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 bundle contains 7 lessons which are highly detailed and cover the following points in the surface area to volume ratio, gas exchange and digestion and absorption topics of the AQA A-level Biology specification:
The relationship between the size of an organism or structure and its surface area to volume ratio
The development of systems in larger organisms as adaptations that facilitate exchange as this ratio reduces
Adaptations of gas exchange surfaces in single-celled organisms, insects, bony fish and in the leaf of a dicotyledonous plant
The gross structure of the human gas exchange system
The essential features of the alveolar epithelium over which gas exchange takes place
Ventilation and the exchange of gases in the lungs
Digestion in mammals of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids
Mechanisms for the absorption of the products of digestion by cells lining the ileum
If you would like to sample the quality of lessons in this bundle, then download the alveolar epithelium and absorption in the ileum lessons as these have been uploaded for free
This lesson describes the characteristic features of the Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protoctista and Prokaryotae kingdoms. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point (d) in AS unit 2, topic 1 of the WJEC A-level Biology specification
This lesson begins with a knowledge recall as students have to recognise that prior to 1990, kingdom was the highest taxa in the classification hierarchy. Moving forwards, they will recall the names of the five kingdoms and immediately be challenged to split them so that the prokaryotae kingdom is left on its own. An opportunity is taken at this point to check on their prior knowledge of the structure of a bacterial cell as covered in unit 1, topic 2. These prior knowledge checks are found throughout the lesson (along with current understanding checks) as students are also tested on their knowledge of the structure and function of cellulose. This is found in the section of the lesson where the main constituent of the wall can be used to distinguish between plantae, fungi and prokaryotae. Quick quiz competitions, such as YOU DO THE MATH and SAY WHAT YOU SEE are used to introduce key values and words in a fun and memorable way. The final part of the lesson looks at the protoctista kingdom and students will come to understand how these organisms tend to share a lot of animal or plant-like features.
Both of the accompanying resources have been differentiated to allow students of differing abilities to access the work and this lesson has been written to tie in with the previously uploaded lesson on classification and the binomial naming system
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 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 bundle contains 9 lessons which have been designed to cover the Edexcel International A-level Biology specification points which focus on the structure and function of the biological molecules, including water, carbohydrates, lipids and proteins. The lesson PowerPoints are highly detailed, and along with their accompanying worksheets, they have been planned at length to contain a wide range of engaging tasks which cover the following A-level Biology content that’s found in topics 1, 2 and 4 of the course:
1.1: Understand the importance of water as a solvent in transport, including its dipole nature
1.2 (i): Know the difference between monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides, including glycogen and starch (amylose and amylopectin)
1.2 (ii): Be able to relate the structures of monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides to their roles in providing and storing energy
1.4: Know how monosaccharides join to form disaccharides (sucrose, lactose and maltose) and polysaccharides (glycogen and amylose) through condensation reactions forming glycosidic bonds, and how these can be split through hydrolysis reactions
1.5 (i): Know how a triglyceride is synthesised by the formation of ester bonds
during condensation reactions between glycerol and three fatty acids.
