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.
This lesson describes how to calculate the cardiac output as the product of stroke volume and the heart rate. The PowerPoint and accompanying resource have been designed to cover point 7.13 (i) of the Edexcel International A-level Biology specification.
The lesson begins by challenging the students to recognise that the left ventricle has the most muscular wall of all of the heart chambers. This allows the stroke volume to be introduced as the volume of blood ejected from the left ventricle each heart beat and then a quiz competition is used to introduce normative values for the stroke volume and the heart rate. Moving forwards, students will learn that the cardiac output is the product of the stroke volume and the heart rate. A series of exam-style questions will challenge the students to use this formula and to manipulate it and to work out the percentage change. The final part of the lesson looks at the adaptation of the heart to aerobic training in the form of cardiac hypertrophy and then the students are challenged to work out how this would affect the stroke volume, the cardiac output and the resting heart rate.
An engaging and informative lesson presentation (40 slides) that looks at the different steps that have to be taken when trying to identify potential donors for organ transplants. Links are made throughout the lesson to related topics such as the human defence systems and blood groups. The lesson begins by challenging the students to use their knowledge of the body’s defences to explain why closely matching tissues is critical when choosing a donor. Moving forwards, students will see how the four blood groups in the ABO system need to receive certain bloods and can only be given to certain others. There is a brief discussion of the HLA antigens and why this needs to be matched. The remainder of the lesson focuses on immuno-suppressant drugs and the advantages and disadvantages to individuals of taking these drugs. Progress checks have been written into the lesson at regular intervals to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding and any misconceptions to be addressed.
This lesson has been written for GCSE students
This lesson explains the principles of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the PowerPoint has been designed to cover point 6.1.3 (d) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification
A quick quiz competition is used to introduce the PCR abbreviation before students are encouraged to discuss the possible identity of the enzyme involved and to recall the action of this enzyme. Students will learn that this reaction involves cyclical heating and cooling to a range of temperatures so the next part of this lesson focuses on each temperature and specifically the reasons behind the choice. Time is taken to examine the key points in detail, such as why Taq polymerase has to be used as it is not denatured at the high temperature as well as the involvement of the primers. This process is closely linked to other techniques like electrophoresis which is covered in a later lesson and ties are continuously made throughout the lesson
This process is mentioned in other uploaded lessons in this module such as electrophoresis and genetic engineering to allow students to understand how it is critical for DNA analysis
This is a fully-resourced lesson which covers the detail of specification point 15.1 (b) of the CIE International A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to describe the structure of a sensory and a motor neurone. The PowerPoint has been designed to contain a wide range of activities that are interspersed between understanding and prior knowledge checks that allow the students to assess their progress on the current topics as well as challenge their ability to make links to topics from earlier in the modules. Quiz competitions like SAY WHAT YOU SEE are used to introduce key terms in a fun and memorable way.
The students will be able to compare these neurones based on their function but also distinguish between them based on their structural features. Time is taken to look at the importance of the myelin sheath that is present in both neurones. Students will be introduced to the need for the entry of ions to cause depolarisation and will learn that this is only possible at the nodes of Ranvier when there is a myelin sheath. Key terminology such as saltatory conduction is introduced and explained and the lesson concludes with the introduction of the different types of motor neurones based on the type of muscle which they innervate.
This lesson has been designed for students studying on the CIE International A-level Biology course and ties in well with the other uploaded lessons which cover the content of topic 15.1 (Control and coordination in mammals) .
This concise, fully-resourced lesson covers the content of specification point 15.1 (i) of the CIE International A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to describe the roles of the neuromuscular junction, transverse tubules and sarcoplasmic reticulum in the stimulation of the contraction of striated muscle. Due to a number of similarities between these structures and cholinergic synapses, this lesson uses prior knowledge of these connections between neurones to build a good understanding of the junctions. Students will discover that the events that occur at an axon tip mirror those which happen at the pre-synaptic bulb and this is then developed to look at the differences in terms of the events once the acetylcholine has bound to its receptor sites. There is a focus on the structure of the sarcolemma and time is taken to explain how the action potential is passed from this membrane to the transverse tubules in order to stimulate the release of calcium ions from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. As a result, this lesson ties in nicely with the following lesson on the contraction of skeletal muscle and students will be able to link the binding to troponin in that lesson to the release of these ions from this lesson.
Both of the main tasks of the lesson have been differentiated so that students of all abilities can access the work and make progress.
This lesson has been designed for those students studying on the CIE International A-level Biology course and ties in well with the other uploaded lessons on topic 15.1 (Control and coordination in mammals)
This fully-resourced lesson describes the movement of molecules by active transport, endocytosis and exocytosis. The PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets have been designed to cover the second part of specification points 2.5 (i) & (ii) of the Edexcel International A-level Biology specification and describes the role of ATP as an immediate source of energy as well as the role of the carrier proteins.
