps and at each point, key facts are discussed and explored in further detail to enable a deep understanding to be developed. Students will see how the proton gradient across the inner membrane is created and that the flow of protons down the channel associated with ATP synthase results in a conformational change and the addition of phosphate groups to ADP by oxidative phosphorylation. Understanding checks are included throughout the lesson to enable the students to assess their progress and prior knowledge checks allow them to recognise the clear links to other topics and modules.
This lesson has been written to tie in with the other uploaded lessons on glycolysis, the Link reaction and Krebs cycle and anaerobic respiration
A concise lesson presentation (20 slides) and associated worksheet that guides students through phylogenetic trees and helps them to be able to interpret these diagrams. The lesson begins by stating three key points about the trees which will form the basis of their understanding. Moving forwards, a series of questions with explained answers are used to show how common ancestors in the past can be used to work out which present day organisms are the most closely related. Students are given lots of opportunities to assess their understanding and check that they can explain.
This lesson has been written for GCSE but could be used as a recap for those students studying at A-level
This bundle of 8 lessons covers the majority of the content in Topic C6 (The rate and extent of chemical change) of the AQA Trilogy GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics covered within these lessons include:
Rates of reaction
Factors affecting rates of reaction
Measuring rates of reaction
Reversible reactions
Changing the position of equilibrium
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 a lot of the content in Topic B5 (Health, disease and development of medicines) of the Edexcel GCSE Biology specification. The topics covered within these lessons include:
Health
The difference between communicable and non-communicable diseases
Pathogens
Common infections
The spread of diseases and the prevention
The spread of STIs
Plant defences
Identification of plant diseases
The physical and chemical defences of the human body
The use of antibiotics
Developing new medicines
Monoclonal antibodies
Non-communicable diseases
Treating cardiovascular disease
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 lesson that looks at the functional and structural differences between the transport tissues in a plant, the xylem and phloem. The lesson includes an engaging lesson presentation (41 slides), which includes numerous student-led tasks, progress checks and quick competitions and two question worksheets, one of which is a differentiated version to enable those students who are finding this topic difficult to still be able to access the learning.
The lesson begins with the introduction of the two tissues as well as a brief introduction to the substances which they each carry. The next part of the lesson focuses on the xylem cells and the resulting xylem vessel, and key terms such as lignin are brought into the lesson so that students can understand how these cells are waterproofed, which causes them to decay and form hollow tubes. Having met a lot of information, students are challenged to act like an examiner to form a table based question to compare the xylem against the phloem where they have to come up with features which could be compared against. This table will form the backbone of the lesson and students will use it later in the lesson when they have to write summary passages about each of the tissues. Moving forwards, a quick competition is used to enable the students to meet the names of the cells that form the phloem tissue, the sieve tube elements and the companion cells. Students will see how they are involved in the functioning of the phloem and questions are posed which relate to other topics such as the involvement of mitochondria wherever active transport occurs. Progress checks like this are found at regular intervals throughout the lesson so that students can constantly assess their understanding.
This lesson has been designed for GCSE students. If you are looking to teach about these tissues but to a higher standard, you could use my uploaded alternative called Xylem and Phloem (A-level)
This bundle of 4 lesson presentations and associated resources cover a lot of the mathematical skills that can be tested in Science. Since the move to the new GCSE specifications, the mathematical element has increased significantly and these lessons act to guide students through these skills. Students are shown how to convert between units, rearrange to change the subject of the formula and to use significant figures and standard form.
This is a fully-resourced REVISION lesson which challenges the students on their knowledge of the content in TOPIC B5 (Health, disease and the development of medicines) of the Edexcel GCSE Combined Science specification. The lesson uses an engaging PowerPoint (79 slides) and accompanying worksheets to motivate students whilst they assess their understanding of this topic.
The lesson has been designed in the way that the students have to work their way through a series of wards at the hospital which deals with communicable diseases caused by a range of pathogens and the non-communicable diseases ward such as the cardiac ward where CHD patients are assessed and treated. A range of exam questions, differentiated tasks and quiz competitions back up the engaging lesson and are used to test the following sub-topics:
Bacterial, fungal and viral diseases in animals and plants
Treatment of bacterial infections with antibiotics
Preventing and reducing the spread of pathogens
Vaccinations
The physical and chemical defences of the human body
The risk factors of CHD
The range of surgical treatments for CHD
Calculating the BMI
Smoking and cardiovascular diseases
The mathematical element of the course is also tested throughout the lesson and students are given helpful hints on exam techniques and how to structure answers.