1.5 (ii): Know the differences between saturated and unsaturated lipids
2.6 (i): Know the basic structure of an amino acid
2.6 (ii): Understand the formation of polypeptides and proteins (amino acid
monomers linked by peptide bonds in condensation reactions)
2.6 (iii): Understand the significance of a protein’s primary structure in determining its three-dimensional structure and properties (globular and fibrous proteins and the types of bonds involved in its three-dimensional structure)
4.3: Understand the structure and function of the polysaccharides starch and
cellulose, including the role of hydrogen bonds between β-glucose molecules in
the formation of cellulose microfibrils
This lesson bundle contains 16 lessons which have been designed to cover the Edexcel International A-level Biology specification points which focus on the structure of DNA and RNA, their roles in replication and protein synthesis, and genetics and inheritance. The lesson PowerPoints are highly detailed, and along with their accompanying worksheets, they have been planned at length to contain a wide range of engaging tasks which cover the following A-level Biology content found in topics 2, 3 and 6 of the course:
2.9 (i): Know the basic structure of mononucleotides (deoxyribose or ribose linked to a phosphate and a base, including thymine, uracil, adenine, cytosine or guanine) and the structures of DNA and RNA (polynucleotides composed of mononucleotides linked by condensation reactions to form phosphodiester bonds)
2.9 (ii): Know how complementary base pairing and the hydrogen bonding between two complementary strands are involved in the formation of the DNA double helix
2.10 (i): Understand the process of DNA replication, including the role of DNA polymerase
2.11: Understand the nature of the genetic code
2.12: Know that a gene is a sequence of bases on a DNA molecule that codes for a sequence of amino acids in a polypeptide chain
2.13 (i): understand the process of protein synthesis (transcription and translation), including the role of RNA polymerase, translation, messenger RNA, transfer RNA, ribosomes and the role of start and stop codons
2.13 (ii): Understand the roles of the DNA template (antisense) strand in transcription, codons on messenger RNA and anticodons on transfer RNA
2.14 (i): Understand how errors in DNA replication can give rise to mutations (substitution, insertion and deletion of bases)
2.14 (ii): Know that some mutations will give rise to cancer or genetic disorders, but that many mutations will have no observable effect
2.15 (i): Know the meaning of the terms: gene, allele, genotype, phenotype, recessive, dominant, codominance, homozygote and heterozygote
2.15 (ii): Understand patterns of inheritance, including the interpretation of genetic pedigree diagrams, in the context of monohybrid inheritance
2.15 (iii): Understand sex linkage on the X chromosome, including red-green colour blindness in humans
2.16: Understand how the expression of a gene mutation in people with cystic fibrosis impairs the functioning of the gaseous exchange, digestive and reproductive systems
2.17 (i): Understand the uses of genetic screening, including the identification of carriers, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and prenatal testing, including amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling
2.17 (ii): Understand the implications of prenatal genetic screening
3.9 (i): Know that a locus is the location of genes on a chromosome
3.9 (ii): Understand the linkage of genes on a chromosome
3.18: Understand how cells become specialised through differential gene expression, producing active mRNA, leading to the synthesis of proteins which, in turn, control cell processes or determine cell structure in animals and plants
3.19: Understand how one gene can give rise to more than one protein through posttranscriptional changes to messenger RNA (mRNA).
3.20 (i): Phenotype is an interaction between genotype and the environment
3.21: Understand how some phenotypes are affected by multiple alleles for the same gene at many loci (polygenic inheritance) as well as the environment and how this can give rise to phenotypes that show continuous variation
6.17: Know how DNA can be amplified using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
This lesson describes the principles of in situ conservation and considers the benefits as well as the issues that surround this method. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources are part of the first lesson in a series of 2 which have been designed to cover the content of point 3.3 (iii) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification.
Hours of research have gone into the planning of this lesson to source interesting examples to increase the relevance of the biological content, and these include the Lizard National Nature Reserve in Cornwall, the Lake Télé Community reserve in the Republic of Congo and the marine conservation zone in the waters surrounding Tristan da Cunha. Students will learn how this form of active management conserves habitats and species in their natural environment, with the aim of minimising human impact whilst maintaining biodiversity. The main issues surrounding this method are discussed, including the fact that the impact of this conservation may not be significant if the population has lost much of its genetic diversity and that despite the management, the conditions that caused the species to become endangered may still be present. A number of quick quiz competitions are interspersed throughout the lesson to introduce key terms and values in a fun and memorable way and one of these challenges them to use their knowledge of famous scientists to reveal the surname, Fossey. Dian Fossey was an American conservationist and her years of study of the mountain gorillas is briefly discussed along with the final issue that wildlife reserves can draw poachers and tourists to the area, potentially disturbing the natural habitat.
This lesson describes the ethical and economic reasons for the maintenance of biodiversity. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets are filled with real-life biological examples and have been designed to cover point 3.3 (ii) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification.
