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 4 revision lessons covers the content in topics 1 - 4 of the Edexcel A-level Biology (Salters Nuffield) specification that are taught during year 12 (AS) of the two-year course.
Each of the lessons has been designed to include a range of exam questions, differentiated tasks and quiz competitions that will motivate the students whilst they evaluate their understanding of the different sub-topics.
Helpful hints are given throughout the lesson to aid the students in structuring their answers and the mathematical elements of the course are constantly challenged as well.
The 4 topics covered by this bundle are:
Topic 1: Lifestyle, health and risk
Topic 2: Genes and health
Topic 3: Voice of the genome
Topic 4: Biodiversity and natural resources
This engaging and detailed REVISION resource has been written to encourage students to evaluate their understanding of the content found in MODULE 4.1.1 (Communicable diseases, disease prevention and the immune system) of the OCR A-Level Biology specification. The resource contains a motivating PowerPoint (86 slides) and associated worksheets which have been differentiated to support students of differing abilities in their access of the work. The lesson includes a wide range of activities such as exam questions, quick tasks and quiz competitions to motivate the students whilst they recognise those areas of the specification which require even more attention.
The lesson has been designed to cover as much of the content in module 4.1.1 as possible but the following sub-topics have been given particular attention:
Communicable diseases caused by bacteria, viruses and fungi
Bacteria as pathogens
Antigen-presenting cells
The specific immune response
Antibiotics and the existence of resistant strains
Preventing the spread of pathogens
Vaccinations
Primary defences of the human body
In addition to content from this module, links are made to earlier modules and challenges posed so that students can see how connections between the modules have to be made to be successful.
This resource is suitable for use at the end of the module, in the lead up to AS or A2 mocks or in the lead up to the actual A-level exams.
This bundle contains 6 detailed revision resources which have been designed to challenge the students on their knowledge of the AQA GCSE Combined Science Trilogy Specification content that can be assessed in the 6 papers that they will sit whilst remaining engaged and motivated due to the wide range of activities. These activities include differentiated tasks, quiz competitions and exam questions with displayed answers.
All of the Powerpoint-based lessons are so detailed and extensive that they are likely to be used over the course of a number of lessons, allowing the teacher to focus on specific areas for part of all of a lesson. The papers covered by these resources are:
Paper 1: Biology topics B1 - B4
Paper 2: Biology topics B5 - B7
Paper 3: Chemistry topics C1 - C5
Paper 4: Chemistry topics C6-C10
Paper 5: Physics topics P1 - P4
Paper 6: Physics topics P5 - P7
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.
This is a fully-resourced REVISION lesson that challenges the students on their knowledge of the content found in TOPIC 4 (Biodiversity and Natural resources) of the Edexcel A-level Biology (Salters Nuffield) specification. The lesson contains an engaging PowerPoint (104 slides) and accompanying worksheets that use a range of exam questions, differentiated tasks and quiz competitions to motivate the students whilst they evaluate their knowledge of the different sub-topics.
The lesson has been designed to cover as much of the topic 4 specification as possible, but the following sub-topics have been given particular attention:
Three-domain classification
The features of the kingdoms
Evolutionary relationships
Behavioural, anatomical and physiological adaptations
Glycosidic bonds
The structure and function of cellulose
The ultrastructure of plant cells
Calculating the index of diversity and the heterozygosity index
Applying the Hardy-Weinberg principle to calculate allele frequencies
This lesson is suitable for revision at the end of the topic, in the lead up to the mocks or in the lead up to the actual A-level exams as topic 4 is assessed on both Paper 1 and Paper 2.
This is a fully-resourced REVISION lesson which challenges the students on their knowledge of the content in TOPIC B5 (Genetics) of the Edexcel GCSE Combined Science specification. The lesson uses an engaging PowerPoint (63 slides) and accompanying worksheets to motivate students whilst they assess their understanding of this topic.
A range of exam questions, quick tasks and quiz competitions are used to test the following sub-topics:
Recognising and using genetic terminology in context
Constructing genetic diagrams to calculate offspring percentages for diseases caused by dominant and recessive alleles
The sex chromosomes and sex determination
Meiosis and the formation of haploid daughter cells
The structure of DNA
Extracting DNA from a fruit
Genetic and environmental variation
Mutations and their effect on the phenotype
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 B3 or in the lead up to mocks or the actual GCSE exams.
This bundle of 4 revision lessons covers the content in topics 5 - 8 of the Edexcel A-level Biology (Salters Nuffield) specification that are taught during year 13 (A2) of the two-year course.
Each of the lessons has been designed to include a range of exam questions, differentiated tasks and quiz competitions that will motivate the students whilst they evaluate their understanding of the different sub-topics.
Helpful hints are given throughout the lesson to aid the students in structuring their answers and the mathematical elements of the course are constantly challenged as well.
