A Science teacher by trade, I've also been known to be found teaching Maths and PE! However, strange as it may seem, my real love is designing resources that can be used by other teachers to maximise the experience of the students. I am constantly thinking of new ways to engage a student with a topic and try to implement that in the design of the lessons.
A Science teacher by trade, I've also been known to be found teaching Maths and PE! However, strange as it may seem, my real love is designing resources that can be used by other teachers to maximise the experience of the students. I am constantly thinking of new ways to engage a student with a topic and try to implement that in the design of the lessons.
A detailed lesson presentation (37 slides) and associated worksheets that looks at the different pieces of evidence that scientists use to support evolution and discusses how these support the theory. The lesson begins by challenging students to decide which piece of evidence is the key piece in supporting evolution (fossils). Students will then have to arrange a number of statements to describe how a fossil is formed. Students are introduced to the fossil record and questions are used to check that they understand where the oldest fossils would be found. Moving forwards, students are given three pieces of evidence that would be observed in the fossil record and they are challenged to explain how each of these supports the theory of evolution. Quick competitions are then used to get the students to see some extinct organisms in the Dodo and Woolly Mammoth and again they are questioned on how extinct animals support the theory of evolution. Further evidence in rapid changes in species and molecular comparison is discussed. There are regular progress checks throughout the lesson so that students can assess their understanding and there is a set homework included.
This bundle of 8 revision lessons covers all of the topics on the AQA A-level Biology specification:
Topic 1: Biological molecules
Topic 2: Cells
Topic 3: Organisms exchange substances with their environment
Topic 4: Genetic information, variation and relationships between organisms
Topic 5: Energy transfers in and between organisms
Topic 6: Organisms respond to changes in their internal and external environments
Topic 7: Genetics, populations, evolution and ecosystems
Topic 8: The control of gene expression
These lessons use a range of exam questions, quick tasks and quiz competitions to motivate and engage the students whilst they assess their understanding of the different topics and evaluate which areas of the specification will require their further attention. These lessons can be used for revision at the end of the topic, in the lead up to mocks or in the lead up to the actual exams.
The AQA specification states that a minimum of 10% of the marks across the 3 assessment papers will require the use of mathematical skills. This revision lesson has been designed to include a wide range of activities that challenge the students on these exact skills because success in the maths in biology questions can prove the difference between one grade and the next!
Step-by-step guides are used to walk students through the application of a number of the formulae and then exam-style questions with clear mark schemes (which are included in the PowerPoint) will allow them to assess their progress. Other activities include differentiated tasks, group discussions and quick quiz competitions such as “FROM NUMBERS 2 LETTERS” and “YOU DO THE MATH”.
The lesson has been written to cover as much of the mathematical requirements section of the specification as possible but the following have been given particular attention:
Hardy-Weinberg equation
Chi-squared test
Calculating size
Converting between quantitative units
Standard deviation
Estimating populations of sessile and motile species
Percentages and percentage change
Cardiac output
Geometry
Due to the detail and extensiveness of this lesson, it is estimated that it will take in excess of 2/3 hours of A-level teaching time to work through the activities and it can be used throughout the duration of the course
This resource has been designed to motivate students whilst they evaluate their understanding of the content in modules 1, 2, 3 and 5 of the OCR A-level Biology A specification which can be assessed in PAPER 1 (Biological processes). The resource includes a detailed and engaging Powerpoint (149 slides) and is fully-resourced with differentiated worksheets that challenge the students on a wide range of topics.
The resource has been written to include different types of activities such as exam questions with explained answers, understanding checks and quiz competitions. The aim was to cover as much of the specification content as possible but the following topics have been given particular attention:
Monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides
Glycogen and starch as stores and providers of energy
The homeostatic control of blood glucose concentration
Osmoregulation
Lipids
Ultrafiltration and selective reabsorption
Diabetes mellitus
Voluntary and involuntary muscle
The autonomic control of heart rate
The organisation of the nervous system
The gross structure of the human heart
Haemoglobin and the Bohr shift
Bonding
The ultrastructure of plant cells
Cyclic vs non-cyclic photophosphorylation
Oxidative phosphorylation
Anaerobic respiration in eukaryotes
Helpful hints and tips are given throughout the resource to help students to structure their answers. This resource can be used in the lead up to the actual Paper 1 exam or earlier in the course when a particular area of modules 1, 2, 3 or 5 is being studied.
If you are happy with this resource, why not look at the one which has been designed for Paper 2 (Biological diversity)?
This fully-resourced lesson looks at the structures that make up the gross anatomy of the heart and also covers the calculation of cardiac ouput. The engaging and detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the 4th part of point 3.4.1 of the AQA A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to describe the gross structure of the human heart and be able to use the equation stroke volume x heart rate to calculate cardiac output.
