This fully-resourced lesson covers the content of the first part of specification point 6.2.2 of the AQA A-level Biology specification that states that students should be able to describe the detailed structure of a cholinergic synapse and a neuromuscular junction and be able to compare the transmission across both of these structures. The majority of the lesson uses the cholinergic synapse as the example but other neurotransmitters and drugs are considered so students are prepared to describe the differing effects on the synapse.
The lesson begins by using a version of the WALL (as shown in the cover image) which asks the students to group 12 words into three groups of 4. Not only will this challenge their prior knowledge from topics earlier in this module but it will also lead to the discovery of four of the structures that are found in a synapse. Moving forwards, students are introduced to aectylcholine as the neurotransmitter involved at cholinergic synapses and they will start to add labels to the structures found in the pre-synaptic bulb. Time is taken to focus on certain structures such as the voltage gated channels as these types of channel were met previously when looking at the depolarisation of a neurone. There is plenty of challenge and discovery as students are pushed to explain why organelles like mitochondria would be found in large numbers in the bulb. With this process being a cascade of events, a bullet point format is used to ensure that the key content is taken in by the students and again key points like exocytosis and the action of acetylcholinesterase are discussed further. The next part of the lesson challenges the application aspect of the specification as students are introduced to unfamiliar situations in terms of synapses with new drugs like MDMA and are asked to work out and explain how these affect the nervous transmission. The final part of the lesson focuses on the NMJ and challenges the students to use the knowledge gained from earlier in the lesson to develop their understanding of these junctions. Time is taken to look at the structure of the sarcolemma to enable students to understand how the binding of the acetylcholine leads to the wave of depolarisation passing to the transverse tubules.
Understanding checks and prior knowledge checks are included throughout the lesson so that students can not only assess their progress against the current topic but also see whether they can make links to earlier topics.
This lesson has been designed for students studying the AQA A-level Biology course but could be used with very able GCSE students who are keen to develop their understanding of synapses over and above the small detail that is provided at that level. This lesson also ties in nicely with the other uploaded lessons from topic 6
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AQA A-level Biology Topic 6: Organisms respond to changes in their internal and external environments
This bundle contains 20 fully-resourced and detailed lessons that have been designed to cover the content of topic 6 of the AQA A-level Biology specification which concerns the responses of organisms to stimuli. The wide range of activities included in each lesson will engage the students whilst the detailed content is covered and the understanding and prior knowledge checks allow them to assess their progress on the current topic as well as challenging them to make links to other related topics. Many of the tasks are differentiated to allow differing abilities to access the work and be challenged. The following sub-topics are covered in this bundle of lessons: * Survival and response in flowering plants * The protective effect of a simple reflex * The role of sensory receptors as outlined by the Pacinian corpuscle * The human retina as a sensory receptor * The differences in rods and cones that enable different sensitivity to light, colour and visual acuity * The roles of the SAN, AVN, Bundle of His and Purkyne fibres in the conduction system of the heart * The control of heart rate * The structure of a myelinated motor neurone * The factors that affect the speed of conduction of an impulse * The generation and transmission of nerve impulses * The transmission at a cholinergic synapse and a neuromuscular junction * Summation * The contraction of skeletal muscles * The structure and properties of slow and fast skeletal muscle fibres * The principles of homeostasis including negative feedback systems * The control of blood glucose concentration by the controlled release of insulin and glucagon * The causes and control of diabetes type I and II * The gross structure of the kidney * The detailed structure of the nephron * The production of glomerular filtrate * The reabsorption of glucose and water in the PCT * Maintaining a gradient of sodium ions in the medulla by the loop of Henle * The role of the hypothalamus, posterior pituitary and ADH in osmoregulation This is one of the 8 topics which have to be covered over the length of the 2 year course and therefore it is expected that the teaching time for this bundle will be in excess of 2 months If you want to see the quality of the lessons before purchasing then the lessons on responses in flowering plants, saltatory conduction, the contraction of skeletal muscles and ultrafiltration are free resources to download
£33.50
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Topic 6.2: Nervous coordination (AQA A-level Biology)
All 4 lessons included in this bundle are fully-resourced and have been designed to cover the content as detailed in topic 6.2 (Nervous coordination) of the AQA A-Level Biology specification. The specification points that are covered within these lessons include: * The structure of a myelinated motor neurone * The establishment of a resting potential * Depolarisation * All or nothing principle * Factors affecting the speed of conductance The lessons have been written to include a wide range of activities and numerous understanding and prior knowledge checks so students can assess their progress against the current topic as well as be challenged to make links to other topics within this module and earlier modules If you would like to sample the quality of the lessons, download the saltatory conduction lesson which is free
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