This fully-resourced lesson looks at the type of circulatory system found in a mammal (double, closed) and considers how the pulmonary circulation differs from the systemic circulation. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 3.1.2 (b) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification The lesson begins with a focus on the meaning of a double circulatory system and checks that students are clear in the understanding that the blood passes through the heart twice per cycle of the body. Beginning with the pulmonary circulation, students will recall that the pulmonary artery carries the blood from the right ventricle to the lungs. An opportunity is taken at this point to check on their knowledge of inhalation and the respiratory system as well as the gas exchange between the alveoli and the capillary bed. A quick quiz is used to introduce arterioles and students will learn that these blood vessels play a crucial role in the changes in blood pressure that prevent the capillaries from damage. When looking at the systemic circulation, time is taken to look at the coronary arteries and renal artery as students have to be aware of these vessels in addition to the ones associated with the heart. In the final part of the lesson, students are challenged to explain how the structure of the heart generates a higher pressure in the systemic circulation and then to explain why the differing pressures are necessary. This lesson has been written to tie in with the other uploaded lessons from topic 3.1.2 (transport in animals)

An engaging lesson presentation (33 slides) that looks at the key details of asexual reproduction, examines the process in bacteria and plants and also considers the advantages and disadvantages. The lesson begins by challenging the students to discuss whether reproduction always requires two (parents). Students will see how only one parent is involved in this type of reproduction and will focus on how it takes place in bacteria. Moving forwards, students will be introduced to the methods of runners, bulbs and tubers in plants. By making connections to natural selection, students will be challenged to think about the benefits of asexual reproduction. There are regular progress checks throughout the lesson so that students can assess their understanding. This lesson is suitable for both KS3 and GCSE students

This lesson describes how disaccharides like maltose, sucrose and lactose are formed from the condensation of two monosaccharides and can also be broken down by hydrolysis reactions. The PowerPoint and accompanying question sheet have been designed to cover specification point 2.1.2 (e) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification but also makes repeated links to the previous lesson on monosaccharides when considering the different components of these three disaccharides. The first section of the lesson focuses on a prefix and a suffix so that the students can recognise that the names of the common disaccharides end in -ose. In line with this, a quick quiz round is used to introduce maltose, sucrose and lactose before students are challenged on their prior knowledge as they have to describe how condensation reactions and the formation of glycosidic bonds were involved in the synthesis of each one. The main task of the lesson again challenges the students to recall details of a previous lesson as they have to identify the monomers of each disaccharide when presented with the displayed formula. Time is taken to show how their knowledge of these simple sugars will be important in later topics such as extracellular enzymes, translocation in the phloem and the Lac Operon in cellular control. The lesson finishes with two exam-style questions where students have to demonstrate and apply their newly acquired knowledge when presented with unfamiliar disaccharides

This concise lesson has been written to cover the detail of specification point 14.1 (d) of the CIE International A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to describe the deamination of amino acids and outline the formation of urea in the urea cycle. Over the course of the lesson, students will discover that the amino group is removed during deamination to produce a keto acid and ammonia. They are encouraged to consider why the ammonia cannot accumulate in the body before looking at the different stages of the urea cycle. Instead of simply giving them the diagram of the urea cycle, students are given the opportunity to study the cycle when it is split into one of the three stages but are not allowed to draw. This task will challenge the students on their observational skills and then their ability to apply when they are given a question on the cycle. Included throughout the lesson are a selection of understanding checks and prior knowledge checks which allows the students to assess their progress against the current topic as well as challenging them to make links to previously covered topics. This lesson has been designed for students on the CIE International A-level Biology course and ties in well with the other uploaded lessons on topic 14.1 (Homeostasis in mammals)

This fully-resourced lesson describes the process of skeletal muscle contraction in terms of the sliding filament theory. The engaging and detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 7.2 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification and includes the role of actin, myosin, troponin, tropomyosin, calcium ions and ATP. The lesson begins with a study of the structure of the thick and thin filaments. Students will recognise that the protruding heads of the myosin molecule are mobile and this enables this protein to bind to the binding sites when they are exposed on actin. This leads into the introduction of troponin and tropomyosin and key details about the binding of calcium to this complex is explained. Moving forwards, students are encouraged to discuss possible reasons that can explain how the sarcomere narrows during contraction when the filaments remain the same length. This main part of the lesson goes through the main steps of the sliding filament model of muscle contraction and the critical roles of the calcium ions and ATP are discussed. The final task of the lesson challenges the students to apply their knowledge by describing the immediate effect on muscle contraction when one of the elements doesn’t function correctly. This lesson has been written to tie in with another uploaded lesson on the structure of a muscle fibre which is covered in specification point 7.10

