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 engaging lesson looks at the myogenic nature of cardiac muscle and explores the roles of the SAN, AVN, Bundle of His and Purkyne fibres in the normal electrical activity of the heart. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the points 7.8 (i & ii) of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification.
The lesson begins with the introduction of the SAN as the natural pacemaker and then time is given to study each step of the conduction of the impulse as it spreads away from the myogenic tissue in a wave of excitation. The lesson has been written to make clear links to the cardiac cycle and the structure of the heart and students are challenged on their knowledge of this system from topic 1. Moving forwards, students are encouraged to consider why a delay would occur at the AVN and then they will learn that the impulse is conducted along the Bundle of His to the apex so that the contraction of the ventricles can happen from the bottom upwards. The structure of the cardiac muscle cells is discussed and the final task of the lesson challenges the students to describe the conducting tissue, with an emphasis on the use of key terminology
Due to the detailed nature of this lesson, it is estimated that it will take about 2 hours of A-level teaching time to cover the two specification points
This fully-resourced lesson looks at the coordination and control of heart rate by the cardiovascular centre in the medulla oblongata. The engaging and detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the second part of point 6.1.3 of the AQA A-level Biology specification which states that students should know the roles and locations of the sensory receptors and the roles of the autonomic nervous system and effectors in the control of heart rate.
This lesson begins with a prior knowledge check where students have to identify and correct any errors in a passage about the conduction system of the heart. This allows the SAN to be recalled as this structure play an important role as the effector in this control system. Moving forwards, the three key parts of a control system are recalled as the next part of the lesson will specifically look at the range of sensory receptors, the coordination centre and the effector. Students are introduced to chemoreceptors and baroreceptors and time is taken to ensure that the understanding of the stimuli detected by these receptors is complete and that they recognise the result is the conduction of an impulse along a neurone to the brain. A quick quiz is used to introduce the medulla oblongata as the location of the cardiovascular centre. The communication between this centre and the SAN through the autonomic nervous system can be poorly understood so detailed explanations are provided and the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions compared. The final task challenges the students to demonstrate and apply their understanding by writing a detailed description of the control and this task has been differentiated three ways to allow differing abilities to access the work
This lesson has been written to tie in with the previous lesson on the conducting system of the heart which is also detailed in specification point 6.1.3
This engaging lesson explores the roles of the SAN, AVN, Bundle of His and Purkyne fibres in the transmission of the wave of excitation through the heart. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the first part of point 6.1.3 of the AQA A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to describe the myogenic stimulation of the heart and the subsequent wave of electrical activity.
The lesson begins with the introduction of the SAN as the natural pacemaker and then time is given to study each step of the conduction of the impulse as it spreads away from the myogenic tissue in a wave of excitation. The lesson has been written to make clear links to the cardiac cycle and the structure of the heart and students are challenged on their knowledge of this system from topic 3. Moving forwards, students are encouraged to consider why a delay would occur at the AVN and then they will learn that the impulse is conducted along the Bundle of His to the apex so that the contraction of the ventricles can happen from the bottom upwards. The structure of the cardiac muscle cells is discussed and the final task of the lesson challenges the students to describe the conducting tissue, with an emphasis on the use of key terminology
This fully-resourced lesson looks at how errors in DNA replication can give rise to gene mutations and then links to an earlier topic by exploring how these base changes can affect the primary structure of a polypeptide. The engaging and detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 2.12 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification and constantly refers back to points 2.7, 2.8 and 2.9 which detail the genetic code, genes and the structure of proteins.
In order to understand how a change in the base sequence can affect the order of the amino acids, students must be confident in their understanding and application of protein synthesis which was taught in 2.6. Therefore, the start of the lesson focuses on transcription and translation and students are guided through the use of the codon table to identify amino acids. Moving forwards, a quick quiz competition is used to introduce the names of three types of gene mutation whilst challenging the students to recognise terms which are associated with the genetic code and were met in the previous lesson. The main focus of the lesson is base substitutions and how these mutations may or may not cause a change to the amino acid sequence. The students are challenged to use their knowledge of the degenerate nature of the genetic code to explain how a silent mutation can result. The rest of the lesson looks at base deletions and base insertions and students are introduced to the idea of a frameshift mutation. One particular task challenges the students to evaluate the statement that base deletions have a bigger impact on primary structure than base substitutions. This is a differentiated task and they have to compare the fact that the reading frame is shifted by a deletion against the change in a single base by a substitution.
