Reproduction - becoming pregnant for KS3 and KS4 Biology (Science)

The lesson is designed to teach fertilisation, implantation and structures of the foetus to students in KS3 and KS4 following guidance from the National Curriculum. The first activity is designed to gauge the current knowledge and understanding of the students from KS2. Some students may be able to identify the egg is fertilised in the oviduct. Students may be able to identify the umbilical cord and placenta. If students have completed the lessons about reproducton - reproductive organs some students may be able to identify the egg is fertilised in the oviduct.
The objectives have been separated in to three tiers developing, securing and exceeding. The objective sheet can be used by the student and teacher to monitor the performance against each objective as a learning outcome.
The National Curriculum states that reproduction in humans (as an example of a mammal) must be taught to students and needs to include fertilisation, gestation and birth, also to include the effect of maternal lifestyle on the foetus through the placenta.
A worksheet has been provided and the students can be given the diagrams of the stages of fertilisation through to implantation. An activity like peer discussion can be used, where the students work in pairs to check and discuss whether the other student has ordered the diagrams in the same way. Students can complete the missing words to describe the stages. If printing is an issues the activity can be used with white boards. The students write down the numbers 1 to 6 and then order the pictures using the letters A to F. Using white boards, students can be given immediate feedback and their misconceptions can be addressed straight away.
Activities have been included to build scientific literacy by making the students complete the keywords to describe the process of fertilisation.
A low order cognitive thinking skills activity has been produced where the students use the images provided to produce a model of the foetus and the key structures in the uterus. The students can use the model to identify the different structures surrounding the embryo. The higher order thinking skills activity allows the students to make links between the feature and its function developing the foetus.
The securing activities are designed to build the foundations for knowledge required for the GCSE course. The activity about the fertilised egg dividing is a precursor to the knowledge required for normal cell division (mitosis) in GCSE Biology.
One activity answers the questions students usually have about the difference between identical and non-identical twins. A venn diagram could be used to clearly show the similarities and differences between the two processes.