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 role of transformers in the National Grid, explains why they increase or decrease potential difference and then uses the given equation to calculate potential difference or the number of turns on the primary or secondary coil. This lesson includes an informative lesson presentation (25 slides) and two question worksheets.
The lesson begins by introducing the devices that are transformers and showing the students that there are two types, step-up and step-down. Students will learn that step-up transformers increase the potential difference and step-down transformers decrease the potential difference. Moving forwards, a series of calculations are used to get the students to understand why these changes in potential difference occur. Students are guided through this section so that they are able to complete a summary passage about the roles of these devices. They will then be shown the equation connecting potential difference and number of turns which they do not need to recall but have to apply. Again, a worked example is used to visualise how workings should be set out before students are challenged to answer two sets of questions, the second of which involves the use of a second equation. Progress checks like these are found at regular intervals throughout the lesson so that students can assess their understanding.
This lesson has been written for GCSE students
This is a fully-resourced lesson that explores the meaning of irradiation and contamination and challenges the students to make links to the different types of radiation in order to state which type of radiation is most dangerous outside of the body and inside the body. This lesson includes an engaging lesson presentation (28 slides) and a differentiated worksheet which gives assistance to those students who find the task of writing the letter difficult.
The lesson has been written to include real life examples to try to make the subject matter more relevant to the students. Therefore, whilst meeting the term contamination, they will briefly read about the incident with Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 to understand how the radiation entered the body. Moving forwards, students will learn that there are examples of consensual contamination such as the injection of an isotope to act as a tracer. At this point of the lesson, links are made to the topic of decay and half-lives and students are challenged to pick an appropriate isotope based on the half-life and then to write a letter to the patient explaining why they made their choice. The remainder of the lesson challenges students to decide which type or types of radiation are most dangerous when an individual is irradiated or contaminated and to explain their answers. This type of progress check can be found throughout the lesson along with a number of quick competitions which act to maintain engagement as well as introduce new terms.
This lesson has been written for GCSE aged students
This is a fully-resourced revision lesson that uses a combination of exam questions, understanding checks, quick tasks and quiz competitions to enable students to assess their understanding of the content found within topic 5 (Waves in matter) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Physics specification.
The sub-topics and specification points that are tested within the lesson include:
Recall and apply the equation to calculate wave speed using frequency and wavelength
Describe wave motion in terms of amplitude, frequency, wavelength and period
Define wavelength and frequency and be able to describe and apply the relationship between these and the wave velocity
Describe differences between transverse and longitudinal waves
Describe reflection and transmission of waves at material interface
Understand how waves are used in ultrasound and SONAR
Be able to describe how a ripple tank can be used to measure the speed of a wave
The electromagnetic spectrum
Use ray diagrams to show refraction
This revision lesson has been designed to include the wide variety of mathematical skills that are tested in the Physics exam papers including rearranging formula, converting to S.I. units and calculating using standard form.
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 fully-resourced REVISION lesson is detailed and engaging and uses a range of exam questions, understanding checks, quick tasks and quiz competitions to allow students to assess their understanding of the content within topic 7 (Radioactivity and particles) of the Pearson Edexcel IGCSE Physics 9-1 specification (4PH1) for first assessment in June 2019.
The specification points that are covered in this revision lesson include:
Describe energy transfers involving energy stores
Use the principle of conservation of energy
Know and use the relationship between efficiency, useful energy output and total energy output
Describe how thermal energy transfer may take place by conduction, convection and radiation
Explain ways of reducing unwanted energy transfer, such as insulation
Know and use the relationship between work done, force and distance moved in the direction of the force
Know and use the relationship between gravitational potential energy, mass, gravitational field strength and height
Know and use the relationship between kinetic energy, mass and speed
Understand how conservation of energy produces a link between gravitational potential energy, kinetic energy and work
Use the relationship between power, work done (energy transferred) and time taken
Describe the energy transfers involved in generating electricity using water, wind, geothermal resources, solar, fossil fuels and nuclear power
The students will thoroughly enjoy the range of activities, which include quiz competitions such as “The TRANSFER MARKET” where they have to compete to be the 1st to identify the type of energy transfer shown whilst all the time evaluating and assessing which areas of this topic will need their further attention. This lesson can be used as revision resource at the end of the topic or in the lead up to mocks or the actual International GCSE exams
An engaging lesson which uses a range of tasks to ensure that students understand the meaning of the term, background radiation, and are able to name a number of sources of this type of radiation. The start of the lesson focuses on the definition of background radiation and the idea that is all around us is revisited again a number of times during the lesson. Through a range of activities and discussion points, students will meet the different sources as well as the % that they each contribute. It seemed appropriate to challenge some mathematical and scientific skills at this point so students will represent the data in a pie chart form. Related topics are discussed such as Chernobyl. Progress checks are written into the lesson at regular intervals so the students can constantly assess their understanding.
This lesson is designed for GCSE students.
An engaging lesson presentation (28 slides) and accompanying worksheet, which together look at how to calculate efficiency and explores how efficiency can be increased by reducing the ways that energy is transferred to less useful stores. The lesson begins by looking at the key term, dissipated, and ensuring that students understand that energy being dissipated to a thermal energy store is one of the main reasons why efficiency will be low. Moving forwards, students are introduced to the equation to calculate efficiency and shown how to leave the answer as a decimal or percentage. Mathematical skills are challenged when calculating the efficiency as a number of units have to be converted. The rest of the lesson looks at a range of methods that can be used to reduce losses. Students will work with the teacher to understand how lubrication works and then a homework task gets them to explore how insulation in homes reduces heat losses.
This lesson has been designed for GCSE students.