This fully-resourced lesson explores how reproductive isolation can potentially lead to the formation of a new species by speciation . The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 5.19 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification which states that students should understand how isolation reduces gene flow between populations which can lead to allopatric or sympatric speciation.
The lesson begins by using the example of a hinny, which is the hybrid offspring of a horse and a donkey, to challenge students to recall the biological classification of a species. Moving forwards, students are introduced to the idea of speciation and the key components of this process, such as isolation and selection pressures, are covered and discussed in detail. Understanding and prior knowledge checks are included throughout the lesson to allow the students to not only assess their progress against the current topic but also to make links to earlier topics in the specification. Time is taken to look at the details of allopatric speciation and how the different mutations that arise in the isolated populations and genetic drift will lead to genetic changes. The example of allopatric speciation in wrasse fish because of the isthmus of Panama is used to allow the students to visualise this process. The final part of the lesson considers sympatric speciation and again a wide variety of tasks are used to enable a deep understanding to be developed.
This fully-resourced lesson guides students through the use of the Hardy-Weinberg equation to see whether a change in allele frequency is occurring in a population over time. The detailed PowerPoint and differentiated practice questions worksheets have been designed to cover point 4.5 (i) of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification which expects students to be able to use this mathematical equation
The lesson begins by looking at the equation and ensuring that students understand the meaning of each of the terms. The recessive condition, cystic fibrosis, is used as an example so that students can start to apply their knowledge and assess whether they understand which genotypes go with which term. Moving forwards, a step-by-step guide is used to show students how to answer a question. Tips are given during the guide so that common misconceptions and mistakes are addressed immediately. The rest of the lesson gives students the opportunity to apply their knowledge to a set of 3 questions, which have been differentiated so that all abilities are able to access the work and be challenged
This fully-resourced lesson has been designed to cover point 8.4 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification that states that students should know the structures and function of synapses in nerve impulse transmission. The majority of the lesson uses the cholinergic synapse as the example but other neurotransmitters are considered to provide the students with a wider view of this topic and to make links to specification point 8.15
The lesson begins by using a version of the WALL (as shown in the cover image) which asks the students to group 12 words into three groups of 4. Not only will this challenge their prior knowledge from topics earlier in this module 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 aectylcholine 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 specification 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 highly detailed and engaging lesson which explains how a nerve impulse (action potential) is conducted along an axon). The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 8.3 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification which states that students should be able to describe how the changes in the membrane permeability to sodium and potassium ions results in conduction. This topic is commonly assessed in the terminal exams so a lot of time has been taken to design this resource to include a wide range of activities that motivate the students whilst ensuring that the content is covered in the depth of detail that will allow them to have a real understanding. Interspersed within the activities are understanding checks and prior knowledge checks to enable the students to not only assess their progress against the current topic but also to challenge themselves on the links to earlier topics such as methods of movements across cell membranes and saltatory conduction. There are also a number of quiz competitions which are used to introduce key terms and values in a fun and memorable way and discussion points to encourage the students to consider why a particular process or mechanism occurs.
Over the course of the lesson, the students will learn and discover how the movement of ions across the membrane causes the membrane potential to change. They will see how the resting potential is maintained through the use of the sodium/potassium pump and potassium ion leakage. There is a real focus on depolarisation to allow students to understand how generator potentials can combine and if the resulting depolarisation then exceeds the threshold potential, a full depolarisation will occur. At this point in the lesson students will discover how the all or nothing response explains that action potentials have the same magnitude and that instead a stronger stimulus is linked to an increase in the frequency of the transmission. The rest of the lesson challenges the students to apply their knowledge to explain how repolarisation and hyperpolarisation result and to suggest advantages of the refractory period for nerve cells.
