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 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 informative lesson presentation (37 slides) and associated question worksheet which looks at the key properties of alpha, beta and gamma radiation. Students are given key pieces of information during the lesson and are then challenged to use their knowledge of related topics such as atomic structure and waves to complete the information table about the types of radiation. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to compare the types of radiation on form, charge, relative mass, penetrating power and equation symbols. Progress checks have been written into the lesson at regular intervals so that students can constantly assess their understanding.
This lesson has been written for GCSE students (14 - 16 year olds in the UK).
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.
A fully-resourced lesson that explores how resistance, current and potential difference differ between series and parallel circuits. This knowledge needs to be sound in order for students to be able to carry out circuit calculations. The lesson includes a practical and task-based lesson presentation (24 slides) and an accompanying worksheet. The lesson begins by challenging the students to recognise the key difference between the two circuits, in that in a parallel circuits, the electrons can follow more than one route. Moving forwards, each physical factor is investigated in each type of circuits and students carry out tasks or calculations to back up any theory given. Helpful analogies and hints are provided to guide the students through this topic which is sometimes poorly understood. Students will be challenged to use the V = IR equation on a number of occasions so that they are comfortable to find out any of these three factors. Progress checks have been written into the lesson at regular intervals so that students are constantly assessing their understanding and any misconceptions can be addressed.
This has been written for GCSE students, but could be potentially used with higher ability KS3 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
This lesson has been designed to help students to explain the relationship between current and resistance in thermistors and LDRs. This can be a topic which students do not engage with or understand well, so this lesson has tried to add engagement with useful tips to deepen their knowledge. A number of quick competitions are used to introduce key terms such as semiconductor and then the key points explained. Students are given an exemplary answer for the thermistor so they can see how their work should be set out when trying to explain the graph produced by a LDR. Progress checks have been written into the lesson at regular intervals so that students can assess their understanding and any misconceptions can be addressed.
This lesson has been designed for GCSE students.
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.
A fully-resourced lesson that includes a detailed and engaging lesson presentation (33 slides) and question worksheets which are diifferentiated. Together these resources guide students through the tricky topic of the conservation of energy by transfers between energy stores which can often be poorly understood. This lesson has been written for GCSE students, but the law can be taught from an earlier age so this would be suitable for higher ability KS3 lessons.
The lesson begins by introducing the key term, energy stores. The understanding of this term is critical for this topic and other lessons on energy transfers and therefore some time is taken to ensure that this key points are embedded into the lesson. Students will learn that stores can be calculated due to the fact that they have an equation associated with them and some of these need to be recalled (or applied) at GCSE. Therefore, the first part of the lesson involves two engaging competitions where students are challenged to recall part of an energy store equation or to recognise which energy store an equation is associated with. Students are given the information about the remaining energy stores, such as chemical and electrostatic. Moving forwards, the main part of the lesson explores the law of the conservation of energy and shows students how they need to be able to apply this law to calculation questions. Students are shown how to answer an example question involving the transfer of energy from a gravity store to a kinetic energy store. A lot of important discussion points come up in this calculation, such as resistive forces and the dissipation of energy, so these are given the attention they need. Students are then challenged to apply their knowledge to a calculation question on their own - this task has been differentiated two ways so that all students can access the learning. The final slide of the lesson looks at the different ways that energy can be transferred between stores but those are covered in detail in separate lessons.
An engaging and informative lesson presentation (49 slides) looks at the differences between contact and non-contact forces and focuses on enabling students to describe and recognise them. This lesson has been written for GCSE students but could be used in higher ability KS3 lessons with students who are looking to progress their knowledge.
The lesson begins by introducing the fact that forces can be grouped into these two categories and initial definitions are used to ease the students into the lesson. To follow on from this a competition called “FORCE it together” is used. This engaging game challenges the students to spot the name of a force which is in anagram form and then once it has been identified, they have to determine whether it would be a contact or non-contact force. As each force is met, key details are given and discussed. More time is given to areas which can cause problems for students, such as the use of weight and gravity force and whether they are actually different. Moving forwards, a rugby tackle is used to show the numerous forces that interact in everyday situations, before students are challenged to identify more forces in sports of their choice. Students will recall/learn that force is a vector quantity and therefore is represented in diagrams using arrows. Once again, this lesson focuses on showing them how these arrows can be used differently with the different types of forces. Students are briefly introduced to the idea of a free body diagram and an understanding check is used to see whether they can identify friction, gravity force and normal contact force from the arrows. Progress checks like this are written into the lesson at regular intervals, in a range of formats, so that students are constantly assessing their understanding. The final part of the lesson is one more quick competition where students have to use their knowledge of the forces to form words.
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.
This is a fully-resourced lesson that looks at how pressure can be calculated using force and area and then explores how hydraulics are used to transmit a force through a fluid and challenges the students to apply the given equation to calculate the force or area. The lesson includes a lesson presentation (18 slides) and a question worksheet which has been differentiated two ways.
The lesson begins by challenging the students to use an answer to a calculation question to work out the equation that links pressure, force and area. A range of mathematical skills are tested throughout the lesson, such as converting between units and rearranging formula, and then the answers are fully explained so any student who was unable to move through the question can visualise the method. Moving forwards, students will be introduced to a hydraulics system and the equation which they will be given on the sheet in the exam. Students will use the equation to calculate the force or area at the second point of the system. This task has been differentiated so that students who find it difficult are still able to access the learning.
This lesson has been written for GCSE aged students
A fast paced lesson which focuses on the equation for work done and using this in calculations. The lesson includes a student-led lesson presentation and a question worksheet which together explore the different problems that students can encounter when attempting these questions and therefore acts to eliminate any errors. There is a big mathematical element to the lesson which includes the need to rearrange formula, understand standard form and to convert between units as this is a common task in the latest exams. Students will learn that some questions involve the use of two equations as they are needed to move from a mass to a force (weight) before applying the work done equation. The last part of the lesson looks at how work done is involved in the calculation for power.
This lesson has been designed for GCSE students.
A fast-paced lesson that looks at weight and how this differs on different planets depending upon the gravitational field strength. At the start of the lesson, the students are shown the equation to calculate gravity force and weight and are challenged to spot a difference (if there is one)! Time is then taken to explain how weight is the term used when a mass comes into the gravitational field of the Earth (or other planets). A quick understanding check, with the gravitational field strength Olympics, is used to see whether students can calculate this field and their mathematical skills are tested with a number of conversions needed to do so. Moving forwards, students are shown a number of masses and weights on the Earth and the Moon so they can see how mass does not change but weight will be different. The final task challenges them to apply their new-found knowledge to calculate their mass on the Earth, the Moon and Jupiter.
This lesson has been designed for GCSE students but it is suitable for KS3 students who are exploring the Universe topic.
A fully-resourced lesson which includes a concise lesson presentation (16 slides) and accompanying worksheet that guides students through the use of the gravitational potential energy equation to calculate energy, mass and height. The lesson begins by challenging students to work out the factors involved in calculating gravitational potential energy having been given a scenario with some balls on shelves. The students will discover that mass and height affect the energy size and that a third factor, gravity constant, is involved. The rest of the lesson focuses on using the equation to calculate energy, mass and height. In terms of the latter, students have to carry out an engaging task to work out the height that three flags have to be hoisted to during a medal ceremony.
This lesson has been written for GCSE students.
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