This lesson describes how the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is used to amplify DNA. The concise PowerPoint has been primarily designed to cover the detail of specification point 6.4 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A specification but also makes continual links to the previous lesson on DNA profiling where the PCR is important as well as DNA structure. A quick quiz competition is used to introduce the PCR abbreviation before students are encouraged to discuss with the aim of identifying the enzyme involved and to recall the action of this enzyme as covered in DNA replication in topic 2. Students will learn that this reaction involves cyclical heating and cooling to a range of temperatures so another quiz is used to introduce these values. The main part of the lesson describes the main steps in the PCR and the reasons for each temperature is discussed and explained. Links are constantly made to related topics such as DNA structure are students are challenged on their understanding through exam-style questions. Time is taken to examine the key points in detail, such as the fact that the DNA polymerase used is taken from an extremophile so that it is not denatured at the high temperature.

This lesson describes the mechanism of ventilation in mammals, including the roles of the ribcage, intercostal muscles and the diaphragm. The content of the engaging PowerPoint has been designed to cover specification point 3.1.3 (d) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification and describes the mechanism of inhalation and exhalation at rest. The lesson begins with a focus on the diaphragm and students will discover that this sheet of muscle is found on the floor of the thoracic cavity. Whilst planning the lesson, it was deemed important to introduce this region of the body at an early stage because the best descriptions will regularly reference the changes seen in this cavity. As the mechanism of inhalation is a cascade of events, the details of this process are covered in a step by step format using bullet points. At each step, time is taken to discuss the key details which includes an introduction to Boyle’s law that reveals the inverse relationship between volume and pressure. It is crucial that students are able to describe how the actions of the diaphragm, external intercostal muscles and ribcage result in an increased volume of the thoracic cavity and a subsequent decrease in the pressure, which is below the pressure outside of the body. At this point, their recall of the structures of the mammalian gas exchange system is tested, to ensure that they can describe the pathway the air takes on moving into the lungs. The remainder of the lesson involves a task which challenges the students to describe exhalation and then the accessory muscles involved in forced ventilation are also considered.

This engaging lesson describes the basic structure of an amino acid and introduces them as the monomers of polypeptides. The PowerPoint has been designed to cover point 2.6 (i) of the Edexcel International A-level Biology specification and has been specifically written to lead into the next lesson on dipeptides and polypeptides. The lesson begins with a prior knowledge check, where the students have to use the 1st letters of 4 answers to uncover a key term. This 4-letter key term is gene and the lesson begins with this word because it is important for students to understand that these sequences of bases on DNA determine the specific sequence of amino acids in a polypeptide as covered later in the topic. Moving forwards, the students are given time to work out that there are 64 different DNA triplets and will learn that these encode for the 20 amino acids that are common to all organisms. The main task of the lesson is an observational one, where students are given time to study the displayed formula of 4 amino acids. They are not allowed to draw anything during this time but will be challenged with 3 multiple choice questions at the end. This task has been designed to allow the students to visualise how the 20 amino acids share common features in an amine and an acid group. A quick quiz round introduces the R group and time is taken to explain how the structure of this side chain is the only structural difference, before cysteine is considered in greater detail due to the presence of sulfur atoms. Students are briefly introduced to disulfide bridges so they will recognise how particular bonds form between the R groups in the tertiary structure which is covered in the next lesson. The lesson concludes with one more quiz round called LINK TO THE FUTURE where the students will see the roles played by amino acids in the later part of the course such as translation and dipeptides.

This revision resource includes exam questions, understanding checks and quiz competitions, all of which have been designed with the aim of motivating and engaging the students whilst they assess their understanding of the content found in topic 5 (Enzymes) of the CIE IGCSE Biology specification for examination in June and November 2020 and 2021. This revision resource contains an engaging PowerPoint (25 slides) and associated worksheet. The range of activities have been designed to cover as much of the Core and supplement content as possible but the following sub-topics have been given particular attention: Define enzymes as proteins that function as biological catalysts Explain enzyme action with reference to active site, substrate and enzyme-substrate complex Explain the specificity of enzymes Explain the effect of changes of temperature on enzyme activity Explain the effect of changes of pH on enzyme activity Describe what happens to an enzyme when it is denatured

This clear and concise lesson looks at the calculation of cardiac output as the product of stroke volume and heart rate. This engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resource have both been designed to cover point 7.9 (i) of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification which states that students should be able to calculate cardiac output. The lesson begins by challenging the students to recall that the left ventricle is the heart chamber with the thickest myocardial wall. This leads into the introduction of stroke volume as the volume of blood which is pumped out of the left ventricle each heart beat. A quick quiz game is used to introduce a normative value for the stroke volume and students are encouraged to discuss whether males or females would have higher values and to explain why. A second edition of this quiz reveals a normative value for resting heart rate and this results into the introduction of the equation to calculate cardiac output. A series of questions are used to challenge their ability to apply this equation and percentage change is involved as well. The final part of the lesson looks at the hypertrophy of cardiac muscle and students will look at how this increase in the size of cardiac muscle affects the three factors and will be challenged to explain why with reference to the cardiac cycle that was covered in an earlier topic.

