An engaging lesson presentation (74 slides) and associated worksheets that uses a combination of exam questions, quick tasks and quiz competitions to help the students to assess their understanding of the topics found within the Biology unit B6 (Inheritance, variation and evolution) of the AQA GCSE Combined Science specification (specification unit 4.6). The topics that are tested within the lesson include: Sexual and asexual reproduction Meiosis DNA and the genome Genetic inheritance and disorders Sex determination Variation Genetic engineering Resistant bacteria Classification of living organisms Students will be engaged through the numerous activities including quiz rounds like “From Numbers 2 LETTERS” and “This shouldn’t be too TAXing” whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which need further attention

An engaging lesson presentation (61 slides) and associated worksheets that uses a combination of exam questions, quick tasks and quiz competitions to help the students to assess their understanding of the topics found within unit B2 (Organisation) of the AQA GCSE Biology specification (specification point 4.2) The topics that are tested within the lesson include: Principles of organisation The human digestive system The heart and blood vessels Blood Coronary heart disease The effect of lifestyle on some non-communicable diseases Plant organ systems Students will be engaged through the numerous activities including quiz rounds like “SPOT the SUBSTANCE" and “Where’s LENNY” whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which need further attention

An engaging lesson presentation (68 slides) and associated worksheets that uses a combination of exam questions, quick tasks and quiz competitions to help the students to assess their understanding of the topics found within unit B4 (Bioenergetics) of the AQA GCSE Biology specification (specification unit B4.4). The topics that are tested within the lesson include: Photosynthesis reaction Rate of photosynthesis Uses of glucose from photosynthesis Aerobic respiration Anaerobic respiration Response to exercise Students will be engaged through the numerous activities including quiz rounds like “Take a STEP back” and “Shine a LIGHT on the errors” whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which need further attention

This lesson describes how respiration produces ATP by substrate-level and oxidative phosphorylation. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources are part of the 1st lesson in a series of 7 lessons which have been designed to cover the detailed content of point 5.2 (RESPIRATION) of the AQA A-level Biology specification. As the first lesson in this sub-topic, it has been specifically planned to act as an introduction to this cellular reaction and provides important details about glycolysis, the Krebs cycle and oxidative phosphorylation that will support the students to make significant progress when these stages are covered during individual lessons. Students met phosphorylation in topic 5.1 when considering the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis and their knowledge of the production of ATP in this plant cell reaction is called on a lot in this lesson to show the similarities. The students are also tested on their recall of the structure and function of ATP, as covered in topic 1.6, through a spot the errors task. By the end of the lesson, the students will be able to name and describe the different types of phosphorylation and will know that ATP is produced by substrate-level phosphorylation in glycolysis and the Krebs cycle and by oxidative phosphorylation in the final stage of aerobic respiration with the same name.

This lesson describes and explains how production is affected by a range of farming practices designed to increase the efficiency of energy transfer. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources are part of the third lesson in a series of 3 which have been designed to cover the detail included in specification point 5.3 of the AQA A-level Biology specification. Over the course of the lesson, a range of tasks which include exam-style questions with displayed mark schemes, guided discussion periods and quick quiz competitions will introduce and consider the following farming practices: raising herbivores to reduce the number of trophic levels in a food chain intensely rearing animals to reduce respiratory losses in human food chains the use of fungicides, insecticides and herbicides the addition of artificial fertilisers The ethical issues raised by these practices are also considered and alternative methods discussed such as the addition of natural predators and the use of organic fertilisers like manure As this is the last lesson in topic 5.3, it has been specifically planned to challenge the students on their knowledge of the previous two lessons and this includes a series of questions linking farming practice to the formula to calculate net production