The 4 topics covered by this bundle are:
Topic 5: On the wild side
Topic 6: Immunity, infection and forensics
Topic 7: Run for your life
Topic 8: Grey matter
This is a fully-resourced revision resource which has been designed to encourage students to evaluate their understanding of the content in TOPIC 4 of the AQA A-level Biology specification (Genetic information, variation and relationships between organisms) . The resource includes an engaging PowerPoint (96 slides) and associated worksheets, some of which have been differentiated to allow those struggling with the content to access the work.
The wide range of activities which includes exam questions, quick tasks and quiz competitions will motivate the students whilst they assess their knowledge and recognise those areas which require even further attention. The lesson has been designed to cover as many sub-topics as possible but the following have been given particular attention:
Classification hierarchy
DNA in prokaryotes and eukaryotes
The binomial naming system
Phylogeny
Modern day classification using biological molecules
Calculating biodiversity
Selection pressures and types of selections
Transcription
Gene mutations
Physiological, behavioural and anatomical adaptations
Meiosis and variation
Non-disjunction
The mathematical element of this topic and the course is challenged throughout the lesson and helpful hints are regularly provided to help students to structure their answers. This resource can be used as a revision aid at the end of the topic, in the lead up to AS or A2 mocks or in the lead up to the actual terminal A-level exams.
This bundle of 4 revision lessons covers the content in topics 5 - 8 of the AQA A-level Biology specification that are commonly taught during year 13 (A2) of the two-year course.
Each of the lessons has been designed to include a range of exam questions, differentiated tasks and quiz competitions that will motivate the students whilst they evaluate their understanding of the different sub-topics.
Helpful hints are given throughout the lesson to aid the students in structuring their answers and the mathematical elements of the course are constantly challenged as well.
The 4 topics covered by this bundle are:
Topic 5: Energy transfers in and between organisms
Topic 6: Organisms respond to changes in their environment
Topic 7: Genetics, populations, evolution and ecosystems
Topic 8: The control of gene expression
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.
This is a fully-resourced REVISION lesson which challenges the students on their knowledge of the content in TOPIC B2 (Cells and control) of the Edexcel GCSE Combined Science specification. The lesson uses an engaging PowerPoint (70 slides) and accompanying worksheets to motivate students whilst they assess their understanding of this topic.
A range of exam questions, quick tasks and quiz competitions are used to test the following sub-topics:
The structure of the CNS
Reflex reactions and the neurones involved
Synapses
Mitosis and the cell cycle
The use of percentile charts to monitor growth
Cell differentiation and specialisation
Stem cells and their potential for use in medicine
There is a big emphasis on the mathematical elements of the course such as percentage change and standard form 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 B2 or in the lead up to mocks or the actual GCSE exams.
All of the 5 lessons in this bundle have been designed to include a range of activities that motivate, engage and ultimately challenge the students on their knowledge of the specification content that can be assessed on PAPER 1 of the Edexcel GCSE Combined Science course. The topics covered in this bundle are:
TOPIC 1: Key concepts in Biology
TOPIC 2: Cells and control
TOPIC 3: Genetics
TOPIC 4: Natural selection and genetic modification
TOPIC 5: Health, disease and the development of medicines
Helpful hints are provided throughout the lessons to support the students with exam technique and in structuring their answers and the mathematical elements of the course are constantly challenged. These lessons are suitable for use mid-topic to focus on a specific area, at the end of a topic or in the lead up to mocks or the actual PAPER 1 exam.
This detailed lesson describes the formation and effects of excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic potentials . The PowerPoint has been designed to cover point 9.5 (v) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification.
This is a topic which is generally poorly understood by students or brushed over so considerable time has been taken to design the activities to motivate the students so that the content is memorable whilst still being covered in detail. Links are continually made to earlier topics in this topic such as synapses and generator potentials but also to topics covered in the previous year.
The lesson begins by challenging the students to recognise a description of generator potential and they will then discover that this is also known as an EPSP. Students will recall that a small depolarisation may not lead to the opening of the voltage gated channels and therefore the full depolarisation which is needed for the initiation of an action potential and will discuss how this problem could be overcome. Lots of discussion points like this are included in the lesson to encourage the students to challenge and debate why a particular process of mechanism occurs. Students will therefore learn that EPSPs can be combined and this is known as summation. A quiz round is used to introduce temporal and spatial summation. Moving forwards, students are presented with a number of examples where they have to decide why type of summation is involved. Again, the lesson has been written to include real-life examples such as chronic pain conditions so the chances of the content sticking is increased. The final part of the lesson introduces IPSPs and the effect of these on summation and action potentials is discussed.
This detailed lesson describes the the structure and function of the motor neurones that form the autonomic nervous system and is responsible for automatic responses. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resource have been designed to cover point 9.4 (v) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification and describes the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions and how they act antagonistically.
The lesson begins with a focus on the types of effectors that will be connected to the CNS by autonomic motor neurones. Students will learn that effectors which are not under voluntary control such as cardiac muscle, smooth muscle and glands will be innervated by these neurones. Moving forwards, a quick quiz competition is used to introduced ganglia as a structure which connects the two or more neurones involved in the cell signalling between the CNS and the effector. This leads into the discovery of the two divisions and students will begin to recognise the differences between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems based on function but also structure. The remainder of the lesson looks at the differing effects of these two systems.