This fully-resourced lesson looks at the details of glycolysis as the first stage of respiration and explains how the sequence of reactions results in glucose being converted to pyruvate. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying differentiated resources have been designed to cover point 12.2 (b) of the CIE International A-level Biology specification which states that students should know glycolysis as the phosphorylation of glucose and the subsequent splitting into triose phosphate which is then oxidised to pyruvate. The lesson begins with the introduction of the name of the stage and then explains how the phosphorylation of the hexoses and the production of the ATP, coenzymes and pyruvate are the stages that need to be known for this specification. Time is taken to go through each of these stages and key points such as the use of ATP in phosphorylation are explained so that students can understand how this affects the net yield. A quick quiz competition is used to introduce NAD and the students will learn that the reduction of this coenzyme, which is followed by the transport of the protons and electrons to the cristae for the electron transport chain is critical for the overall production of ATP. Understanding checks, in a range of forms, are included throughout the lesson so that students can assess their progress and any misconceptions are immediately addressed.

This concise and engaging lesson has been designed to cover specification point 15.1 (j) of the CIE International A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to describe the ultrastructure of striated muscle with particular reference to sarcomere structure. The wide range of key terms and regions are introduced in a fun and memorable way using a variety of activities that include quiz competitions and then understanding checks are used throughout to assess their progress and ensure that any misconceptions are addressed. Connections are made to the upcoming topic of the sliding filament model as the students discover that despite the shortening of the sarcomere (and I band and H zone) during contraction, the fact that the A band remains the same length shows how the filaments slide over each other. The two main tasks of the lesson challenge the students to label a diagram of a sarcomere and then the microscope image as shown in the cover picture. This lesson has been designed to tie in well with the other uploaded lessons that cover the content of topic 15.1 of the CIE International A-level Biology course which is the control and coordination in mammals

This lesson has been written to cover the 2nd part of specification point 14.1 (f) of the CIE International A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to describe how the process of selective reabsorption is involved in the formation of urine. It has specifically been designed to build on the knowledge gained in the previous lessons on the structure of the nephron and ultrafiltration. The lesson begins by challenging the students to recall the substances that are found in the glomerular filtrate so that each of them can be considered over the course of the rest of the lesson. Moving forwards, the first of the numerous discussion points which are included in the lesson is used to get students to predict the component of the filtrate which won’t be found in the urine when they are presented with pie charts from each of these situations. Upon learning that glucose is 100% reabsorbed, along with most of the ions and some of the water, the rest of the lesson focuses on describing the relationship between the structure of the PCT and the function of selective reabsorption. Again, this section begins by encouraging the students to discuss and to predict which structures they would expect to find in a section of the kidney if the function is to reabsorb. They are given the chance to see the structure (as shown in the cover image) before each feature is broken down to explain its importance. Time is taken to look at the role of the cotransporter proteins to explain how this allows glucose, along with sodium ions, to be reabsorbed from the lumen of the PCT into the epithelial cells. The final part of the lesson focuses on urea and how the concentration of this substance increases along the tubule as a result of the reabsorption of some of the water. This lesson has been designed for students studying on the CIE International A level Biology course and ties in closely with the other lessons on the kidney

This fully-resourced REVISION lesson has been written to challenge the students on their knowledge of the content of topic 1 (Cell structure) of the CIE International A-level Biology specification. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources will motivate the students whilst they assess their understanding of the content and identify any areas which may require further attention. The wide range of activities have been written to cover as much of the topic as possible but the following specification points have been given particular focus: ATP is produced in mitochondria and chloroplasts and the role of ATP in cells Recognising eukaryotic cell structures and outlining their functions Calculating actual sizes from electron micrographs The structural features of a typical prokaryotic cell The key features of viruses as non-cellular structures Distinguish between resolution and magnification Quiz rounds such as “GUESS WHO of CELL STRUCTURES” and “YOU DO THE MATH” are used to test the students on the finer details of their knowledge of the structure and functions of the organelles and some key numerical facts

