This revision resource contains a concise yet informative PowerPoint (25 slides) and a worksheet that will enable the students to assess their understanding of the topic B4 (Enzymes) content of the CIE IGCSE Combined Science specification for examination in June and November 2020 and 2021. The range of exam questions (with explained answers), quick tasks and quiz competitions have been designed to cover as much content as possible but the following topics have received particular attention: Enzymes as biological catalysts that speed up reactions The binding of a substrate with the active site of an enzyme The effect of a changing pH on the activity of an enzyme The effect of a changing temperature on the activity of an enzyme Denaturation

This engaging lesson presentation (52 slides) and associated worksheets uses exam questions with displayed mark schemes, quick tasks and quiz competitions to enable students to assess their understanding of the topics found within module B2 of the OCR Gateway A Combined Science specification. The topics which are specifically tested within the lesson include: Diffusion, Osmosis, Active transport, Exchange and transport, Circulatory system, Heart and blood, Plant transport systems, Students will enjoy the competitions such as "Where's Lenny?" and "Take the Hotseat" whilst being able to recognise those areas which need their further attention.

A fully-resourced lesson which looks at the structures of arteries, veins and capillaries and ensures that students can relate these features to their respective functions. The lesson includes an engaging lesson presentation (41 slides) and a differentiated worksheet The lesson begins by getting the students to come up with a really simple rule to remind themselves that arteries carry blood away from the heart. They are then challenged to extend this definition by considering the pressure of the blood found in arteries. Students will learn that most arteries carry oxygenated blood but will consider and recall the artery which is the exception to the rule. Students are shown a diagram of the basic structure of the artery and the reasons for the narrow lumen and thick muscular wall are explained. Moving forwards, students are challenged to use the work on arteries to sketch a diagram of a vein and to explain why they have given this vessel certain features. A quick competition is then used to check their understand of the work so far whilst introducing valves and again they are given a chance to work out which blood vessel would need these structures in their lumen. The remainder of the lesson focuses on the capillary and time is taken to relate the features to an actual example involving the alveoli of the lungs. There are regular progress checks throughout the lesson to allow the students to check on their understanding. As always, the lesson finishes with a slide containing advanced terminology so that students who have aspirations to take A-level Biology can extend and deepen their knowledge

A resourced lesson which looks at three of the main components of blood and ensures that students can relate their features to their function. The lesson includes an engaging lesson presentation (31 slides) and an associated worksheet The lesson begins by challenging the students to recognise blood from a description of some of its contents. This will enable students to identify some of the substances like hormones and urea that are carried in the plasma. Moving forwards, the rest of the lesson takes a format where the students have to act as recruitment consultants. They have been given 3 job roles to fill and once they have decided on the right candidates for the job, they need to be able to explain why these have been chosen. Students will go study the red and white blood cells and platelets, focusing on how their different specialised features enable them to effectively carry out their respective functions. Students will be able to compare the cells in terms of size, number of nuclei and ultimately explain why they have their features. There are regular progress checks throughout the lesson to allow the students to check on their understanding. This lesson has been designed for GCSE students but is perfectly suitable to be used with KS3 students who are studying the circulatory system

A resourced lesson which looks at the organisation of the human nervous system and explores how these structures are involved in nervous reactions. The lesson includes an engaging lesson presentation (27 slides) and an associated worksheet with an understanding check. The lesson begins by looking at different examples of stimuli and therefore introducing the key term, receptors, as structures which detect these changes in the environment. Moving forwards, a quiz competition is used to introduce the students to the abbreviations CNS and PNS and students will learn the structures that are found in these parts. At this stage of the lesson, a quick understanding check is written into the lesson to see whether students know the functions of each of the structures and check whether they can order them correctly from stimuli to effectors. Students will meet the term synapse and be taught that the conduction across these gaps is slow so that this knowledge can be applied in future lessons on reflexes. The remainder of the lesson challenges the students to apply their new-found knowledge in ordering an example of a nervous reaction.