Many hours of research have gone into the planning of the lesson so that interesting examples are included to increase the relevance of the multitude of reasons to maintain biodiversity. These include the gray wolves and beavers of Yellowstone National Park and the Za boabab in the Madagascar rainforests as examples of keystone species. Students will learn that these species have a disproportionate effect on their environment relative to their abundance and exam-style questions and guided discussion periods are used to challenge them to explain their effect on other species in the habitat. The latest A-level Biology exams have a heavy mathematical content and this is reflected in this lesson as students are challenged to complete a range of calculations to manipulate data to support their biological-based answers. All of the exam questions that are included throughout the lesson have mark schemes embedded into the PowerPoint to allow the students to assess their progress. Moving fowards, the economic ans aesthetic reasons to maintain biodiversity are considered, and there is a focus on the soil depletion that occurs when a continuous monoculture is used. The 1 Billion tree scheme that began in New Zealand in 2018 is introduced and the reasons that some groups of people are objecting to what they consider to be a pine monoculture are discussed. Students will recognise that the clear felling of the trees dramatically changes the landscape and that the increased runoff that results can have catastrophic affects for both aquatic life and for humans with floods.
A number of quiz competitions are included in the lesson to introduce key terms in a fun and memorable way and some of the worksheets have been differentiated to allow students of differing abilities to access the work
This lesson describes the process of gas exchange between air in the alveoli and the blood. The PowerPoint and accompanying worksheet have been designed to cover point 9.1 (d) of the CIE A-level Biology specification
Gas exchange at the alveoli is a topic that was covered at GCSE so this lesson has been written to challenge the recall of that knowledge and to build on it.
The main focus of the lesson is the type of epithelium found lining the alveoli and students will discover that a single layer of flattened cells known as simple, squamous epithelium acts to reduce the diffusion distance.
The following features of the alveolar epithelium are also covered:
Surface area
Moist lining
Production of surfactant
The maintenance of a steep concentration gradient
As a constant ventilation supply is critical for the maintenance of the steep concentration gradient, the final part of the lesson considers the mechanism of ventilation
This lesson evaluates the methods used by zoos and seed banks in the conservation of endangered species. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been primarily designed to cover point 4.16 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification but as this is potentially the last lesson in this topic, lots of questions and activities have been included that will challenge the students on their knowledge of topic 4 (Biodiversity and Natural Resources).
Hours of research went into the planning of this lesson to source interesting examples to increase the relevance of the biological content and although the main focus of the lesson is the two ex situ conservation methods, the lesson begins with a consideration of the importance of the in situ methods that are used in the Lake Télé Community reserve in the Republic of Congo and the marine conservation zone in the waters surrounding Tristan da Cunha. Students will learn how this form of active management conserves habitats and species in their natural environment, with the aim of minimising human impact whilst maintaining biodiversity.
To enrich their understanding of ex situ conservation, the well-known examples of ZSL London zoo, Kew Gardens and the Millennium Seed Bank Project in Wakehurst are used. Students will understand how conserving animal species outside of their natural habitat allows for human intervention that ensures the animals are fed and given medical assistance when needed as well as reproductive assistance to increase the likelihood of the successful breeding of endangered species. An emphasis is placed on the desire to reintroduce the species into the wild and the example of some initial successes with the mountain chicken frog in Dominica and Montserrat is discussed. As stated in the specification point, these methods must be evaluated and therefore the issues are also considered and there is a focus on the susceptibility of captive populations to diseases as a result of their limited genetic diversity. The final part of the lesson considers how seed banks can be used to ensure that plant species, which may contain the molecules for medicine development, avoid extinction, and how the plants can be bred asexually to increase plant populations quickly.
Due to the extensiveness of this lesson, it is estimated that it will take in excess of 2/3 hours of allocated A-level teaching time to cover the tasks and content included in the lesson and as explained above, it can also be used as revision of topic 4 content
This lesson evaluates the methods used by zoos and seed banks in the conservation of endangered species and their genetic diversity. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been primarily designed to cover point 4.21 of the Edexcel International A-level Biology specification but as this is potentially the last lesson in this topic, lots of questions and activities have been included that will challenge the students on their knowledge and understanding of topic 4 (Plant structure and function, Biodiversity and Conservation).
