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 lesson uses real-life examples in plants and animals to explain why cellular respiration is so important. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 5.2.2 (a) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification but can also be used as a revision tool to challenge the students on their knowledge of active transport, nervous transmission and muscle contraction.
As the first lesson in this module, it has been specifically planned to act as an introduction to this cellular reaction and provides important details about glycolysis, the Krebs cycle and oxidative phosphorylation that will support the students to make significant progress when these stages are covered during individual lessons. Students met phosphorylation in module 5.2.1 when considering the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis and their knowledge of the production of ATP in this plant cell reaction is called on a lot in this lesson to show the similarities. The students are also tested on their recall of the structure and function of ATP, as covered in module 2.1.3, through a spot the errors task. By the end of the lesson, the students will be able to explain why the ATP produced in cellular respiration is needed by root hair cells, by companion cells and in the selective reabsorption of glucose in the proximal convoluted tubule. They will also be able to name and describe the different types of phosphorylation and will know that ATP is produced by substrate-level phosphorylation in glycolysis and the Krebs cycle and by oxidative phosphorylation in the final stage of aerobic respiration with the same name.
This detailed lesson describes the roles of the link reaction and the Krebs cycle in the complete oxidation of glucose which occur in the mitochondrial matrix. The PowerPoint and the accompanying resource have been designed to cover point 7.3 of the Edexcel International A-level Biology specification and includes descriptions of the formation of carbon dioxide, ATP, reduced NAD and FAD
The lesson begins with a challenge, where the students have to recall the details of glycolysis in order to form the word matrix. This introduces the key point that these two stages occur in this part of the mitochondria and time is taken to explain why the reactions occur in the matrix as opposed to the cytoplasm like glycolysis. Moving forwards, the Link reaction is covered in 5 detailed bullet points and students have to add the key information to these points using their prior knowledge as well as knowledge provided in terms of NAD. The students will recognise that this reaction occurs twice per molecule of glucose and a quick quiz competition is used to test their understanding of the numbers of the different products of this stage. This is just one of the range of methods that are used to check understanding and all answers are explained to allow students to assess their progress. The rest of the lesson focuses on the Krebs cycle. In line with the detail of the specification, students will understand how decarboxylation and dehydrogenation reactions result in the regeneration of the oxaloacetate
This lesson describes the overall reaction of aerobic respiration, introducing the 4 stages before the finer details are covered in the upcoming lessons. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resource have been designed to cover points 7.1 (i) and (ii) of the Edexcel International A-level Biology specification and explains how each step in this many-stepped process is catalysed by a specific intracellular enzyme.
The lesson begins with an introduction to glycolysis and students will learn how this first stage of aerobic respiration is also the first stage when oxygen is not present. This stage involves 10 reactions and an opportunity is taken to explain how each of these reactions is catalysed by a different, specific intracellular enzyme. A version of “GUESS WHO” challenges students to use a series of structural clues to whittle the 6 organelles down to just the mitochondrion so that they can learn how the other three stages take place inside this organelle. Moving forwards, the key components of the organelle are identified on a diagram. Students are introduced to the stages of respiration so that they can make a link to the parts of the cell and the mitochondria where each stage occurs. Students will learn that the presence of decarboxylase and dehydrogenase enzymes in the matrix along with coenzymes and oxaloacetate allows the link reaction and the Krebs cycle to run and that these stages produce the waste product of carbon dioxide. Finally, time is taken to introduce the electron transport chain and the enzyme, ATP synthase, so that students can begin to understand how the flow of protons across the inner membrane results in the production of ATP and the the formation of water when oxygen acts as the final electron acceptor.
This lesson describes the methods used to test for reducing and non-reducing sugars and starch using Benedict’s solution and iodine/potassium iodide. The PowerPoint and accompanying resource are part of the first lesson in a series of 2 which have been designed to cover the content of point 2.1 (a) of the CIE A-level Biology specification.