This engaging lesson guides students through the homeostatic control mechanism which is involved in controlling blood glucose concentrations and focuses on the critical interconversion between glucose and glycogen which is often poorly understood. The lesson begins by introducing glucose and ensuring that students recognise that this is a simple sugar which is critical for respiration. Links are made here and throughout the lesson to relateable topics such as the endocrine system so that students can recognise how exam questions will often encompass more than one topic. Students are challenged to recall knowledge about the pancreas and its release of insulin into the blood to travel to the liver. A quick competition is then used to maintain engagement and to introduce glycogen. Due to the large number of words beginning with g that are involved in this topic, time is taken to describe the role of glycogen so that it is not mistaken for glucose or glucagon. Students will learn how the conversion from glucose to glycogen and also the other way round is critical to how the concentration is controlled. The main student tasks involve them completing a partially finished passage about responding to an increase in blood glucose concentration and then using this as a guide to write their own full versions for when concentrations are low. These are just two of a number of progress checks that are written into the lesson at regular intervals so that students can constantly assess their understanding. This lesson has been written for GCSE students (14 - 16 year olds in the UK) but could be used for A-level lessons that are recapping on this topic before extra knowledge is added at this higher level

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 an engaging and informative lesson that looks at the properties of water and challenges students to be able to explain how these properties are related to the numerous functions of this biological molecule. This lesson focuses on the link between properties and functions which is the area where students commonly struggle. A range of tasks and activities, including a quick competition are used to introduce the different properties and the key terms and then time is taken to look at how this property enables water to be used for a range of functions. Students will learn that water has both a high specific heat capacity and a high latent heat of vaporisation and be able to explain why this is important. Water is a crucial solvent which enables it to perform many roles in living organisms and these are explored. Progress checks are written into the lesson at regular intervals so that students can constantly assess their understanding and build on any knowledge that was there from GCSE.

This is a fully-resourced REVISION lesson that consists of an engaging PowerPoint (154 slides) and associated worksheets that challenge the students on their knowledge of topics B1 - B4 (Cell Biology, Organisation, Infection and response and Bioenergetics) of the AQA GCSE Combined Science Trilogy specification and can be assessed on PAPER 1. A wide range of activities have been written into the lesson to maintain motivation and these tasks include exam questions (with answers), understanding checks, differentiated tasks and quiz competitions. The lesson has been designed to include as much which of the content that can be assessed in paper, but the following sub-topics have been given particular attention: Eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells Structure of a bacterium The functions of the components of blood Specialised cells Active transport Osmosis Structure of DNA Mitosis and the cell cycle Functions of the organelles of animal and plant cells Electron microscopy Calculating size Arteries and veins The risk factors of CHD CHD treatments The structure of the heart Bacterial, fungal and viral diseases The mathematic elements of the Combined Science specification are challenged throughout the resource. Due to the size of this resource, it is likely that teachers will choose to use it over the course of a number of lessons and it is suitable for use in the lead up to the mocks or in the lead up to the actual GCSE exams.

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 3 (Movement in and out of cells) of the CIE IGCSE Biology specification for examination in June and November 2020 and 2021. This revision resource contains a detailed and engaging PowerPoint (42 slides) and associated worksheets, some of which have been differentiated to help and challenge differing abilities. 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: Active transport as the movement of particles against their concentration gradient using energy from respiration The importance of active transport as demonstrated by the absorption of mineral ions by the root hair cells The movement of water across cell membranes by osmosis The importance of osmosis and water potential in the uptake of water by plants The effects on plant cells of immersion into solutions of different concentrations The importance of turgor pressure for a plant Diffusion as the net movement of particles with the concentration gradient Recognising the factors that influence the rate of diffusion In addition, topics from other modules such as specialised plant cells are covered so that students can see the importance of being able to make connections and links between Biological topics.

This revision resource contains an engaging and informative PowerPoint (49 slides) and a differentiated worksheet that will enable the students to assess their understanding of the topic B2 (Cells) content of the CIE IGCSE Combined Science specification for examination in June and November 2020 and 2021. The following topics have been given particular attention in this lesson: The structure and function of red blood cells Diffusion as the movement of molecules from a high concentration to a low concentration The structure of root hair cells to allow absorption of minerals and water from the soil Osmosis investigations The effect on plant cells of immersion in solutions of different water potentials The function of the organelles found in animal and plant cells The structure and function of specialised cells This resource is ideal for revision purposes during or at the end of the topic and in the lead up to mocks or the actual IGCSE exams

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