This lesson describes the relationship between gross and net primary productivity and plant respiration and explains how to calculate NPP. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover points 5.10 (i) and (ii) of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification. Due to the fact that the productivity of plants is dependent on photosynthesis, a series of exam-style questions have been written into the lesson which challenge the students to explain how the structure of the leaf as well as the light-dependent and light-independent reactions are linked to GPP. All of the exam questions have displayed mark schemes which are included in the PowerPoint to allow students to immediately assess their understanding. A number of quick quiz competitions as well as guided discussion points are used to introduce the formulae to calculate NPP and N and to recognise the meaning of the components. Once again, this is immediately followed by the opportunity to apply their understanding to selected questions. As well as linking to photosynthesis from earlier in topic 5, this lesson has been specifically planned to challenge students on their understanding of ecosystem terminology from the start of the topic as well as preparing them for the next lesson on the efficiency of biomass and energy transfer

This lesson describes the processes that take place during interphase, mitosis and cytokinesis and outlines how checkpoints regulate the cell cycle. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover points 2.1.6 (a & b) of the OCR A-level Biology specification and prepares the students for the upcoming lessons on the main stages of mitosis and its significance in life cycles The students were introduced to the cell cycle at GCSE so this lesson has been planned to build on that knowledge and to emphasise that the M phase which includes mitosis (nuclear division) only occupies a small part of the cycle. The students will learn that interphase is the main stage and that this is split into three phases, G1, S and G2. A range of tasks which include exam-style questions, guided discussion points and quick quiz competitions are used to introduce key terms and values and to describe the main processes that occur in a very specific order. There is also a focus on the checkpoints, such as the restriction point that occurs before the S phase to ensure that the cell is ready for DNA replication. Extra time is taken to ensure that key terminology is included and understood, such as sister chromatid and centromere, and this focus helps to show how it is possible for genetically identical daughter cells to be formed at the end of the cycle. Important details of mitosis are introduced so students are ready for the next lesson, before the differences in cytokinesis in animal and plant cells are described.

This lesson describes how to use the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient to consider the relationship between two sets of data. The PowerPoint and accompanying exam-style question are part of the final lesson in a series of 3 which have been designed to cover point 4.2.2 (f) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification. The previous two lessons described the different types of variation and explained how to calculate the standard deviation and how to use the Student’s t-test to compare two means. As with the previous lesson, a step by step guide is used to walk the students through the use of the formula to generate the rank coefficient and to determine whether there is a positive correlation, no correlation or a negative correlation. The students are also reminded of the null hypothesis and will be shown how to accept or reject this hypothesis and to determine significance. The students will work through an example with the class and then are given the opportunity to apply their newly-acquired knowledge to an exam-style question. The mark scheme is displayed on the PowerPoint so they can assess their understanding

This lesson describes how biodiversity is generated through natural selection and leads to behavioural, anatomical and physiological adaptations. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover specification points (m) & (n) in AS unit 2, topic 1 of the WJEC A-level Biology specification President Trump’s error ridden speech about antibiotics is used at the beginning of the lesson to remind students that this is a treatment for bacterial infections and not viruses as he stated. Moving forwards, 2 quick quiz competitions are used to introduce MRSA and then to get the students to recognise that they can use this abbreviation to remind them to use mutation, reproduce, selection (and survive) and allele in their descriptions of evolution through natural selection. The main task of the lesson challenges the students to form a description that explains how this strain of bacteria developed resistance to methicillin to enable them to see the principles of natural selection. This can then be used when describing how the anatomy of the modern-day giraffe has evolved over time. The concept of convergent evolution is introduced and links are made to the need for modern classification techniques as covered earlier in topic 1. Moving forwards, students will understand how natural selection leads to adaptations and a quick quiz competition introduces the different types of adaptation and a series of tasks are used to ensure that the students can distinguish between anatomical, behavioural and physiological adaptations. The Marram grass is used to test their understanding further, before a step by step guide describes how the lignified cells prevent a loss of turgidity. Moving forwards, the students are challenged to explain how the other adaptations of this grass help it to survive in its environment. A series of exam-style questions on the Mangrove family will challenge them to make links to other topics such as osmosis and the mark schemes are displayed to allow them to assess their understanding. The final part of the lesson focuses on the adaptations of the anteater but this time links back to the topic of taxonomy and students have to answer questions about species and classification hierarchy. Due to the extensiveness of this lesson and the detail contained within the resources, it is estimated that it will take in excess of 2 hours of allocated A-level teaching time to deliver this lesson.