This lesson has been written to tie in with the lesson on the organisation of the mammalian nervous system which was covered earlier in this topic
This lesson describes the relationship between the structure and function of a synapse, focusing on acetylcholine as the neurotransmitter. The engaging and detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the content of point 9.5 (iv) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification.
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 topic 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 acetylcholine 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.
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 be challenged to make links to earlier topics.
This detailed lesson describes the gross and microscopic structure of the mammalian kidney. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resource have been designed to cover point 9.9 (i) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification. The lesson was designed to tie in with the other lessons in topic 9.9 on ultrafiltration, selective reabsorption and the control of mammalian plasma concentration and a common theme runs throughout to allow students to build their knowledge gradually and develop a deep understanding of this organ.
Students will come to recognise the renal cortex and renal medulla as the two regions of the kidney and learn the parts of the nephron which are found in each of these regions. Time is taken to look at the vascular supply of this organ and specifically to explain how the renal artery divides into the afferent arterioles which carry blood towards the glomerulus and the efferent arterioles which carry the blood away. The main task of the lesson challenges the students to relate structure to function. Having been introduced to the names of each of the parts of the nephron, they have to use the details of the structures found at these parts to match the function. For example, they have to make the connection between the microvilli in the PCT as a sign that this part is involved in selective reabsorption.
This fully-resourced lesson describes how the autonomic nervous system controls the heart rate. The engaging and detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 9.8 (i) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification which states that students should understand the roles of baroreceptors, chemoreceptors, the cardiac centre in the medulla oblongata and the sympathetic and parsympathetic nerves in the control.
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 describes how the mechanisms involved in the selective reabsorption of solutes in the proximal convoluted tubule. The PowerPoint and accompanying resource have been designed to cover the first part of specification point 9.9 (iii) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification and builds on the knowledge gained in the previous lessons on the structure of the nephron and ultrafiltration.
The lesson begins by challenging the students to recall the substances that are found in the glomerular filtrate so that each of them can be considered over the course of the rest of the lesson. Moving forwards, the first of the numerous discussion points which are included in the lesson is used to get students to predict the component of the filtrate which won’t be found in the urine when they are presented with pie charts from each of these situations. Upon learning that glucose is 100% reabsorbed, along with most of the ions and some of the water, the rest of the lesson focuses on describing the relationship between the structure of the PCT and the function of selective reabsorption. Again, this section begins by encouraging the students to discuss and to predict which structures they would expect to find in a section of the kidney if the function is to reabsorb. They are given the chance to see the structure (as shown in the cover image) before each feature is broken down to explain its importance. Time is taken to look at the role of the cotransporter proteins to explain how this allows glucose, along with sodium ions, to be reabsorbed from the lumen of the PCT into the epithelial cells. The final part of the lesson focuses on urea and how the concentration of this substance increases along the tubule as a result of the reabsorption of some of the water.
This detailed bundle contains 4 lesson PowerPoints and their accompanying resources that cover the following specification points found within topic 9.5 (Nervous transmission) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification:
The transport of sodium and potassium ions across the axon membrane results in resting potential
The formation of an action potential and its propagation along an axon
The role of saltatory conduction
The structure and function of a synapse
The formation and effects of excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic potentials
The wide range of tasks, which include exam-style questions with detailed mark schemes, focused discussion points and quiz competitions which introduce key terms and values, will engage and motivate the students whilst the content is covered in the detail required at A-level
If you would like to sample the quality of the lessons included in this bundle, then download the resting and action potentials lesson as this has been shared for free
This fully-resourced lesson describes the effects of enzyme and substrate concentration on enzyme activity. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources are the third in a series of 3 lessons which cover the details of point 2.1.4 (d) [i] of the OCR A-level Biology A specification and students are also challenged on their recall of the details of transcription and translation as covered in module 2.1.3.
The first part of the lesson describes how an increase in substrate concentration will affect the rate of reaction when a fixed concentration of enzyme is used. Time is taken to introduce limiting factors and students will be challenged to identify substrate concentration as the limiting factor before the maximum rate is attained and then they are given discussion time to identify the possible factors after this point. A series of exam-style questions are used throughout the lesson and the mark schemes are displayed to allow the students to assess their understanding and for any misconceptions to be immediately addressed. Moving forwards, the students have to use their knowledge of substrate concentration to construct a graph to represent the relationship between enzyme concentration and rate of reaction and they have to explain the different sections of the graph and identify the limiting factors.
The final section of the lesson describes how the availability of enzymes is controlled in living organisms. Students will come to recognise that this availability is the result of enzyme synthesis and enzyme degradation and a SPOT THE ERRORS task is used to challenge their recall of protein synthesis.
Please note that this lesson explains the Biology behind the effect of concentration on enzyme activity and not the methodology involved in carrying out such an investigation as this is covered in the lessons designed in line with point 2.1.4 (d) [ii]