ATP is introduced at the start of the lesson and students will learn that this molecule is a phosphorylated nucleotide so they are able to make appropriate links when they cover the structure of DNA and RNA later in topic 2. Students will learn that adenosine triphosphate is the universal energy currency and that the hydrolysis of this molecule can be coupled to energy-requiring reactions within the cell and the rest of the lesson focuses on the use of this energy input for active transport, endocytosis and exocytosis. Students are challenged to answer a series of questions which compare active transport against the forms of passive transport and to use data from a bar chart to support this form of transport. In answering these questions they will discover that carrier proteins are specific to certain molecules and time is taken to look at the exact mechanism of these transmembrane proteins. A quick quiz round introduces endocytosis and the students will see how vesicles are involved along with the energy source of ATP to move large substances in or out of the cell. The lesson concludes with a link to a future topic as the students are shown how exocytosis is involved in a synapse.
This lesson describes and explains the effect of an increasing temperature on the rate of an enzyme-catalysed reaction. The PowerPoint and the accompanying resource are part of the 1st lesson in a series of 4 which cover the content detailed in point 3.2 (a) of the CIE A-level Biology specification and this lesson has been specifically planned to tie in with the lesson in 3.1 where the properties of enzymes and their mechanism of action were introduced.
The lesson begins by challenging the students to recognise optimum as a key term from its 6 synonyms that are shown on the board. Time is taken to ensure that the students understand that the optimum temperature is the temperature at which the most enzyme-product complexes are produced per second and therefore the temperature at which the rate of an enzyme-controlled reaction works at its maximum. The optimum temperatures of DNA polymerase in humans and in a thermophilic bacteria and RUBISCO in a tomato plant are used to demonstrate how different enzymes have different optimum temperatures and the roles of the latter two in the PCR and photosynthesis are briefly described to prepare students for these lessons in topics 19 and 13.
Moving forwards, the rest of the lesson focuses on enzyme activity at temperatures below the optimum and at temperatures above the optimum. Students will understand that increasing the temperature increases the kinetic energy of the enzyme and substrate molecules, and this increases the likelihood of successful collisions and the production of enzyme-substrate and enzyme-product complexes. When considering the effect of increasing the temperature above the optimum, continual references are made to the previous lesson and the control of the shape of the active site by the tertiary structure. Students will be able to describe how the hydrogen and ionic bonds in the tertiary structure are broken by the vibrations associated with higher temperatures and are challenged to complete the graph to show how the rate of reaction decreases to 0 when the enzyme has denatured.
Please note that this lesson has been designed specifically to explain the relationship between the change in temperature and the rate of reaction and not the practical skills that would be covered in a core practical lesson
This detailed lesson has been planned to cover the content of specification point 14.1 (e) of the CIE International A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to describe the gross structure of the kidney and the detailed structure of the nephron. The lesson was designed at the same time as the other lessons in this topic on ultrafiltration, selective reabsorption and osmoregulation so that a common theme runs throughout and students can build their knowledge up gradually and develop a deep understanding of this organ.
Students will come to recognise the renal cortex and renal medulla as the two regions of the kidney and learn the parts of the nephron which are found in each of these regions. Time is taken to look at the vascular supply of this organ and specifically to explain how the renal artery divides into the afferent arterioles which carry blood towards the glomerulus and the efferent arterioles which carry the blood away. The main task of the lesson challenges the students to relate structure to function. Having been introduced to the names of each of the parts of the nephron, they have to use the details of the structures found at these parts to match the function. For example, they have to make the connection between the microvilli in the PCT as a sign that this part is involved in selective reabsorption.
This lesson has been designed for students studying on the CIE International A-level Biology course
This detailed lesson has been written to cover the 1st 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 ultrafiltration is involved with the formation of urine. The aim of the design was to give the students the opportunity to discover this particular function and to be able to explain how the mechanisms found in the glomerulus and the Bowman’s capsule control the movement of small molecules out of the blood plasma. Key terminology is used throughout and students will learn how the combination of the capillary endothelium and the podocytes creates filtration slits that allow glucose, water, urea and ions through into the Bowman’s capsule but ensure that blood cells and plasma proteins remain in the bloodstream. A number of quiz competitions are used to introduce key terms and values in a fun and memorable way whilst understanding and prior knowledge checks allow the students to assess their understanding of the current topic and to challenge themselves to make links to earlier topics. The final task of the lesson challenges the students to apply their knowledge by recognising substances found in a urine sample that shouldn’t be present and to explain why this would cause a problem
This lesson has been written for students studying on the CIE International A-level Biology course and ties in closely with the other kidney lessons on the structure of the nephron, selective reabsorption and osmoregulation
This lesson describes the role of the hypothalamus and the mechanisms of thermoregulation that maintain the body in dynamic equilibrium during exercise. The PowerPoint has been designed to cover point 7.12 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification.
