NEW AQA GCSE Trilogy (2016) Biology - Theories of evolution HT

This lesson is designed for the NEW AQA Trilogy Biology GCSE, particularly the ‘Inheritance, variation and evolution’ SoW for the higher tier, biology only specification.

For more lessons designed to meet specification points for the NEW AQA Trilogy specifications for Biology, Chemistry and Physics please see my shop: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/SWiftScience

Pupils will firstly be given, in pairs, information about Lamarck’s and Darwin’s theories of evolution. In pairs students will need to explain each theory to each other and discuss the merits and downfalls of each. The next task required pupils to summarise the main points of each of the scientists theories in a table, this work can be self-assessed against the answers provided.

Pupils will then be asked to consider the flaws in Lamarck’s theory, pupils will be asked to come up with a question to ask Lamarck about his theory and to discuss in pairs what they think the potential flaws of this theory could be. Once you have gone through pupils’ ideas as a class you can reveal some of the problems with this theory of evolution.

The next part of the lesson focuses on Darwin, firstly pupils will be asked to copy and complete sentences to summarise the main ideas from Darwin’s theory of evolution. Once this task is completed and marked, pupils will go on to look at why Darwin’s ideas were not published or accepted straight away. Pupils will be provided with some information but they will also need to use their own knowledge to answer a set of questions provided on a worksheet. Once this task is complete, a detailed mark scheme has been provided for pupils to either self or peer assess their work.

The very last task is an exam-style question, pupils will need to complete this in their books (at the back of books without notes for a stretch and challenge) and self or peer-assess using the mark scheme once they have finished.

The plenary task is for pupils to summarise what they have learnt in the lesson using the key words provided.

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