As this topic was covered at GCSE, the lesson has been planned to build on this prior knowledge whilst adding the key details which will enable students to provide A-level standard answers. The primary focus is the identification of the different structures of the heart but it also challenges their ability to recognise the important relationship to function. For example, time is taken to ensure that students can explain why the atrial walls are thinner than the ventricular walls and why the right ventricle has a thinner wall than the left ventricle. Opportunities are taken throughout the lesson to link this topic to the others found in topic 3.4.1 such as blood circulation and the cardiac cycle. Moving forwards, the students are introduced to the stroke volume and meet normative values for this and for resting heart rate. This will lead into the calculation for cardiac output and a series of questions are used to test their ability to apply this equation as well as percentage change.
A fully resourced lesson which includes an informative lesson presentation (34 slides) and differentiated worksheets that show students how to convert between units so they are confident to carry out these conversions when required in Science questions. The conversions which are regularly seen at GCSE are covered as well as some more obscure ones which students have to be aware of. A number of quiz competitions are used throughout the lesson to maintain motivation and to allow the students to check their progress in an engaging way
This lesson has been designed for GCSE students but is suitable for KS3
This lesson bundle contains 10 lesson PowerPoints and their accompanying resources which are filled with a wide variety of tasks to motivate and engage the students whilst covering the detailed content of topic 4 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification. Extensive planning has gone into each lesson to ensure that understanding is complete and that students are challenged to make links to previously covered topics.
The tasks include exam-style questions, differentiated tasks, guided discussion points and quick quiz competitions and together these cover the following specification points in topic 4:
The meaning of the terms biodiversity and endemism
Measuring biodiversity within a habitat using species richness and within a species by calculating the heterozygosity index
Comparing biodiversity between habitats by calculating an index of diversity
The concept of niche and examples of behavioural, anatomical and physiological adaptations
Natural selection can lead to adaptation and evolution
The Hardy-Weinberg equation can be used to see whether a change in allele frequency is occurring in a population over time
Reproductive isolation can lead to the formation of new species
Classification is built around the species concept
Critical evaluation of new data by the scientific community, which leads to new taxonomic groupings
The ultrastructure of plant cells
The structure and function of the polysaccharides starch and cellulose
The similarities and differences between the structures, position and function of sclerenchyma fibres, xylem vessels and phloem
Evaluate the methods used by zoos and seed banks in the conservation of endangered species and their genetic diversity
If you would like to sample the quality of the lessons in this bundle, then download the isolation and speciation, ultrastructure of plant cells and xylem, phloem and sclerenchyma lessons as these have been uploaded for free
This fully-resourced lesson has been designed to cover the content of specification point 5.2.2 (The brain) as found in topic 5 of the AQA GCSE Biology specification. This resource contains an engaging PowerPoint (33 slides) and accompanying worksheets, some of which have been differentiated so that students of different abilities can access the work.
The resource is filled with a wide range of activities, each of which has been designed to engage and motivate the students whilst ensuring that the key Biological content is covered in detail. Understanding checks are included throughout so that the students can assess their grasp of the content. In addition, previous knowledge checks make links to content from earlier topics such as cancer.
The following content is covered in this lesson:
The functions of the cerebral cortex, medulla and cerebellum
Identification of the regions of the brain on an external and internal diagram
The early use of stroke victims to identify functions
The key details of the MRI scanning technique
The difficulties of diagnosing and treating brain disorders and disease
As stated at the top, this lesson has been designed for GCSE-aged students who are studying the AQA GCSE Biology course, but it can be used with A-level students who need to go back over the key points before looking at the functionality of the regions in more detail
A fully resourced lesson which uses a combination of exam questions, quick tasks and quiz competitions to enable students to assess their understanding of the topics found within module 5.2 (Excretion as an example of homeostatic control) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification.
The following topics are tested within the lesson:
Excretion
The structure of the liver
Liver function
Kidney structure
Kidney function
Osmoregulation
Kidney failure
Students will be engaged through the various activities whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which need further attention.
A fully-resourced lesson which looks at the structure of the human heart and its associated vessels and ensures that students know the journey which blood takes through this organ. The lesson includes an engaging lesson presentation (25 slides), a diagram to label and a worksheet to summarise the journey.
The lesson begins with a bit of fun as students see the script to part of an episode from Friends. Students will recognise the alternative definition of the heart and ultimately recall that the function of this organ is to pump blood around the body. Moving forwards, the main task of the lesson involves labelling the four chambers and the blood vessels which bring blood towards and away from the heart. Students are given useful hints along the way to enable them to discover the answers rather than simply being given a finished diagram. Time is taken to look at the valves and discuss their function so that students can understand this role when they encounter them in veins. The lesson concludes with one final task that challenges the students to detail the journey of blood through the heart.