This fully-resourced lesson looks at the structures of the sensory, relay and motor neurones and explains how the presence of a myelin sheath increases the speed of conduction of an impulse. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 8.1 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification which states that students should be able to apply their understanding of the structures and functions of sensory, relay and motor neurones as well as the differences between myelinated and unmyelinated neurones. This lesson also covers 8.2 (i) as the students will be able to see how conduction along a motor neurone stimulates effectors to respond to a stimulus. The PowerPoint has been designed to contain a wide range of activities that are interspersed between understanding and prior knowledge checks that allow the students to assess their progress on the current topics as well as challenge their ability to make links to topics from earlier in the modules. Quiz competitions like SAY WHAT YOU SEE are used to introduce key terms in a fun and memorable way.
The students will be able to compare these neurones based on their function but also distinguish between them based on their structural features. Time is taken to look at the importance of the myelin sheath for the sensory and motor neurones. Students will be introduced to the need for the entry of ions to cause depolarisation and will learn that this is only possible at the nodes of Ranvier when there is a myelin sheath. Key terminology such as saltatory conduction is introduced and explained. The final task involves a comparison between the three neurones to check that the students have understood the structures and functions of the neurones.
Throughout the lesson, links are made to related topics such the organisation of the nervous system and students will be given additional knowledge such as the differences between somatic and autonomic motor neurones.
This is a fully-resourced lesson which looks at the inheritance of genes that are carried on the sex chromosomes in sex-linkage. Students will explore sex-linked diseases in humans and then are challenged to apply their knowledge to examples in other animals. The detailed PowerPoint and associated resources have been designed to cover the second part of point 3.8 (ii) of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology (Salters Nuffield) specification which states that students should understand sex-linkage.
Key genetic terminology is used throughout and the lesson begins with a check on their ability to identify the definition of homologous chromosomes. Students will recall that the sex chromosomes are not fully homologous and that the smaller Y chromosome lacks some of the genes that are found on the X. This leads into one of the numerous discussion points, where students are encouraged to consider whether females or males are more likely to suffer from sex-linked diseases. In terms of humans, the lesson focuses on haemophilia and red-green colour blindness and a step-by-step guide is used to demonstrate how these specific genetic diagrams should be constructed and how the phenotypes should then be interpreted. The final tasks of the lesson challenge the students to apply their knowledge to a question about chickens and how the rate of feather production in chicks can be used to determine gender.
This fully-resourced lesson is clear and concise and has been written to explain how the inheritance of two or more genes that have loci on the same chromosome demonstrates linkage. The engaging PowerPoint and associated resource have been designed to cover point 3.8 (i and ii) of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology (Salters Nuffield) specification which states that students should know the meaning of a gene locus and understand the linkage of genes on a chromosome.
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 focuses on the nature of the genetic code and specifically focuses on the degenerate nature to make a link to gene mutations which is covered later in topic 2. The PowerPoint has been designed to cover point 2.7 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology (Salters Nuffield) specification which states that students should understand how the descriptive terms triplet code, degenerate and non-overlapping relate to the genetic code.
The lesson begins by introducing the terms near universal and non-overlapping in addition to degenerate. A quick quiz competition is used to generate the number 20 so that the students can learn that there are 20 proteinogenic amino acids in the genetic code. This leads into a challenge, where they have to use their prior knowledge of DNA to calculate the number of different DNA triplets (64) and the mismatch in number is then discussed and related back to the lesson topic. Moving forwards, substitutions and deletions are briefly introduced so that they can see how although one substitution can change the primary structure, another will change the codon but not the encoded amino acid. The lesson concludes with a brief look at the non-overlapping nature of the code so that the impact of a base deletion can be understood when covered in greater detail with cystic fibrosis
This fully-resourced lesson covers the meaning of the 9 genetic terms that are detailed in point 2.13 (i) of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology (Salters Nuffield) specification as well as four other key terms which will need to be used later in topic 2, 3 and 8.
In the following lessons, students are expected to be able to demonstrate and apply their knowledge and understanding of genetic diagrams and phenotypic ratios to show patterns of inheritance and this is only possible with a clear understanding of the genetic terminology that will be used in related exam questions. As some of these terms were met at GCSE, this lesson has been designed to build on this prior knowledge and provide clear explanations as to their meanings as well as numerous examples of their use in both questions and exemplary answers. The main task provides the students with an opportunity to apply their understanding by recognising a dominance hierarchy in a multiple alleles characteristic and then calculating a phenotypic ratio when given a completed genetic diagram. Other tasks include prior knowledge checks, discussion points to encourage students to consider the implementation of the genetic terms and quiz competitions to introduce new terms, maintain engagement and act as an understanding check.