The lesson begins with an explanation of the difference between a qualitative and quantitative test to allow the students to understand that the two tests described within this lesson indicate the presence of a substance but not how much. The students are likely to have met these tests during their studies at a lower level so this lesson has been planned to build on that knowledge and to add the knowledge needed at this level. A step by step guide walks the students through each stage of the tests for reducing and non-reducing sugars and application of knowledge questions are included at appropriate points to ensure that understanding is complete. Time is also taken to ensure that students understand the Science behind the results. The rest of the lesson focuses on the iodine test for starch and the students will learn that the colour change is the result of the movement of an ion into the amylose helix.
As this is the first lesson in topic 2 (Biological molecules), students are yet to learn about the structure and function of the carbohydrates which these tests detect. Therefore, included in the PowerPoint are numerous “LINK TO THE FUTURE” slides, where important details about the structure and function of the monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides are introduced.
All 8 of the lessons that are included in this lesson bundle are highly detailed and will engage and motivate the students whilst covering the content of topic 1.4 of the AQA A-level Biology specification. With proteins playing critical roles in a wide range of living organisms, a clear understanding of the structure and functions of these biological molecules is important for all of the other topics.
The following specification points are covered by the lessons in this bundle:
The general structure of an amino acid
A condensation reaction between two amino acids forms a peptide bond
The formation of dipeptides and polypeptides
The role of the tertiary structure bonds in the structure of a protein
The variety of functions of proteins in living organisms
The relationship between protein structure and function
The biuret test for proteins
Enzymes lower the activation energy of the reaction it catalyses
The induced fit model of enzyme action
The specificity of enzymes
The effects of temperature, pH, enzyme and substrate concentration and inhibitors on the rate of enzyme-controlled reactions
If you would like to sample the quality of lessons in this bundle, then download the dipeptides & polypeptides lesson and the biuret test lesson as these have been uploaded for free
The wide range of tasks that are found within the 3 lesson PowerPoints and accompanying resources contained in this bundle have been designed to cover the detailed specification content of topic 1.3 of the AQA A-level Biology course. The exam-style questions, differentiated tasks, discussion periods and quick quiz competitions introduce the following points:
The composition of a triglyceride and the formation by condensation reactions
The R group of a fatty acid may be saturated or unsaturated
The phosphate-containing group in a phospholipid
The relationship between the structure and properties of triglycerides and phospholipids
The emulsion test for lipids
The emulsion test lesson also contains a section where the students understanding of the previous two lessons is challenged
This lesson explains the effects of temperature on the rate of enzyme activity and includes examples in plants, animals and microorganisms. The PowerPoint and the accompanying resource have been designed to cover point 5.16 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification and this lesson has been specifically planned to tie in with a lesson in topic 2 where the roles and mechanism of action of enzymes were introduced.
The lesson begins by challenging the students to recognise optimum as a key term from its 6 synonyms that are shown on the board. Time is taken to ensure that the students understand that the optimum temperature is the temperature at which the most enzyme-product complexes are produced per second and therefore the temperature at which the rate of an enzyme-controlled reaction works at its maximum. The optimum temperatures of DNA polymerase in humans and in a thermophilic bacteria and RUBISCO in a tomato plant are used to demonstrate how different enzymes have different optimum temperatures and the roles of the former in the PCR is briefly described to prepare students for this lesson in topic 6.
Moving forwards, the next part of the lesson focuses on enzyme activity at temperatures below the optimum and at temperatures above the optimum. Students will understand that increasing the temperature increases the kinetic energy of the enzyme and substrate molecules, and this increases the likelihood of successful collisions and the production of enzyme-substrate and enzyme-product complexes. When considering the effect of increasing the temperature above the optimum, continual references are made to the previous lesson and the control of the shape of the active site by the tertiary structure. Students will be able to describe how the hydrogen and ionic bonds in the tertiary structure are broken by the vibrations associated with higher temperatures and are challenged to complete the graph to show how the rate of reaction decreases to 0 when the enzyme has denatured.
This lesson describes the steps in the emulsion test for lipids and then uses a range of tasks to challenge the students on their knowledge of topic 1.3. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resource are part of the last lesson in a series of 3 lessons which have been designed to cover the content of point 1.3 (lipids) of the AQA A-level Biology specification.
The first part of the lesson describes the key steps in the emulsion test for lipids, and states the positive result for this test. There is a focus on the need to mix the sample with ethanol, which is a distinctive difference to the tests for reducing sugars and starch.