There are regular progress checks throughout the lesson to allow the students to check on their understanding. As always, the lesson finishes with a slide containing advanced terminology so that students who have aspirations to take A-level Biology can extend and deepen their knowledge
An informative lesson that looks at how energy is lost at each stage of a food chain and how this affects the biomass of consumers. This lesson has been written for GCSE students but could be used with A-level students who are revisiting this ecology topic.
The lesson begins by posing a question to the students about why herbivores tend to be raised for food rather than carnivores to see how they would tackle it at this early stage. This exact question is revisited at the end of the lesson once learning has occurred so that students can monitor their own progress. Time is taken to look back at pyramids of biomass and food chains so that students are reminded of key terminology such as trophic level and also recognise that the biomass decreases at each level. A number of quick competitions have been written into the lesson to maintain engagement but also to introduce key terms and numbers (like 10%) in a different way. The main part of the lesson looks at how the energy is lost by organisms that leads to the decrease in biomass and links are made to related topics such as respiration and homeostasis.
It’s fair to say that cell structure and biological molecules are two of the most important topics in the OCR A-level Biology A course and all 19 lessons that are included in this bundle have been planned at length to cover the module 2.1.1 & 2.1.2 specification points in the detail required at this level.
The lesson PowerPoints and their accompanying resources contain a wide range of tasks as well as regular checks to allow students to assess their understanding of the current content as well as prior knowledge checks to emphasise the importance of making links to topics in other modules.
The following specification points in modules 2.1.1 (cell structure) and 2.1.2 (biological molecules) are covered by the lessons in this bundle:
2.1.1
The use of microscopy to observe and investigate different types of cell and cell structure in a range of eukaryotic organisms
The use of the eyepiece graticule and stage micrometer
The use of staining in light microscopy
The use and manipulation of the magnification formula
The difference between magnification and resolution
The ultrastructure of eukaryotic cells and the functions of the different cellular components
The interrelationship between the organelles involved in the production and secretion of proteins
The importance of the cytoskeleton
The similarities and differences between the ultrastructure of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells
2.1.2
The properties and roles of water in living organisms
The concept of monomers and polymers and the importance of condensation and hydrolysis reactions
The chemical elements that make up biological molecules
The structure and properties of glucose and ribose
The synthesis and breakdown of a disaccharide and a polysaccharide by the formation and breakage of glycosidic bonds
The structure of starch, glycogen and cellulose molecules
The relationship between the structure, function and roles of triglycerides, phospholipids and cholesterol in living organisms
The general structure of an amino acid
The synthesis and breakdown of dipeptides and polypeptides
The levels of protein structure
The structure and function of globular proteins
The properties and functions of fibrous proteins
The key inorganic ions involved in biological processes
The chemical tests for proteins, reducing and non-reducing sugars, starch and lipids
If you would like to sample the quality of the lessons included in this bundle, then download the following lessons as they have been uploaded for free:
The use of microscopy
The importance of the cytoskeleton
Properties and roles of water
Glucose & ribose
General structure of an amino acid
Dipeptides, polypeptides and protein structure
This bundle of 4 revision lessons covers the content in topics 1 - 4 of the AQA A-level Biology specification that are taught during year 12 (AS) of the two-year course.
Each of the lessons has been designed to include a range of exam questions, differentiated tasks and quiz competitions that will motivate the students whilst they evaluate their understanding of the different sub-topics.
Helpful hints are given throughout the lesson to aid the students in structuring their answers and the mathematical elements of the course are constantly challenged as well.
The 4 topics covered by this bundle are:
Topic 1:Biological molecules
Topic 2: Cells
Topic 3: Organisms exchange substances with their environment
Topic 4: Genetic information, variation and relationships between organisms
This revision lesson has been designed to challenge the students on their use of a range of mathematical skills that could be assessed on the AQA GCSE Combined Science papers. The mathematical element of the AQA GCSE Combined Science course has increased significantly since the specification change and therefore success in those questions which involve the use of maths can prove to be the difference between one grade and another or possibly even more.
The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources contain a wide range of activities that include exam-style questions with displayed mark schemes and explanations so that students can assess their progress. Other activities include differentiated tasks, class discussion points and quick quiz competitions such as “YOU DO THE MATH” and “FILL THE VOID”.
The following mathematical skills (in a scientific context) are covered in this lesson:
The use of Avogadro’s constant
Rearranging the formula of an equation
Calculating the amount in moles using mass and relative formula mass
Calculating the relative formula mass for formulae with brackets
Using the Periodic Table to calculate the number of sub-atomic particles in atoms
Changes to electrons in ions
Balancing chemical symbol equations
Converting between units
Calculating concentration in grams per dm cubed and volumes of solutions
Calculating size using the magnification equation
Using the mean to estimate the population of a sessile species
Calculating percentages to prove the importance of biodiversity
Calculating percentage change
Calculating the acceleration from a velocity-time graph
Recalling and applying the Physics equations
Understanding prefixes that determine size
Leaving answers to significant figures and using standard form
Helpful hints and step-by-step guides are used throughout the lesson to support the students and some of the worksheets are differentiated two ways to provide extra assistance.