The 13 terms are genome, gene, chromosome, gene locus, homologous chromosomes, alleles, dominant, recessive, genotype, phenotype, homozygotes and heterozygotes
This fully-resourced lesson focuses on the role of meiosis in ensuring genetic variation through the production of non-identical gametes. The detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resource have been designed to cover point 3.9 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology (Salters Nuffield) specification which states that students should be able to describe how crossing over and independent assortment result in genetically unidentical daughter cells.
In order to understand how the events of meiosis like crossing over and random assortment and independent segregation can lead to variation, students need to be clear in their understanding that DNA replication in interphase results in homologous chromosomes as pairs of sister chromatids. Therefore the beginning of the lesson focuses on the chromosomes in the parent cell and this first part of the cycle and students will be introduced to non-sister chromatids and the fact that they may contain different alleles which is important for the exchange that occurs during crossing over. Time is taken to go through this event in prophase I in a step by step guide so that the students can recognise that the result can be new combinations of alleles that were not present in the parent cell. Moving forwards, the lesson explores how the independent segregation of chromosomes and chromatids during anaphase I and II results in genetically different gametes. The final part of the lesson looks at the use of a mathematical expression to calculate the possible combinations of alleles in gametes as well as in a zygote following the random fertilisation of haploid gametes. Understanding and prior knowledge checks are interspersed throughout the lesson as well as a series of exam questions which challenge the students to apply their knowledge to potentially unfamiliar situations.
Each of the 4 lessons in this bundle are fully-resourced and have been designed to cover the content as detailed in topic 4.3 (Genetic diversity can arise as a result of mutation or meiosis) of the AQA A-Level Biology specification. The specification points that are covered within these lessons include:
Base deletions and base substitutions as examples of gene mutations
The degenerate nature of the genetic code
Mutagenic agents increase the rate of mutation
Chromosome mutations arise spontaneously during meiosis
Meiosis produces genetically different daughter cells
Crossing over and independent segregation as events that contribute to genetic variation
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 topic and earlier topics
If you would like to see the quality of the lessons, download the gene mutations lesson which is free
This lesson focuses on the degenerate nature of the genetic code and explains how a mutation may not result in a change to the sequence of amino acids. The PowerPoint has been designed to cover the first part of point 4.3 of the AQA A-level Biology specification and it makes links to the upcoming lesson on gene mutations.
The lesson begins by introducing the terms near universal and non-overlapping in addition to degenerate. A quick quiz competition is used to generate the number 20 so that the students can learn that there are 20 proteinogenic amino acids in the genetic code. This leads into a challenge, where they have to use their prior knowledge of DNA to calculate the number of different DNA triplets (64) and the mismatch in number is then discussed and related back to the lesson topic. Moving forwards, base substitutions and base deletions are briefly introduced so that they can see how although one substitution can change the primary structure, another will change the codon but not the encoded amino acid. The lesson concludes with a brief look at the non-overlapping nature of the code so that the impact of a base deletion (or insertion) can be understood when covered in greater detail in topic 8.
This lesson has been specifically designed to tie in with the other lessons from topic 4.3 on gene mutations, chromosome mutations and meiosis.
This is a fully-resourced lesson which introduces gene mutations and then explores how these base changes affect the primary structure of a polypeptide. The engaging and detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the second part of point 4.3 of the AQA A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to understand how base substitutions and base deletions change the base sequence and describe how this affects the polypeptide.
