I am a secondary science teacher from Plymouth, United Kingdom. I have a passion for designing interactive, engaging and well scaffolded resources that are inclusive for all pupils. I teach all years, from years 7-13. I teach KS3 Activate (Biology, Chemistry and Physics), AQA GCSE Combined Science Trilogy (Biology and Chemistry), AQA GCSE Biology, AQA GCSE Chemistry, and A Level Biology (OCR A).
I am a secondary science teacher from Plymouth, United Kingdom. I have a passion for designing interactive, engaging and well scaffolded resources that are inclusive for all pupils. I teach all years, from years 7-13. I teach KS3 Activate (Biology, Chemistry and Physics), AQA GCSE Combined Science Trilogy (Biology and Chemistry), AQA GCSE Biology, AQA GCSE Chemistry, and A Level Biology (OCR A).
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 8 class.
This is the 9th lesson in “Chapter 1 - Electricity and Magnetism” from Activate 2, Physics.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
This lesson contains a class practical where students investigate the effect that increasing the potential difference on a power pack has on the number of paperclips that can be picked up by a simple electromagnet.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Describe the magnetic field around a single wire with current flowing through it
Describe how to make an electromagnet
Describe how to increase the strength of an electromagnet
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 8 class.
This is the 1st lesson in “Chapter 1 - Electricity and Magnetism” from Activate 2, Physics.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
This lesson contains a number of practical demonstrations on static electricity (comb bending water, balloon and hair, balloon rolling a can).
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Label an atom and describe the charge of each subatomic particle
Describe how charged particles interact (attract and repel)
Describe how objects become charged
Explain what causes static electricity
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 8 class.
This is the 2nd lesson in “Chapter 1 - Electricity and Magnetism” from Activate 2, Physics.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
This lesson includes the rope model for electricity.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Define the term ‘current’
Describe how current is measured in a circuit
Identify and draw basic circuit symbols (battery, cell, lamp, switch, ammeter, buzzer, motor, wire
Draw circuit diagrams
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 8 class.
This is the 3rd lesson in “Chapter 1 - Electricity and Magnetism” from Activate 2, Physics. This lesson is based on the ‘circuits and current’ pages, where students have the opportunity to practice building circuits in a practical activity.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Identify series and parallel circuits from circuit diagrams
Use circuit diagrams to build simple series and parallel circuits
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 8 class.
This is the 6th lesson in “Chapter 1 - Electricity and Magnetism” from Activate 2, Physics.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Rearrange the formula for resistance to make current and potential difference the subject
Apply and use the appropriate formula for calculation questions
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This is the fourth lesson in “Chapter 1 - Forces” from Activate 1, Physics. This lesson is on drag forces (air resistance and water resistance). It is taught separately to ‘friction’.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
This lesson (and all lessons in this unit) is designed to be interactive and engaging, with plenty of real world examples and independent tasks.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Give a definition for the term ‘drag force’
Explain what causes air resistance
Describe the effect that air resistance has on moving objects
Explain what causes water resistance
Describe the effect that water resistance has on moving objects
Describe how to reduce the effect of drag and give examples of this
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This is the third lesson in “Chapter 1 - Forces” from Activate 1, Physics. This lesson is on friction.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
This lesson (and all lessons in this unit) is designed to be interactive and engaging, with plenty of real world examples and independent tasks.
This lesson includes a practical activity where students investigate the speed of a toy car down a ramp where different materials are used on the ramp’s surface.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Give a definition for the key term ‘friction’
Explain what causes friction to occur
Describe the effect that friction has on moving objects
Describe how to reduce the effect of friction
Investigate the effect of different material surfaces on the amount of friction a moving object experiences
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This is the first lesson in “Chapter 1 - Forces” from Activate 1, Physics.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
This lesson (and all lessons in this unit) is designed to be interactive and engaging, with plenty of real world examples and independent tasks.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Recall the effects that forces can have on objects
Describe how to measure forces
Compare contact and non-contact forces, and give examples for contact and non-contact forces
Recall that forces always come in pairs called interaction pairs, and use this concept to explain certain phenomena
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This is the second lesson in “Chapter 2 - Sound” from Activate 1, Physics. This lesson is on ‘sound’, focusing on how sound waves travel and the speed of sound.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
This lesson (and all lessons in this unit) is designed to be interactive and engaging, with plenty of real world examples and independent tasks.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Describe how sound is produced
Describe how a sound wave travels
Recall that speed travels the fastest in solids and slowest in gases
Use the particle model to explain why the speed of sound is different in different materials
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This is the third lesson in “Chapter 2 - Sound” from Activate 1, Physics. This lesson is on ‘loudness and pitch’.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
This lesson (and all lessons in this unit) is designed to be interactive and engaging, with plenty of real world examples and independent tasks.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Describe how to visualise a sound wave on an oscilloscope
Describe the link between amplitude and loudness
Describe the link between frequency and pitch
Recall the correct units for frequency and loudness
Understand that the decibel scale does not work like a ruler (not introduced to the term logarithmic yet)
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This is the first lesson in “Chapter 2 - Sound” from Activate 1, Physics. This lesson is on ‘waves’, focusing on the features of waves.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
This lesson (and all lessons in this unit) is designed to be interactive and engaging, with plenty of real world examples and independent tasks.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Label the amplitude, wavelength, peak and trough on a diagram of a transverse wave
Define the terms peak, trough, amplitude, frequency and wavelength
Compare transverse and longitudinal waves
Identify transverse and longitudinal waves from given examples
Describe how waves are superposed
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This is the 5th and final lesson in “Chapter 2 - Sound” from Activate 1, Physics. This lesson is on ‘echoes and ultrasound’.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
This lesson (and all lessons in this unit) is designed to be interactive and engaging, with plenty of real world examples and independent tasks.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Recall that an echo is reflected sound
Understand which materials reflect sound well and which materials absorb sound well
Describe how echoes can be used to calculate distance
Use simple, given examples of the time taken for an echo to be heard to calculate distance
Recall what ultrasound is
Recall two uses for ultrasound
Describe how sonar is used to calculate the depth of water
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This is the fourth lesson in “Chapter 2 - Sound” from Activate 1, Physics. This lesson is on ‘detecting sound’, and mainly focuses on the structure of the ear and how the ear works.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
This lesson (and all lessons in this unit) is designed to be interactive and engaging, with plenty of real world examples and independent tasks.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Label a diagram of the ear (pinna, auditory canal, eardrum, ossicles, oval window, cochlea, auditory nerve)
Describe the function of the main organs in the ear (pinna, auditory canal, eardrum, ossicles, oval window, cochlea, auditory nerve)
Describe how we hear
Describe how a microphone works and its similarities to the ear
Recall the audible range of humans (20 Hz - 20,000 Hz)
Recall the definitions of ‘infrasound’ and ‘ultrasound’
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
This unit of work contains five 1-hour lesson resources designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This unit follows "Chapter 2 - Sound” from Activate 1, Physics.