Hours of research went into the planning of this lesson to source interesting examples and although the main focus of the lesson is the zoo and seed banks as ex situ conservation methods, the lesson begins with a consideration of the importance of the in situ methods that are used in the Lake Télé Community reserve in the Republic of Congo and the marine conservation zone in the waters surrounding Tristan da Cunha. Students will learn how this form of active management conserves habitats and species in their natural environment, with the aim of minimising human impact whilst maintaining biodiversity.
To enrich their understanding of ex situ conservation, the well-known examples of ZSL London zoo, Kew Gardens and the Millennium Seed Bank Project in Wakehurst are used. Students will understand how conserving animal species outside of their natural habitat allows for human intervention that ensures the animals are fed and given medical assistance when needed as well as reproductive assistance to increase the likelihood of the successful breeding of endangered species. An emphasis is placed on the desire to reintroduce the species into the wild and the example of some initial successes with the mountain chicken frog in Dominica and Montserrat is discussed. As stated in the specification point, these methods must be evaluated and therefore the issues are also considered and there is a focus on the susceptibility of captive populations to diseases as a result of their limited genetic diversity. The final part of the lesson considers how seed banks can be used to ensure that plant species, which may contain the molecules for medicine development, avoid extinction, and how the plants can be bred asexually to increase plant populations quickly.
Due to the extensiveness of this lesson, it is estimated that it will take in excess of 2/3 hours of allocated A-level teaching time to cover the tasks and content included in the lesson and as explained above, it can also be used as revision of topic 4 content
Each of the 3 lessons in this bundle have been planned extensively to ensure that they contain lots of engaging biological examples that will catch the interest of the students whilst covering the difficult content of topic 18.3 (Conservation) of the CIE A-level Biology specification. The lesson PowerPoints and accompanying worksheets are filled with a wide range of tasks that include guided discussion periods, exam-style questions (with mark schemes) and quick quiz competitions and these combine to cover the following specification points:
The reasons for the need to maintain biodiversity
Methods of protecting endangered species, including the roles of zoos, botanic gardens, national parks, marine conservation zones and seed banks
The roles of non-governmental organisations such as WWF and CITES in local and global conservation
If you would like to view the detailed content of this bundle, then download the “WWF, CITES and conservation” lesson as this has been uploaded for free
This lesson describes how to obtain and use sampling results to calculate an estimate for the population size of a sessile, slow-moving or motile organism. The PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets are part of the second lesson in a series of 4 lessons that have been designed to cover the content of topic 7.4 (Populations in ecosystems) of the AQA A-level Biology specification and includes descriptions of the use of randomly placed quadrats, quadrats along a belt transect and the mark-release-recapture method.
As you can see from the image, step by step guides are included in the lesson that walk the students through each stage of the calculations and these are followed by opportunities to challenge their understanding by answering exam-style questions. Mark schemes for the 7 questions that are answered over the course of the lesson are embedded into the PowerPoint and this allows the students to assess their progress. When considering the mark-release-recapture method, the assumptions that are made and the precautions that need to be taken are considered and the students are challenged to link the changes in the numbers of rabbits to the topic of stabilising selection.
This lesson explains that autosomal linkage results from the presence of alleles on the same chromosome and uses biological examples to demonstrate this concept. The PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets have been designed to cover point 8.2 (iv) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification and supports students in the formation of their descriptions of how these results of these crosses can be explained by the events of meiosis (crossing over)
This is a difficult topic which can be poorly understood by students so extra time was taken during the planning to split the concept into small chunks. There is a clear focus on using the number of parent phenotypes and recombinants in the offspring as a way to determine linkage and suggest how the loci of the two genes compare. Important links to other topics such as crossing over in meiosis are made to enable students to understand how the random formation of the point of contact (chiasma) determines whether new phenotypes will be seen in the offspring or not. Linkage is an important cause of variation and the difference between observed and expected results and this is emphasised on a number of occasions and a link to the chi squared test which is covered in an upcoming lesson is also made. The main task of the lesson act as understanding check where students are challenged to analyse the results of genetic crosses involving the inheritance of the ABO blood group gene and the nail-patella syndrome gene n humans and also the inheritance of body colour and wing length in Drosophila.