In order to understand how a change in the base sequence can affect the order of the amino acids, students must be confident in their understanding and application of protein synthesis which was taught in 4.2. Therefore, the start of the lesson focuses on transcription and translation and students are guided through the use of the codon table to identify amino acids. Moving forwards, a quick quiz competition is used to introduce the names of three types of gene mutation whilst challenging the students to recognise terms which are associated with the genetic code and were met in the previous lesson. The main focus of the lesson is base substitutions and how these mutations may or may not cause a change to the amino acid sequence. The students are challenged to use their knowledge of the degenerate nature of the genetic code to explain how a silent mutation can result. The rest of the lesson looks at base deletions and base insertions and students are introduced to the idea of a frameshift mutation. One particular task challenges the students to evaluate the statement that base deletions have a bigger impact on primary structure than base substitutions. This is a differentiated task and they have to compare the fact that the reading frame is shifted by a deletion against the change in a single base by a substitution.
This fully-resourced lesson focuses on the events of meiosis which specifically contribute to genetic variation. The detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the 4th and final part of point 4.3 of the AQA A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to describe how meiosis produces daughter cells that are genetically different from each other.
In order to understand how the events of meiosis like crossing over and random assortment and independent segregation can lead to variation, students need to be clear in their understanding that DNA replication in interphase results in homologous chromosomes as pairs of sister chromatids. Therefore the beginning of the lesson focuses on the chromosomes in the parent cell and this first part of the cycle and students will be introduced to non-sister chromatids and the fact that they may contain different alleles which is important for the exchange that occurs during crossing over. Time is taken to go through this event in prophase I in a step by step guide so that the students can recognise that the result can be new combinations of alleles that were not present in the parent cell. Moving forwards, the lesson explores how the independent segregation of chromosomes and chromatids during anaphase I and II results in genetically different gametes. The final part of the lesson looks at the use of a mathematical expression to calculate the possible combinations of alleles in gametes as well as in a zygote following the random fertilisation of haploid gametes. Understanding and prior knowledge checks are interspersed throughout the lesson as well as a series of exam questions which challenge the students to apply their knowledge to potentially unfamiliar situations.
Due to the detail of this lesson, it is estimated that this will take about 2 hours of A-level teaching time to deliver
This fully-resourced lesson explores the contributions of the chromosome mutations that arise during meiosis to genetic variation. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets have been designed and written to cover the part of point 4.3 of the AQA A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to describe how mutations in the numbers of chromosomes can arise spontaneously and significantly contribute to evolution.
Over the course of the lesson, students will encounter a number of chromosome mutations but the main focus is chromosome non-disjunction and they will learn that this can result in Down, Turner’s and Klinefelter’s syndromes. Students are guided through a description of the formation of gametes and zygotes with abnormal numbers of chromosomes before being challenged to describe the formation of a zygote with Turner’s syndrome. The key aspects of meiosis, which are taught in a future lesson, are introduced and related to the lead up to the change in chromosome number. Inversion, translocation, duplication and deletion are also introduced and links are made to other topics such as regulatory sequences and gene expression.
This bundle contains 17 fully-resourced and detailed lessons that have been designed to cover the content of topic 7 of the AQA A-level Biology specification which concerns genetics, populations, evolution and ecosystems. The wide range of activities included in each lesson will engage the students whilst the detailed content is covered and the understanding and previous knowledge checks allow them to assess their progress on the current topic as well as challenging them to make links to other related topics. Most of the tasks are differentiated to allow differing abilities to access the work and be challenged.
The following sub-topics are covered in this bundle of lessons:
The use of genetic terminology
The inheritance of one or two genes in monohybrid and dihybrid crosses
Codominant and multiple alleles
The inheritance of sex-linked characteristics
Autosomal linkage
Epistasis as a gene interaction
The use of the chi-squared test
Species exist as one or more populations
The concepts of gene pool and allele frequency
Calculating allele frequencies using the Hardy-Weinberg principle
Causes of phenotypic variation
Stabilising, directional and disruptive selection
Genetic drift
Allopatric and sympatric speciation
Species, populations, communities and ecosystems
Factors affecting the populations in ecosystems
Estimating the size of a population using randomly placed quadrats, transects and the mark-release-recapture method
Primary succession, from colonisation by pioneer species to climax community
Conservation of habitats frequently involves the management of succession
This is one of the 8 topics which have to be covered over the length of the 2 year course and therefore it is expected that the teaching time for this bundle will be in excess of 2 months
If you want to see the quality of the lessons before purchasing then the lessons on codominant and multiple alleles, epistasis and phenotypic variation are free resources to download