This resource is suitable for use at the end of topic B5 or in the lead up to mocks or the actual GCSE exams.
An engaging and informative lesson presentation (49 slides) looks at the differences between contact and non-contact forces and focuses on enabling students to describe and recognise them. This lesson has been written for GCSE students but could be used in higher ability KS3 lessons with students who are looking to progress their knowledge.
The lesson begins by introducing the fact that forces can be grouped into these two categories and initial definitions are used to ease the students into the lesson. To follow on from this a competition called “FORCE it together” is used. This engaging game challenges the students to spot the name of a force which is in anagram form and then once it has been identified, they have to determine whether it would be a contact or non-contact force. As each force is met, key details are given and discussed. More time is given to areas which can cause problems for students, such as the use of weight and gravity force and whether they are actually different. Moving forwards, a rugby tackle is used to show the numerous forces that interact in everyday situations, before students are challenged to identify more forces in sports of their choice. Students will recall/learn that force is a vector quantity and therefore is represented in diagrams using arrows. Once again, this lesson focuses on showing them how these arrows can be used differently with the different types of forces. Students are briefly introduced to the idea of a free body diagram and an understanding check is used to see whether they can identify friction, gravity force and normal contact force from the arrows. Progress checks like this are written into the lesson at regular intervals, in a range of formats, so that students are constantly assessing their understanding. The final part of the lesson is one more quick competition where students have to use their knowledge of the forces to form words.
This bundle of 11 lessons covers a lot of the content in Topic P4 (Waves and radioactivity) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics covered within these lessons include:
Waves and their properties
Wave velocity
Reflection and Refraction
EM waves
Uses of EM waves
Isotopes
Radiation properties
Decay equations
Half-life
Background radiation
Dangers of radioactivity
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.
Each of the 13 lessons included in this bundle are fully-resourced and have been designed to cover the content as detailed in module 6.1.2 (Patterns of inheritance) of the OCR A-Level Biology A specification. The specification points that are covered within these lessons include:
The contribution of environmental and genetic factors to phenotypic variation
How sexual reproduction can lead to genetic variation within a species
Genetic diagrams to show patterns of inheritance
The use of phenotypic ratios to identify autosomal and sex linkage and epistasis
Using the chi-squared test
The factors that can affect the evolution of a species
The use of the Hardy-Weinberg principle to calculate allele frequencies
The role of isolating mechanisms in the evolution of a new species
The lessons have been written to include a wide range of activities and numerous understanding and prior knowledge checks so students can assess their progress against the current topic as well as be challenged to make links to other topics within this module and earlier modules.
A fast-paced lesson which includes an informative lesson presentation (20 slides) and a question worksheet. Together these resources guide GCSE students through the calculation questions that they can encounter on the topic of the conservation of momentum.
The lesson begins by introducing the law of the conservation of momentum and reminding students of the equation which links momentum, mass and velocity that they are expected to recall for the GCSE exam. Time is taken to inform them of the two types of question which tend to arise on this topic - those where the masses lock together during the event and those where they remain as separate masses. Students are guided through both of these types of questions with worked examples to enable them to visualise how to begin and set out their workings. Key mathematical skills are involved such as rearranging the formula so this is also shown. Students are given the opportunity to apply these skills to a series of questions on the worksheet and the mark schemes are displayed so they can assess once completed.
This lesson has been written for GCSE students, with the main focus being to introduce reversible reactions, show them how to represent them in both word and symbol equations, and to look at some well-known examples. Related topics such as the position of the equilibrium and endothermic and exothermic reactions are briefly mentioned so that students can recognise the potential crossover between topics. Some time is taken during the lesson to challenge the students to write a balanced symbol equation having been given a description of a reversible reaction. This task is differentiated with an assistance sheet so that all are able to access the learning. There are a number of these progress checks in this short lesson so that students can assess their understanding on a regular basis. Students will learn that the reaction in one direction will be exothermic and why this matters in terms of temperature and the equilibrium position. Increasing pressure and the number of moles is also discussed and an answer explained.