The remainder of the lesson uses exam-style questions with mark schemes embedded in the PowerPoint, understanding checks, guided discussion points and quick quiz competitions to challenge the following specification points:
The structure of a triglyceride
The relationship between triglyceride property and function
The hydrophilic and hydrophobic nature of the phospholipid
The phospholipid bilayer of the cell membrane
Cholesterol is also introduced so that students are prepared for this molecule when it is met in topic 2.3 (cell membranes)
Topic 12 tends to be the 1st topic to be taught in the second year of the CIE A-level Biology course and these 9 lessons are filled with a wide variety of differentiated tasks that will immediately engage and motivate the students whilst ensuring that the detailed content is covered. It is critical that students understand how energy in the form of ATP is produced by aerobic and anaerobic respiration and are able to describe the energy-driven reactions like active transport that need this input. For this reason, the lessons contain multiple understanding checks which assess the students on their current knowledge as well as checking on their ability to link to previously-covered topics.
The following specification points in topic 12 of the CIE A-level Biology specification are covered in these lessons:
The need for energy in living organisms
The features of ATP that make this molecule suitable as the energy currency
Substrate-level phosphorylation in glycolysis and the Krebs cycle
The role of the coenzymes in respiration
The involvement of the electron transport chain that’s found in the mitochondria and chloroplast membranes in the production of ATP
The four stages of aerobic respiration
Glycolysis
The link reaction
The Krebs cycle
Oxidative phosphorylation
The structure of the mitochondrion
The differences between aerobic and anaerobic respiration
The oxygen debt
If you would like to sample the quality of these lessons, then download the roles of the coenzymes and the Krebs cycle lessons as these have been uploaded for free
This fully-resourced lesson describes how allopatric or sympatric speciation may result from geographical, ecological or behavioural separation. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 17.3 [c] of the ICE A-level Biology specification and uses actual biological examples to increase the relevance and likelihood of understanding
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 lesson describes the meaning of ecological terms and explains how biotic and abiotic factors control the distribution of organisms in a habitat. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover points 5.11, 5.12 and 5.13 in unit 4 of the Edexcel International A-level Biology (Salters Nuffield) specification and therefore cover the biological definitions of ecosystem, community, population and habitat.
A quiz round called REVERSE Biology Bingo runs throughout the lesson and challenges students to recognise the following key terms from descriptions called out by the bingo caller:
community
ecosystem
abiotic factor
photosynthesis
respiratory substrate
biomass
calorimetry
distribution
niche
The ultimate aim of this quiz format is to support the students to understand that any sugars produced by photosynthesis that are not used as respiratory substrates are used to form biological molecules that form the biomass of a plant and that this can be estimated using calorimetry. Links are made to photosynthesis and net primary productivity as these will be met later in topic 5 as well as challenging their prior knowledge of adaptations, heterozygosity index classification and biological molecules. The final part of the lesson uses an exam-style question to get the students to recognise that biotic and abiotic factors control the distribution of organisms in a habitat and to recall the concept of niche.
This fully-resourced lesson describes the process of contraction of skeletal muscle in terms of the sliding filament theory. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 7.11 of the Edexcel International A-level Biology specification and includes descriptions of the role of actin, myosin, troponin, tropomyosin, calcium ions, ATP and ATPase.
The lesson begins with a study of the structure of the thick and thin filaments. Students will recognise that the protruding heads of the myosin molecule are mobile and this enables this protein to bind to the binding sites when they are exposed on actin. This leads into the introduction of troponin and tropomyosin and key details about the binding of calcium to this complex is explained. Moving forwards, students are encouraged to discuss possible reasons that can explain how the sarcomere narrows during contraction when the filaments remain the same length. This main part of the lesson goes through the main steps of the sliding filament model of muscle contraction and the critical roles of the calcium ions and ATP are discussed. The final task of the lesson challenges the students to apply their knowledge by describing the immediate effect on muscle contraction when one of the elements doesn’t function correctly.