This lesson describes the classification of species into the taxonomic hierarchy and cover point 18.2 (a) of the CIE A-level Biology specification. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to show students how the domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species are used in modern-day classification. The lesson begins by with a knowledge recall as students have to use the provided information about a mule to explain why a horse and donkey are considered to be members of different species. Moving forwards, students will learn that species is the lowest taxon in the modern-day classification hierarchy. The first of a number of rounds of a competition is used to engage the students whilst they learn the names of the 7 other taxa and the horse and the donkey from the earlier example are used to complete the hierarchy. Students are told that a binomial naming system is used in Biology to provide a universal name for each species and the final task of the lesson challenges them to apply their knowledge by completing a hierarchy for a modern-day human, by spotting the correct name for an unfamiliar organism

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.

This lesson describes how enzymes can be immobilised in calcium alginate and compares their activity against enzymes that are free in solution. The PowerPoint and the accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 3.2 (d) of the CIE A-level Biology specification. The lesson has been planned to challenge the students on their ability to apply knowledge to a potentially unfamiliar situation. A series of exam-style questions which include “suggest” and “describe and explain” questions are used throughout the lesson and these will allow the students to recognise the advantages and disadvantages of a particular method. Although the alginate method is the only one referenced in this specification point, the adsorption and covalent bonding methods are introduced and then briefly analysed to allow students to understand that a matrix doesn’t involve these bonds which could disrupt the active site. The remainder of the lesson introduces some actual examples of the use of immobilised enzymes with the aim of increasing the relevance. Please note that this lesson has been written to explain the effect of immobilisation on enzyme activity. The practical element of carrying out the investigation is described in a separate lesson.

This lesson describes how an increased carbon dioxide concentration affects the dissociation of oxyhaemoglobin, the Bohr effect. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the second part of point 4.5 (i) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification and continually ties in with the previous lesson on the role of haemoglobin and dissociation curves. The lesson begins with a terminology check to ensure that the students can use the terms affinity, oxyhaemoglobin and dissociation. In line with this, they are challenged to draw the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve and are reminded that this shows how oxygen associates with haemoglobin but how it dissociates at low partial pressures. Moving forwards, a quick quiz is used to introduce Christian Bohr and the students are given some initial details of his described effect. This leads into a series of discussions where the outcome is the understanding that an increased concentration of carbon dioxide decreases the affinity of haemoglobin for oxygen. The students will learn that this reduction in affinity is a result of a decrease in the pH of the cell cytoplasm which alters the tertiary structure of the haemoglobin. Opportunities are taken at this point to challenge students on their prior knowledge of protein structures as well as the bonds in the tertiary structure. The lesson finishes with a series of questions where the understanding and application skills are tested as students have to explain the benefit of the Bohr effect for an exercising individual.

This lesson describes the similarities and differences between the structure and function of haemoglobin and myoglobin. The PowerPoint and accompanying resource have been designed to cover point 4.5 (iii) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification Students have already covered the structure and function of haemoglobin in topics 1.3 and 4.5, so this concise lesson has been planned to challenge that knowledge. Students are introduced to myoglobin and will learn that this is an oxygen-binding protein found in the skeletal muscle tissue. Therefore the first part of the lesson focuses on slow twitch muscle fibres, where the content of myoglobin is high, and this presents an opportunity for links to be made to respiration, mitochondria and capillaries. The main part of the lesson challenges the students to compare the two proteins on structure and function including the number of polypeptide chains and affinity for oxygen and students can assess their understanding through use of the displayed mark schemes to the series of exam-style questions.

This lesson explains the importance of memory cells in the development of immunity and describes how the structure of antibodies is related to function. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover specification points 11.1 (e) and 11.2 (a) as detailed in the CIE A-level Biology specification. As memory B cells differentiate into plasma cells that produce antibodies when a specific antigen is re-encountered, it was decided to link these two topic points in one lesson. The lesson begins by checking on the students incoming knowledge to ensure that they recognise that B cells differentiate into plasma cells and memory cells. This was introduced in a previous lesson on the specific immune response and students must be confident in their understanding if the development of immunity is to be understood. A couple of quick quiz competitions are then used to introduce key terms so that the structure of antibodies in terms of polypeptide chains, variable and constant regions and hinge regions are met. Time is taken to focus on the variable region and to explain how the specificity of this for a particular antigen allows neutralisation and agglutination to take place. The remainder of the lesson focuses on the differences between the primary and secondary immune responses and a series of exam-style questions will enable students to understand that the quicker production of a greater concentration of these antibodies in the secondary response is due to the retention of memory cells.