This lesson describes the gross structure of the human gas exchange system, including the trachea, bronchi, bronchioles and lungs. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources are part of the third lesson in a series of 6 which have been designed to cover the detail of topic 3.2 in the AQA A-level Biology specification which is titled gas exchange and this lesson has been specifically planned to prepare students for the next lesson where the essential features of the alveoli are described. The lesson is filled with a range of activities such as guided discussion periods, exam-style questions (with markschemes) and quiz competitions and these run alongside the slides containing the detailed A-level Biology content to cover the following features: The incomplete rings of cartilage, ciliated pseudostratified columnar epithelium and goblet cells in the trachea The narrowing airways of the primary, secondary and tertiary bronchi The elastic fibres and smooth muscle in the terminal and respiratory bronchioles The pleural cavity and fluid of the lungs When describing the production of mucus by the goblet cells in the trachea, time is taken to consider cystic fibrosis and the inheritance of this autosomal recessive disorder. Students will be supported in working out genotypes from a pedigree tree to prepare them for the topic of inheritance (7.1)

This lesson explains the meaning of biodiversity and describes how it can be assessed in a habitat, in a species level at a genetic level and at a molecular level. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover points (h-l) in AS unit 2, topic 1 of the WJEC A-level Biology specification but as a lot of genetic content is covered when considering diversity within a species, this lesson can be used as an introduction to the upcoming topics of inheritance A quiz competition called BIOLOGICAL TERMINOLOGY SNAP runs over the course of the lesson and this will engage the students whilst challenging them to recognise key terms from their definitions. This quiz introduces biodiversity, loci, allele and recessive and each of these terms is put into context once introduced. Once biodiversity has been revealed, the students will learn that they are expected to be able to assess the biodiversity within a habitat and within a species and at a molecular level. The variety of alleles in the gene pool of a population increases the genetic diversity so a number of examples are used to demonstrate how the number of phenotypes increases with the number of alleles at a locus. The CFTR gene is used to demonstrate how 2 alleles results in 2 different phenotypes and therefore genetic diversity. Moving forwards, students will discover that more than 2 alleles can be found at a locus and they are challenged to work out genotypes and phenotypes for a loci with 3 alleles (shell colour in snails) and 4 alleles (coat colour in rabbits). Moving forwards, a step by step guide to complete a worked example to calculate a value of D using Simpson’s index of diversity. Students are challenged with a range of exam-style questions where they have to apply their knowledge and all mark schemes are displayed and clearly explained within the PowerPoint to allow students to assess their understanding and address any misconceptions if they arise. The final part of the lesson considers how DNA fingerprinting can be used to assess biodiversity at a molecular level and again a series of exam-style questions are used to challenge the students to apply their newly-acquired knowledge to an unfamiliar situation.

This lesson introduces the three-domain system and describes some of the biochemical methods used in classification to overcome the problems of morphological convergence. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover points [c] and [e] in AS unit 2, topic 1 of the WJEC A-level Biology specification The lesson begins with an introduction of Carl Woese and goes on to describe how he is most famous for his definition of the Archaea as a new domain of life. Students were introduced to domains and the other classification taxa in a previous lesson, so their recall of this knowledge is continually tested and built upon as details are added. Students will discover the key differences between Archaea and Bacteria that led to the splitting of the prokaryotae kingdom and the addition of this higher classification rank. Moving forwards, the rest of the lesson considers other molecules that can be compared between species for classification purposes and the primary structure of cytochrome is described and discussed. At this point in the lesson, the students are also tested on their knowledge of the nature of the genetic code and have to explain how mutations to DNA can also be used for comparative purposes. The use of DNA genetic fingerprinting is briefly introduced and this is described in greater detail in a future lesson about assessing biodiversity at a molecular level