Due to the detail of this lesson, it is estimated that it will take in excess of 3 hours of GCSE teaching time to cover the tasks and for this reason it can be used over a number of lessons as well as during different times of the year for revision.
Each of the 10 lessons included in this bundle have been written to specifically cover the content as detailed in topic 8 of the AQA A-level Biology specification (The control of gene expression). The wide range of activities will maintain engagement whilst supporting the explanations of the biological knowledge to allow the students to build a deep understanding of this potentially difficult topic!
Lessons which cover the following specification points are included in this bundle:
Gene mutations and their effect on the structure of proteins
Most of a cell’s DNA is not translated
Totipotent, pluripotent, multipotent and unipotent stem cells
Regulation of transcription by transcription factors
The role of oestrogen in initiating transcription
Epigenetic control of gene expression in eukaryotes
Inhibition of transcription by increased DNA methylation or decreased acetylation of histones
Translation of mRNA can be inhibited by RNA interference
Determining the genome of simpler organisms to determine the proteome and its applications
The development of DNA sequencing methods
The production of DNA fragments through use of enzymes or a gene machine
The role of the PCR to amplify DNA fragments
The transfer of DNA into a host cell
VNTRs
The technique of genetic fingerprinting to analyse DNA fragments
If you would like to see the quality of the lessons, download the producing DNA fragments and DNA methylation and acetylation lessons as these have been uploaded for free
This is a fast-paced lesson which goes through the main steps of selective breeding and looks at the potential risks of this process. The lesson begins by looking at the characteristics of a number of organisms that would be selected. Time is taken to ensure that students understand that selective breeding is not a new thing and has been going on for a very long time and therefore some of the problems associated with this are now being experienced. The actual process is reduced down into 5 steps which can be recalled and applied to questions. The remainder of the lesson looks at the potential issues with selective breeding. The reduction in the nose size of pugs is explored as an example of the health problems which bred animals may face.
This lesson has been written for GCSE students.
This extensive and fully-resourced lesson describes the principles and explains the techniques used in the production of recombinant DNA in genetic engineering. Both the engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been written to cover points 6.1.3 (f) (i & ii) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification.
The lesson begins with a definition of genetic engineering and recombinant DNA to allow students to begin to understand how this process involves the transfer of DNA fragments from one species to another. Links are made to the genetic code and transcription and translation mechanisms, which were met in module 2, in order to explain how the transferred gene can be translated in the transgenic organism. Moving forwards, the method involving reverse transcriptase and DNA polymerase is introduced and their knowledge of the structure of the polynucleotides and the roles of enzymes is challenged through questions and discussion points. Restriction enzymes are then introduced and time is taken to look at the structure of a restriction site as well as the production of sticky ends due to the staggered cut on the DNA. A series of exam-style questions with displayed mark schemes are used to allow the students to assess their current understanding.
The second half of the lesson looks at the culture of transformed host cells as an in vivo method to amplify DNA fragments. Students will learn that bacterial cells are the most commonly transformed cells so the next task challenges their recall of the structures of these cells so that plasmid DNA can be examined from that point onwards. The following key steps are described and explained:
• Remove and prepare the plasmid to act as a vector
• Insert the DNA fragment into the vector
• Transfer the recombinant plasmid into the host cell
• Identify the cells which have taken up the recombinant plasmid
• Allow the transformed host cells to replicate and express the novel gene
Time is taken to explore the finer details of each step such as the addition of the promoter and terminator regions, use of the same restriction enzyme to cut the plasmid as was used to cut the gene and the different types of marker genes.
As well as understanding and prior knowledge checks, quick quiz competitions are used throughout the lesson to introduce key terms such as cDNA and EcoR1 in a memorable way.
A detailed and engaging lesson presentation (52 slides) and accompanying worksheet that looks at competition between organisms and the different types of relationships that exist as a result of this interaction. The lesson begins by looking at the meaning of the biological term, "competition", and then introduces this when it occurs between the same species and different species. Students are challenged to consider the different resources that animals compete for before an activity based competition is used to get them to recognise how this competition can cause changes to the population size.
Moving forwards, students will meet the three main types of ecological relationship and look at them in greater detail, with predation being a main focus.
There are regular progress checks throughout the lesson (with displayed answers) so that students can assess their understanding.
This lesson has been designed for GCSE students but can be used with more-able KS3 students who are looking at ecosystems and the relationships that exist within them
A series of 5 exam questions that challenge students to work out the actual size of a section as seen under a microscope or the magnification. These questions will test their ability to convert between measurements and give answers in micrometers. These questions are suitable for GCSE and A-level students