This lesson has been written to tie in with the previous lesson on the structure of skeletal muscle fibre (point 7.10)
This lesson describes the extracellular action of peptide hormones and the role played by steroid hormones in binding to DNA transcription factors. The detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 7.22 of the Edexcel International A-level Biology specification and focuses on the differing effects of these two types of hormones on their target cells
Students should have a base knowledge of the endocrine system from GCSE so this lesson has been planned to build on that knowledge and to add the detail needed at this level. The lesson begins by challenging this knowledge to check that they understand that endocrine glands secrete these hormones directly into the blood. Students will learn that most of the secreted hormones are peptide (or protein) hormones and a series of exam-style questions are used to challenge them on their recall of the structure of insulin as well as to apply their knowledge to questions about glucagon. Moving forwards, the students are reminded that hormones have target cells that have specific receptor sites on their membrane. The relationship between a peptide hormone as a first messenger and a second messenger on the inside of the cell is covered in detail in an upcoming lesson but students are briefly introduced to G proteins and cyclic AMP so they are prepared. The rest of the lesson focuses on steroid hormones and specifically their ability to pass through the membrane of a cell and to bind to transcription factors, as exemplified by oestrogen. Students covered transcription and the control of gene expression in topics 2 and 3 so the final tasks challenge their recall of these concepts
This lesson describes how the electron transport chain and the chemiosmosis are involved in the synthesis of ATP by oxidative phosphorylation. The PowerPoint has been designed to cover point 7.4 of the Edexcel International A-level Biology specification and also looks at the role of the enzyme, ATP synthase.
The lesson begins with a discussion about the starting point of the reaction. In the previous stages, the starting molecule was the final product of the last stage but in this stage, it is the reduced coenzymes which release their hydrogen atoms. Moving forwards, the process of oxidative phosphorylation is covered in 7 steps and at each point, key facts are discussed and explored in detail to enable a deep understanding to be developed. Students will see how the proton gradient is created and that the flow of protons down the channel associated with ATP synthase results in a conformational change and the addition of phosphate groups to ADP. Understanding checks are included throughout the lesson to enable the students to assess their progress.
This lesson has been specifically written to tie in with the other uploaded lessons on glycolysis, the link reaction and Krebs cycle.
This lesson reminds students of the meaning of homeostasis and describes the how thermoregulation maintains the body in dynamic equilibrium during exercise. The PowerPoint has been designed to cover point 7.17 of the Edexcel International A-level Biology specification.
Students were introduced to homeostasis at GCSE and this lesson has been written to build on that knowledge and to add the key detail needed at this level. Focusing on the three main parts of a homeostatic control system, the students will learn about the role of the internal and peripheral thermoreceptors, the thermoregulatory centre in the hypothalamus and the range of effectors which bring about the responses to restore optimum levels.
The following responses are covered in this lesson:
Vasodilation
Increased sweating
Body hairs
In each case, time is taken to challenge students on their ability to make links to related topics such as the arterioles involved in the redistribution of blood and the high specific latent heat of vaporisation of water.
This lesson describes how the sensory receptors of the nervous system detect stimuli by transducing different forms of energy into electrical energy. The PowerPoint has been designed to cover the content of the 1st part of specification point 8.5 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification and acts as an introduction to the next lesson where the roles of the rod cells in the retina is described.
The lesson begins by using a quiz to get the students to recognise the range of stimuli which can be detected by receptors. This leads into a task where the students have to form 4 sentences to detail the stimuli which are detected by certain receptors and the energy conversion that happen as a result. Students will be introduced to the idea of a transducer and learn that receptors always convert to electrical energy which is the generator potential. The remainder of the lesson focuses on the Pacinian corpuscle and how this responds to pressure on the skin, resulting in the opening of the sodium channels and the flow of sodium ions into the neurone to cause depolarisation.
This lesson describes how the critical evaluation of new data by the scientific community leads to new taxonomic groupings, like the three domains of life. The detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 4.6 (ii) of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification and focuses on the introduction of the three-domain system following Carl Woese’s detailed study of the ribosomal RNA gene.