This lesson has been designed to explore the range of energy sources which are used on Earth and specifically looks at why an increase in the use of renewable sources is critical for the future. The student’s scientific understanding is challenged at each step of the lesson but there is also a mathematical element running throughout. The lesson begins by challenging the students to predict which energy sources contributed the greatest % when presented with a pie chart. Students cover this topic in other subjects like Geography, so the lesson aims to build on this and consolidate the essential understanding. A range of renewable sources are discussed and key terms such as carbon-neutral taken on further.
This lesson has been designed for GCSE students but parts could be used with younger students who are looking at
An engaging lesson presentation that looks at how the amplitude and frequency of a sound wave can change. The lesson uses a range of sounds from recordings and challenges the students to draw the sound waves that would have been produced. In order to understand this topic, it is essential that the key terminology is understood and can be used in the correct context. Therefore, the start of the lesson focuses on wavelength and frequency and then longitudinal and challenges the students to recognise that these could all be related to sound waves. Moving forwards, students will hear a recording and then read a music “critique” that uses the key terminology so that can link the sounds to the change in shape of the waves. The final part of the lesson involves them drawing how the different sound waves would change from the control one.
This lesson has been designed for GCSE students.
This bundle of 6 lessons covers the majority of the content in Topic C1 (Particles) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics covered within these lessons include:
States of matter
Chemical and physical changes
Development of the atom
Atomic structure
Isotopes
Ions
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 Topic P8 (Atomic Physics) of the core and supplement sections of the Cambridge iGCSE Science Double Award specification. The topics and specification points covered within these lessons include:
The composition of the nucleus
Isotopes
Identify alpha, beta and gamma radiation by their properties
An understanding of background radiation
The meaning of radioactive decay
Word and nuclide notation in decay equations
Half-life
The effects of ionising radiation on living things
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 P6.2(Powering Earth) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics or specification points covered within these lessons include:
The main energy sources available for use on Earth
Patterns and trends in the use of energy resources
The use of transformers to increase or decrease potential difference
The National grid
The differences in function between the live, neutral and earth wires
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 all of the content in the sub-topic P3.2 (Simple circuits) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics covered within these lessons include:
The differences between series and parallel circuits
Represent direct current circuits with the common electrical symbols
Current and the dependence on resistance and potential difference
Recall and apply the relationship between I, V and R
The graphs for thermistors and LDRs
Diodes
Net resistance
Current, potential difference and resistance calculations in series and parallel circuits
Power transfer in a circuit
Applying the equations to do with electrical circuits
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 most of the content in sub-topic P4.3 (Radioactivity) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics or specification points covered within these lessons include:
Atomic nuclei
Isotopes
Unstable nuclei and emitting particles or gamma rays
Writing balanced equations to represent decay
The concept of the half-life
The different penetrating powers of alpha, beta and gamma
Recall the differences between irradiation and contamination
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.
A concise, fast-paced lesson that looks at the orbits of both natural and artifical satellites. The lesson has been written to build on the student’s knowledge of space from KS3 and add key details such as the gravitational pull between the different celestial objects. Students will learn how the speed of the orbiting object and the gravitational pull ensure that the object remains in orbit and consider what would happen should the speed change. Students are briefly introduced to a number of orbits of artificial satellites as well as the uses.
This lesson has been designed for GCSE students
This lesson has been written for GCSE students and aims to ensure that they can explain in detail why light changes direction due to refraction. The key to the explanation is the use of the correct terms in context so the start of the lesson challenges the students to come up with the key words of light, bend, normal, density and speed when given a range of clues. The next part of the lesson works with the students to bring these key terms together to form a definition of refraction. Moving forwards, the relationship between density of a medium and the speed of light through that medium is discussed so that there is a clear understanding of why light bends one way or the other. The next task uses the definition to apply to a practical situation to draw a diagram of light moving from air to glass. The final part of the lesson involves a range of practicals so this topic can be explored further.
This bundle of 14 lessons covers the majority of the content in Topic P2 (Forces) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics covered within these lessons include:
Speed and velocity
Acceleration
Distance and velocity-time graphs
Contact and non-contact forces
Free body diagrams
Resultant forces
Terminal velocity
Momentum
Conservation of momentum
Mass, weight and gravitational field strength
Gravitational potential and kinetic energy
Work done and power
Hooke’s Law
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. It is estimated that this bundle would cover over 6 week’s worth of lessons.
A fully resourced lesson which includes an informative lesson presentation (25 slides) and an associated worksheet that show students how to give answers to a certain number of significant figures. The answers to questions in Science are often required to be given in significant figures and this lesson guides students through this process, including the rules of rounding that must be applied for success to be likely.
This lesson has been designed for GCSE students but is suitable for KS3
An engaging lesson presentation (30 slides) that looks at electric current and ensures that students know the key details about this factor in preparation for their GCSE studies. The lesson begins by forming a definition for this electrical term and then as the lesson progresses, this definition is broken so that each element is understood. Students will be introduced to the difference between electron flow and conventional current. Time is taken to ensure that students understand that an ammeter must be set up in series. The remainder of the lesson will focus on the mathematical calculations which include current and important skills such as converting between units is covered.]
As stated above, this lesson has been designed primarily for those students taking their GCSE exams (14 - 16 year olds in the UK) but is suitable for younger students too.
This revision lesson challenges students to explain the results of an osmosis investigation and to calculate accelerations using 2 equations. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to check on the understanding of these two topics as detailed in the AQA GCSE biology, physics and combined specifications.
The lesson contains a range of tasks including worked examples, exam questions and quizzes which will remind students that water molecules move across partially permeable membranes by osmosis and how changes in the mass of a potato can be used to compare water concentrations in the potato and solution. Students will also recall that acceleration can be calculated from velocity-time graphs using change in velocity/time as well as through the use of F=ma.