Students were introduced to homeostasis at GCSE and this lesson has been written to build on that knowledge and to add the key detail needed at this level. Focusing on the three main parts of a homeostatic control system, the students will learn about the role of the internal and peripheral thermoreceptors, the thermoregulatory centre in the hypothalamus and the range of effectors which bring about the responses to restore optimum levels.
The following responses are covered in this lesson:
Vasodilation
Increased sweating
Body hairs
In each case, time is taken to challenge students on their ability to make links to related topics such as the arterioles involved in the redistribution of blood and the high specific latent heat of vaporisation of water.
This fully-resourced lesson describes how mutations, the events of meiosis and random fertilisation result in genetic variation. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been primarily designed to cover points 8.1 (i) & (ii) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification but also includes activities to challenge the students on previous concepts in topics 1 and 2.
The students begin the lesson by having to identify phenotype and species from their respective definitions so that a discussion can be encouraged where they will recognise that phenotypic variation within a species is due to both genetic and environmental factors although this lesson only focuses on the genetic aspect. A range of activities, which include exam-style questions and quick quiz rounds, are used to challenge the students on their knowledge and understanding of substitution mutations, deletions, insertions, the genetic code, crossing over and independent assortment. Moving forwards, the concept of multiple alleles is introduced and students will learn how the presence of more than 2 alleles at a locus increases the number of phenotypic variants. The final section of the lesson focuses on the production of haploid gametes by meiosis and discusses how the random fertilisation of these gametes during sexual reproduction further increases variation.
This lesson has been designed to cover the content set out in specification point 5.3.1 (Human endocrine system) of topic 5 of the AQA GCSE Biology & Combined Science courses. A wide range of activities have been written into the lesson with the aim of engaging and motivating the students whilst ensuring that the content is covered in detail. These activities include a number of quiz competitions which will challenge the students to identify an endocrine organ when presented with three organs as well as introducing them to the names of some of the hormones released by the pituitary gland.
The following content is covered in this lesson:
Hormones as chemicals which have a slow but long lasting effect on target organs
The location of the pituitary, adrenal and thyroid glands in the human body
The location of the pancreas, ovaries and testes in the human body
The hormones which are secreted by the endocrine glands
The effects of the hormones on their target organs
This lesson has been written for GCSE-aged students who are studying on the AQA courses but is suitable for younger students who are looking at the different organ systems
This fully-resourced lesson looks at the detailed structure of a muscle fibre, and focuses on the proteins, bands and zones that are found in the myofibril. The engaging PowerPoint and acccompanying resource have been designed to cover point 7.10 (i) of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification.
The lesson begins with an imaginary question from the quiz show POINTLESS, where students have to recognise a range of fields of study. This will reveal myology as the study of muscles so that key terms like myofibril, myofilament and myosin can be introduced. Students should have met these terms as well as actin when learning about the sliding filament theory in topic 7.2, so this acts as a recall. Moving forwards, students will be shown the striated appearance of this muscle so they can recognise that some areas appear dark where both myofilaments are found and others as light as they only contain actin or myosin. A quiz competition is used to introduce the A band, I band and H zone and students then have to use the information given to label a diagram of the myofibril. The final task challenges the students to use their knowledge of the sliding filament theory to recognise which of these bands or zones narrow or stay the same length when muscle is contracted.
This fully-resourced lesson describes the key steps in the process of DNA replication, including the role of DNA polymerase. Both the detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 2.11 (i) of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A specification and this lesson also explains why this replication is known as semi-conservative in order to prepare the students for the following lesson on Meselson and Stahl’s experiment.
The main focus of this lesson is the role of DNA polymerase in the formation of the growing nucleotide strands but the students will also learn that the hydrogen bonds between nucleotide bases are broken by DNA helicase and that DNA ligase joins the nucleic acid fragments. Time is taken to explain key details, such as the assembly of strands in the 5’-to-3’ direction, so that the continuous manner in which the leading strand is synthesised can be compared against that of the lagging strand. The students are constantly challenged to make links to previous topics such as DNA structure and hydrolysis reactions through a range of exam questions and answers are displayed so that any misconceptions are quickly addressed. The main task of the lesson asks the students to use the information provided in the lesson to order the sequence of events in DNA replication before discussing how the presence of a conserved strand and a newly built strand in each new DNA molecule shows that it is semi-conservative.
