NEW (2016) AQA AS Biology – The Human Gas Exchange System

This lesson is designed for the NEW AQA AS-level Biology course, particularly the ‘Organisms & their Environment’ module.

For more lessons designed to meet specification points for the NEW AQA A-level Biology course please visit my shop: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/SWiftScience

A-Level lesson format: I teach in more of a lecture style compared to GCSE. In the majority of my A-level lessons the beginning portion of the lesson is mainly teacher-led, where students are expected to take notes onto a handout/in their books. This is then mixed in with student-led activities, as well as questions and exam prep.

You will find some of my slides have blank spaces for you to add more detail/descriptions/explanations. If you look at the ‘Notes’ section underneath each of these slides, you will find additional content which you can add in as you teach!

This lesson on the human gas exchange system begins with a review of gas exchange in plant leaves and insects, and the adaptations each have made in order to reduce water loss.

The first task is to fill in the blanks in a paragraph describing gas exchange in mammals, particularly humans. Answers are on the following slide for self-assessment.

Students are then introduced, slide by slide, to the features of human’s gas exchange system including the nasal cavity, trachea, bronchus, bronchioles and alveoli. Each slide has a diagram, description of the feature, and explanation of its role in gas exchange.

The next task is to list the features of the efficient gas-exchange system in humans, at the epithelium of the alveoli. The adaptations of the alveoli are then expanded upon over the next few slides. Students will use the included worksheet to describe the on the ways which surface area, a permeable barrier, a thin barrier and maintenance of diffusion gradient make for efficient gas exchange.

The plenary for this lesson is an anagram challenge! Students can uptake an extra challenge and define each unscrambled word as well.

All resources are included. Thanks for looking, if you have any questions please let me know in the comments section and any feedback would be appreciated :)