NEW (2016) AQA AS-Level Biology – Methods of Studying Cells

This lesson is designed for the NEW AQA AS-level Biology course, particularly the ‘Cells’ module.

For more lessons designed to meet specification points for the NEW AQA A-level Biology course please visit my shop: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/SWiftScience

A-Level lesson format: I teach in more of a lecture style compared to GCSE. In the majority of my A-level lessons the beginning portion of the lesson is mainly teacher-led, where students are expected to take notes onto a handout/in their books. This is then mixed in with student-led activities, as well as questions and exam prep.

You will find some of my slides have blank spaces for you to add more detail/descriptions/explanations. If you look at the ‘Notes’ section underneath each of these slides, you will find additional content which you can add in as you teach!

To begin this lesson on the methods of studying cells, students will review previous lessons by discussing the nature of water and the reasons water is important to living organisms. Students should also discuss the properties of ATP and the importance of those properties.

Students will then learn some of the basics of different microscopes. The slides then explain magnification and resolving power.

To prepare students to calculate total magnification, the students will work through a review slide on units of measurement then practise some unit conversions on their mini whiteboards!

The next few slides define total magnification and explain how to make sense of the actual size of a specimen. The previous exercise on unit conversion will be helpful here! A final example is shown before students are given a task with two magnification questions to complete in their books. They can self-access to the following slide.

Students can then complete an included worksheet on magnification calculation, answers are available on the next slide for self or partner-assessment. The attached Magnification Questions sheet also includes worked answers.

To explain cell fractionation students will watch a quick video then answer a few questions. The stages of cell fractionation are then set out in detail on the following slides, extra thoughts can be found in the notes below the slides. Students can then complete a grid activity to demonstrate each stage in their books.

The plenary task is to create quiz questions to test their peers on the methods of studying cells.

All resources are included. Thanks for looking, if you have any questions please let me know in the comments section and any feedback would be appreciated :)