This lesson describes the structure of an amino acid and the formation and breakage of a peptide bond. The PowerPoint has been designed to cover specification point 2.3 (a) of the CIE International A-level Biology course and provides a clear introduction to the following lesson on the formation of 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. Moving forwards, students are given discussion 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. Students will be introduced to the existence of hydrophobic and hydrophilic R groups so that they are able to apply this knowledge in future lessons where structure and shape is considered. Some time is also given to look at cysteine in greater detail due to the presence of sulfur atoms and once again a link is made to disulfide bridges for upcoming lessons. Another quiz round called LINK TO THE FUTURE will allow the students to recognise the roles performed by amino acids in the later part of the course such as translation and in the formation of dipeptides. The lesson concludes with a task that describes the breakage of the peptide bonds during hydrolysis reactions.
This lesson describes how the relationship between the different properties of water and its roles in living organisms. The engaging PowerPoint has been designed to cover specification point 2.3 (d) of the CIE International A-level Biology course.
Hydrolysis reactions have been a recurring theme throughout topic 2, so the start of this lesson challenges the students to recognise the definition when only a single word is shown: water. Students will also recall the meaning of a condensation reaction. Moving forwards, the rest of the lesson focuses on the relationship between the structure and properties of water, beginning with its role as an important solvent. The lesson has been specifically written to make links to future topics and this is exemplified by the transport of water along the xylem in plants which is covered in topic 7. The next section focuses on the high latent heat of vaporisation and heat capacity of water and these properties are put into biological context using thermoregulation and the maintenance of a stable environment for aquatic animals. The lesson finishes with an explanation of the polar nature of water, a particularly important property that needs to be well understood for a number of upcoming topics, such as cell membranes.
This lesson has been written to cover the detail of specification point 15.1 (f) of the CIE International A-level Biology specification which states that students should be able to explain the importance of myelination. A wide range of activities have been written into this resource to maintain the motivation of the students whilst ensuring that the detail is covered in depth. Interspersed with the activities are understanding checks and prior knowledge checks to allow the students to not only assess their understanding of the current topic but also challenge themselves to make links to earlier topics such as the movement of ions across membranes and biological molecules. Time at the end of the lesson is also given to future knowledge such as the involvement of autonomic motor neurones in the stimulation of involuntary muscles.
Over the course of the lesson, students consider the structure of the myelin sheath and specifically how the insulation is not complete all the way along which leaves gaps known as the nodes of Ranvier which allow the entry and exit of ions. Saltatory conduction is poorly explained by a lot of students so time is taken to look at the way that the action potential jumps between the nodes and this is explained further by reference to local currents. The rest of the lesson focuses on the other two factors which are axon diameter and temperature and students are challenged to discover these two by focusing on the vampire squid.
This lesson has been designed for students studying the CIE International A-level Biology course and the other part of this specification point which covers the refractory period was explained in the previous lesson on the transmission of the action potential
This detailed lesson looks at the structure and function of the motor neurones that form the autonomic nervous system and is responsible for automatic responses. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resource have both been designed to cover the second part of point 5.1.5 (g) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification which states that students should be able to demonstrate and apply their knowledge and understanding of the functional organisation of the motor system into somatic and autonomic systems. Students will discover that this system is further divided into sympathetic and parasympathetic systems to control different aspects of a particular involuntary response.
The lesson begins with a focus on the types of effectors that will be connected to the CNS by autonomic motor neurones. Students will learn that effectors which are not under voluntary control such as cardiac muscle, smooth muscle and glands will be innervated by these neurones. Moving forwards, a quick quiz competition is used to introduced ganglia as a structure which connects the two or more neurones involved in the cell signalling between the CNS and the effector. This leads into the discovery of the two divisions and students will begin to recognise the differences between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems based on function but also structure. The remainder of the lesson looks at the differing effects of these two systems.
This lesson has been written to tie in with the lesson on the organisation of the mammalian nervous system which covers the first part of specification point 5.1.5 (g)
This resource contains a concise, engaging PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets which together cover the content of specification point 7.3 (Thyroxine and the control of metabolic rate as an example of negative feedback) as found on the Edexcel GCSE Biology & Combined Science higher tier specifications. Over the course of the lesson, students will learn about the effects of the release of thyroxine, how this release is regulated by the pituitary gland and hypothalamus and also will understand how this control is an example of negative feedback. Due to the obvious connection to the previously learned endocrine system topic, regular opportunities are taken to check on this prior knowledge and these work well with the understanding checks which allow the students to assess their progress. A quiz competition called FROM NUMBERS 2 LETTERS is used to introduce the key abbreviations in a fun and memorable way, whilst the key details of the content is always at the forefront of the design of the lesson.
This lesson has been written for students studying the higher tier of the Edexcel GCSE Biology or Combined Science courses but it is also suitable for use with A-level students who need to recall the key details of these two hormones
