NEW AQA GCSE Trilogy (2016) Biology – New systems of classification

This lesson is designed for the NEW AQA Trilogy Biology GCSE, particularly the ‘Ecology’ SoW.

For more lessons designed to meet specification points for the NEW AQA Trilogy specifications for Biology, Chemistry and Physics please see my shop: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/SWiftScience

This lesson begins with an introduction to evolutionary trees, pupils will be shown how to interpret evolutionary trees and understand the common ancestry between species of organisms. Pupils will then be shown the difference between convergent and divergent evolution.

The next part of the lesson will focus on the work of Woese et al, pupils will watch a video and try to answer questions about Woese and his work, this can be assessed using the answers which can be revealed once the video has been watched. Pupils can then watch a second video, using this video they will then try to complete profile cards for three domains as proposed by Woese – archaea, bacteria and eukaryotes. Pupils can again check their work against the answers provided in the PowerPoint slide.

Pupils will then be given some information on Woese and his work, students will need to use this information along with what they have learnt so far in the lesson to complete a newspaper article on his work and infamous discovery.

The next part of the lesson looks again at evolutionary trees, pupils are shown how to use an evolutionary tree to compare the relationships between organisms. Pupils will then need to complete an exam-style question on evolutionary trees, which can be self-assessed using the mark scheme provided.

The plenary task is for pupils to come up with questions for a set of answers.

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