However, it would be suitable for any KS3 curriculum studying forces.
This unit of work is designed to be engaging and interactive, with plenty of practical demonstrations and teacher models. There are a couple of class practicals too which come with risk assessments and full, chunked instructions.
The lessons are designed so that they can be delivered by any member of staff, regardless of whether physics is their specialism. They are also suitable for students working outside the classroom, e.g. in isolation.
The lessons should be delivered in this order:
Features of waves
Sound
Loudness and pitch
Detecting sound
Echoes and ultrasound
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This is the 2nd lesson in “Chapter 3 - Light” from Activate 1, Physics. This lesson is on ‘reflection’.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
This lesson (and all lessons in this unit) is designed to be interactive and engaging, with plenty of real world examples and independent tasks.
This lesson includes a worksheet where students draw the reflected ray when given the angle of incidence.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Describe what you see when you look in the mirror
Explain why an image in a mirror is described as ‘virtual’
Recall the law of reflection
Draw the reflected ray when given the incident ray and angle of incidence on a diagram
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This is the 4th lesson in “Chapter 3 - Light” from Activate 1, Physics. This lesson focuses on the eye, from the pages ‘the eye and the camera’. I have separated these into two lessons.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
This lesson (and all lessons in this unit) is designed to be interactive and engaging, with plenty of real world examples and independent tasks.
This lesson includes a short practical where students view inverted images through a magnifying glass.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Label the structures in the eye (pupil, cornea, iris, lens, retina, optic nerve)
Describe the function of each of the structures in the eye (pupil, cornea, iris, lens, retina, optic nerve)
Describe how the lens inverts images
Describe the role of photoreceptor cells in the retina
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This is the 3rd lesson in “Chapter 3 - Light” from Activate 1, Physics. This lesson is on ‘refraction’.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
This lesson (and all lessons in this unit) is designed to be interactive and engaging, with plenty of real world examples and independent tasks.
This lesson includes a class practical where students investigate refraction using a glass block and ray box.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Recall what refraction is
Give some examples of refraction
Describe how the direction of light changes as it passes from one medium to another
Explain why light changes direction as it passes from one medium to another
Use a glass box and ray box to investigate how the direction of light changes as it passes from one medium to another
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
This unit of work contains six 1-hour lesson resources designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This unit follows "Chapter 3 - Light” from Activate 1, Physics.
However, it would be suitable for any KS3 curriculum studying physics.
This unit of work is designed to be engaging and interactive, with plenty of practical demonstrations and teacher models. There are a couple of class practicals too which come with risk assessments and full, chunked instructions.
The lessons are designed so that they can be delivered by any member of staff, regardless of whether chemistry is their specialism. They are also suitable for students working outside the classroom, e.g. in isolation.
The lessons should be delivered in this order:
Light
Reflection
Refraction
The eye
The camera
Colour
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This is the 5th lesson in “Chapter 3 - Light” from Activate 1, Physics. This lesson focuses on the camera, from the pages ‘the eye and the camera’. I have separated these into two lessons.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
This lesson (and all lessons in this unit) is designed to be interactive and engaging, with plenty of real world examples and independent tasks.
This lesson includes a class practical where students make a pinhole camera and use it to view the image of a candle.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Describe the role of the key parts in a camera (aperture, lens, CCD)
Describe how a simple camera is used to view an image
Compare the parts of a camera to the parts of the eye
Make a simple pinhole camera and use it to view an image of a candle
To describe how the pinhole camera is used to view an image
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 7 class.
This is the 6th and final lesson in “Chapter 3 - Light” from Activate 1, Physics. This lesson focuses on ‘colour’.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Physics class, even by those where physics is not their specialism.
This lesson (and all lessons in this unit) is designed to be interactive and engaging, with plenty of real world examples and independent tasks.
This lesson includes a short practical where students pass white light from a ray box through a triangular prism.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Describe how white light is dispersed when it passes through a prism
Explain why white light is dispersed when it passes through a prism
Explain why objects have certain colours
Recall the primary colours of light and secondary colours of light
Describe the colour of light that will be seen when primary colours of light are mixed
Identify the colour of light that will be seen when different coloured lights are passed through different coloured filters
All of my lesson resources contain:
A 5-in-5 retrieval-style starter
An interesting lesson hook, careers link, or retrieval practice to start the lesson
Teacher input slides with dual coding and reduced cognitive load
Teacher models
Regular ‘check for understanding’ slides, such as hand signals quizzes
Regular student independent practice slides, with optional scaffolds, challenges and answer slides
A plenary task