The lesson begins with an introduction of Woese and goes on to describe how he is most famous for his definition of the Archaea as a new domain of life. Students were introduced to domains and the other classification taxa in a previous lesson, so their recall of this knowledge is continually tested and built upon as details are added. Students will discover the key differences between Archaea and Bacteria that led to the splitting of the prokaryotae kingdom and the addition of this higher classification rank. Moving forwards, the rest of the lesson describes how molecular phylogeny uses other molecules and that these are compared between species for classification purposes. One of these is a protein called cytochrome which is involved in respiration and can be compared in terms of primary structure to determine relationships. At this point in the lesson, the students are also tested on their knowledge of the nature of the genetic code (as covered in topic 2) and have to explain how mutations to DNA can also be used for comparative purposes.
This lesson describes the classification system, focusing on the biological classification of a species and the 7 taxa found above this lowest taxon. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resource have been designed to cover point 4.6 (i) of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification and also describes the binomial naming system which uses the genus and species. The lesson also contains links to upcoming lessons where molecular phylogeny is described and the three-domain system is covered in greater detail with a focus on the results of Carl Woese’s rRNA study
The lesson begins by looking at the meaning of a population in Biology so that the term species can be introduced. A hinny, which is the hybrid offspring of a horse and a donkey, is used to explain how these two organisms must be members of different species because they are unable to produce fertile offspring. Moving forwards, students will learn that classification is a means of organising the variety of life based on relationships between organisms using differences and similarities in phenotypes and in genotypes and is built around the species concept and that in the modern-day classification hierarchy, species is the lowest taxon. A quiz runs throughout the lesson and this particular round will engage the students whilst they learn (or recall) the names of the other 7 taxa and the horse and the donkey from the earlier example are used to complete the hierarchy. Students will understand that the binomial naming system was introduced by Carl Linnaeus to provide a universal name for each species and they will be challenged to apply their knowledge by completing a hierarchy for a modern-day human, by spotting the correct name for an unfamiliar organism and finally by suggesting advantages of this system.
This lesson explains how to use the endings -ide and -ate when naming compounds. The lesson PowerPoint and accomapnying worksheet have been designed to cover point 1.25 of the Edexcel GCSE Chemistry specification and also covers that point in the Chemistry section of the Combined Science course
The lesson begins with some simple multiple choice questions to check that students can spot the chemical symbol and definition of an element, but more importantly pick out the formula for a compound. Time is taken to go through the explanation of why substances are elements or compounds and specific examples given. A quick understanding check, in the form of a competition called “To COM or NOT TO COM”,is used to check that students can identify elements or compounds from a name or given formula. The remainder of the lesson focuses on naming compounds. Students are challenged to spot a pattern when presented with the names of two compounds, which contain 2 elements only. For both compounds that contain 2 elements or 3 or more, the rules to naming are introduced before examples are shown so that students can visualise how to construct their answer. They are then given an opportunity to apply this to a number of questions in the set tasks. The last part of the lesson moves this forward by looking at how these same rules can be applied when the chemical formula of a compound is given and this is related to another topic as they are challenged to write a word equation containing a range of compounds when presented with the symbol equation. Progress checks are written into the lesson at regular intervals so that students can constantly assess their understanding.
Although this is written for Edexcel GCSE students, it is perfectly suitable for use with younger students who are learning about elements, compounds and mixtures and the teacher wants to push them onwards
This lesson describes how to calculate the relative formula mass from simple chemical formulae and for those that include brackets. The PowerPoint and the accompanying worksheet have been designed to cover point 1.43 of the Edexcel GCSE Chemistry specification and also covers that point in the Chemistry section of the Combined Science course.
The lesson contains a wide range of tasks, understanding checks and quick quiz competitions to guide students through calculating the relative formula mass for substances with a range of chemical formulae. The relative formula mass is required in a lot of calculations, such as those that involve moles, so it is an important skill to get right. Worked examples are used throughout the lesson to visualise the metho for the students. Initially, students will learn how to calculate the mass from simple formulae before helpful hints are provided for harder formulae such as those that contain a bracket. Students are given the chance to apply their knowledge by proving that mass is conserved in a reaction and this prepares them for an upcoming lesson.
This lesson has been written for GCSE students but could be used with higher ability KS3 students in lessons that are looking to push knowledge forward