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).
This lesson is designed for a year 7 class studying the KS3 Activate curriculum.
This lesson is focused on using a light microscope.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Label a light microscope (eyepiece lens, objective lenses, fine focus knob, coarse focus knob, stage)
Use a light microscope to view prepared slides
Describe how to increase the resolution and magnification of an image using a light microscope
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
These lesssons are designed for a mid-ability year 10 class studying the AQA GCSE Combined Science curriculum.
There are five, full 1-hour lessons from the digestion and enzymes topic which focus on:
Labelling the digestive system and describing the function of each digestive organ
Method of enzyme action, lock and key theory
The effect of temperature and pH on enzymes
Food tests (guided practical)
The function of bile (neutralising stomach acid, emulsifying lipids)
Also included is a knowledge organiser which contains the key information from this topic. This can be used as a visual to support SEND students throughout the topic, or as a revision resource for an end of unit assessment.
All of the lesson resources in this bundle 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 complete topic, containing six full 1-hour lessons based on the AQA GCSE Chemistry specification. Also suitable for the AQA GCSE Combined Science specification.
These lessons were designed for a mixed ability year 10 class studying single science Chemistry.
These lessons cover the specficiation points 4.4.3 Electrolysis from the unit 4.4 Chemical Changes.
The lessons should be delivered in this order:
Electrolysis introduction
Electrolysis of molten ionic compounds
Electrolysis of aqueous solutions
Extracting aluminium using electrolysis
Half equations in electrolysis
Electrolysis required practical
A revision placemat and knowledge organiser are also included.
All of my lessons 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 lesson is designed for a year 7 class studying the KS3 Activate curriculum.
This lesson is focused on the structure of animal cells.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Label an animal cell (cell membrane, cytoplasm, mitochondria, nucleus)
Describe the function of each of the above organelles
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 lesson is designed for a year 7 class studying the KS3 Activate curriculum.
This lesson is focused on ‘movement of substances’ (diffusion).
From this lesson, students should be able to describe the process of diffusion, using specific examples.
Students should also be able to name two substances that diffuse into cells (oxygen and glucose) and two substances that diffuse out of cells (carbon dioxide and water).
This lesson includes a demonstration of skittles in 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
This lesson is designed for a year 7 class studying the KS3 Activate curriculum.
This lesson is focused on specialised plant cells.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Identify two specialised plant cells from diagrams (root hair cell and palisade / leaf cell)
Describe the function of two specialised plant cells (root hair cell and palisade / leaf cell)
Describe the basic adaptations of two specialised plant cells, and link their adaptations to their functions (root hair cell and palisade / leaf cell)
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 lesson is designed for a year 7 class studying the KS3 Activate curriculum.
This lesson is focused on specialised animal cells.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Identify four specialised animal cells from diagrams (red blood cell, sperm cell, egg cell, nerve cell)
Describe the function of four specialised animal cells (red blood cell, sperm cell, egg cell, nerve cell)
Describe the basic adaptations of two specialised animal cells, and link their adaptations to their functions (red blood cell and sperm cell)
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 lesson is designed for a year 7 class studying the KS3 Activate curriculum.
This lesson is focused on unicellular organisms.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Name two unicellular organisms (amoeba and euglena)
Describe the basic structures found in unicellular organisms (amoeba and euglena) and their functions
Compare the structures of euglena to the structures found in animal cells and plant cells
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 lesson is designed for a mixed ability year 7 class studying the KS3 Activate curriculum.
This lesson is focused on the male reproductive system.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Label the male reproductive system using the correct key terminology
Describe the role of each of the male sex organs
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 lesson is designed for a year 7 class studying the KS3 Activate curriculum.
This lesson is focused on fertilisation and implantation.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Describe the process of fertilisation
Describe what happens during sexual intercourse
Describe the process of implantation
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 lesson is designed for a year 7 class studying the KS3 Activate curriculum.
This lesson is focused on the female reproductive system.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Label the female reproductive system
Describe the function of each of the organs in the female reproductive system
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 lesson is designed for a year 7 class studying the KS3 Activate curriculum.
This lesson is focused on the development of a foetus / fetus during pregnancy, and childbirth.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Label the placenta, umbilical cord and fluid sac on a diagram
Describe the roles of the placenta, umbilical cord and fluid sac
Describe the main stages of childbirth
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 lesson is designed for a mixed ability year 9 class studying the AQA GCSE Combined Science Trilogy specification, at the start of the topic ‘Quantitative Chemistry’.
This lesson is focused on calculating relative formula mass.
From this lesson, students should be able to independently calculate relative formula mass.
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 lesson is designed for a mixed ability year 9 class studying the AQA GCSE Combined Science Trilogy specification, at the start of the topic ‘Quantitative Chemistry’.
This lesson is focused on isotopes and calculating relative atomic mass.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Define the term ‘isotope’
Define the term ‘relative atomic mass’
Calculate the relative atomic mass
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 lesson is designed for a mixed ability year 7 class studying the KS3 Activate curriculum.
This lesson is focused on adolescence and puberty.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Define the key terms ‘adolescence’ and ‘puberty’
Describe the changes that occur to males and females during puberty, and compare and contrast them
Describe the basic role of sex hormones during puberty
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 lesson is designed for a year 7 class studying the KS3 Activate curriculum.
This lesson is focused on the menstrual cycle.
From this lesson, students should be able to describe the main changes that occur during the menstrual cycle, mostly linked to the thickness of the uterine lining.
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 is a worksheet designed for a KS3 class studying the structure of a flower.
Students use the key word bank to identify and label the key reproductive organs in a flower (anther, carpel, filament, ovary, stamen, stigma, style).
Students will also describe the function of each reproductive organ. Students can select the correct function from the support box.
Includes an answer key.
These definitions are in line with the KS3 Activate curriculum.
A full 1 hour lesson designed for a mixed ability year 8 class.
This is the 5th 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 investigating how increasing the number of bulbs in a circuit affects the current flowing through the circuit.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Define the term ‘resistance’
Recall that resistance is measured in ohms and give its symbol
Explain what causes resistance in a wire
Calculate resistance using the formula: Resistance (Ω) = potential difference (V) ÷ current (A)
Investigate how increasing the number of bulbs in a circuit affects the current flowing through the circuit.
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 7th lesson in “Chapter 1 - Health and Lifestyle” from Activate 2, Biology.
This lesson should be suitable to teach to any KS3 Biology class, even by those where Biology is not their specialism.
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Define the term ‘drug’
Describe the difference between medicinal drugs and recreational drugs
Name some examples of illegal drugs
Describe the effects of recreational drugs on the body
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 4th 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
From this lesson, students should be able to:
Define the term ‘potential difference’
Describe how to measure potential difference in a circuit
Recall that voltmeters must be connected to a circuit ‘in parallel’
Draw circuit diagrams and build circuits where a voltmeter is connected in parallel across a component
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