Human brain (OCR A-level Biology)

This extensive lesson describes the structure of the human brain and the functions of its parts. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to be in line with point 5.1.5 (h) of the OCR A-level biology A specification and therefore covers the gross structure of the human brain and the function of the cerebrum, cerebellum, medulla oblongata, hypothalamus and the pituitary gland.

The lesson begins with a knowledge recall challenge, where the students have to complete the diagram showing the organisation of the nervous system, as covered in the previous lesson. This reminds them that the brain is part of the CNS and also reintroduces the autonomic nervous system which will be useful when describing the medulla oblongata. As this is an extensive lesson covering a lot of detail, it has been planned to contain 5 quiz rounds as part of a competition which will help to maintain engagement whilst checking on their recall and understanding of content. There are also multiple understanding and prior knowledge checks which allow the students to assess their progress against the current topic and to make links to previously covered content. All answers to these knowledge checks are embedded into the PowerPoint.

The lesson describes the structure of the cerebrum as two hemispheres and then considers the localisation of function of the 4 lobes of the cerebral cortex. It moves onto the cerebellum, focusing on its role of perfecting and coordinating movement, and explains how this is achieved through neural connections with the cerebrum. The control of heart rate by the medulla oblongata is described before the lesson concludes with an exploration of the connections between the hypothalamus and the two lobes of the pituitary gland, specifically in the mechanisms of osmoregulation and thermoregulation.

Two of the worksheets have been modified to allow students of different understanding levels to access the work.

It is likely that this lesson will take between 2 - 3 hours of teaching time, but sections can be edited and removed if the teacher doesn’t want to look at a particular structure in that detail at this stage of study.