This lesson discusses how biodiversity may be considered at different levels and describes how to calculate Simpson’s Index of diversity. The PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets have primarily been designed to cover points 4.2.1 (a, c and d) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification but also make links to the upcoming topics of classification, natural selection and adaptations
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 species, population, biodiversity, community and natural selection from their respective definitions. Once biodiversity as the variety of living organisms in a habitat is revealed, the students will learn that this can relate to a range of habitats, from those in the local area to the Earth. Moving forwards, the students will begin to understand that biodiversity can be considered at a range of levels which include within a habitat, within a species and within different habitats so that they can be compared. Species richness as a measure of the number of different species in a community is met and a biological example in the rainforests of Madagascar is used to increase its relevance. However, students will also be introduced to species evenness and will learn that in order for a habitat to be deemed to be biodiverse, it must be both species rich and even. The students are introduced to an unfamiliar formula that calculates the heterozygosity index and are challenged to apply their knowledge to this situation, as well as linking a low H value to natural selection. The rest of the lesson focuses on the calculation of Simpson’s Index of diversity and a 4-step guide is used to walk students through each part of the calculation. This is done in combination with a worked example to allow students to visualise how the formula should be applied to actual figures. Using the method, they will then calculate a value of D for a comparable habitat to allow the two values to be considered and the significance of a higher value is explained. All of the exam-style questions have mark schemes embedded in the PowerPoint to allow students to continuously assess their progress and understanding.
This lesson explains the difference between non-infectious and infectious diseases and names the pathogens that cause examples of the latter. The PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets have been primarily designed to cover points 10.1 (a & b) of the CIE A-level Biology specification but as this is the first lesson in topic 10, links to upcoming topics such as the immune response and vaccinations are introduced.
The lesson begins with a challenge where the students have to use descriptions to recognise CHD, HIV and TB as diseases that are commonly referred to by their abbreviations. This leads into a description of the meaning of disease before the students are challenged to use any prior knowledge of this topic to recognise that CHD is an examples of a non-infectious disease whereas HIV and TB are examples of infectious diseases. Specification point 10.1 (a) states that students should know about sickle cell anaemia and lung cancer so the next section of the lesson focuses on the key details of these diseases and when considering the former, their knowledge of gene mutations, protein synthesis and haemoglobin is tested.
viruses - HIV/AIDS, influenza, measles, smallpox
bacteria - TB, cholera,
protoctista - malaria
The infectious diseases shown above are covered by the remainder of this lesson and the differing mechanisms of action of these three types of pathogens are discussed and considered throughout. For example, time is taken to describe how HIV uses a glycoprotein to attach to T helper cells whilst toxins released by bacteria damage the host tissue and the Plasmodium parasite is transmitted from one host to another by a vector to cause malaria.
The accompanying worksheets contain a range of exam-style questions, including a mathematical calculation, and mark schemes are embedded into the PowerPoint to allow students to immediately assess their understanding.
This lesson bundle contains 9 detailed and engaging lessons which have been designed to cover the following content in topics 10 & 11 of the CIE A-level Biology specification:
10.1: Infectious diseases
The meaning of the term disease and the difference between infectious and non-infectious diseases
The name and type of pathogen that causes cholera, malaria, TB, HIV/AIDS, smallpox and measles
Explain how cholera, malaria, TB, HIV and measles are transmitted
10.2: Antibiotics
Outline how penicillin acts on bacteria and why antibiotics do not affect viruses
Outline how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics with reference to mutation and selection
Discuss the consequences of antibiotic resistance and the steps that can be taken to reduce its impact
11.1: The immune system
State that phagocytes have their origin in bone marrow and describe their mode of action
Describe the modes of action of B and T lymphocytes
The meaning of the term immune response, with reference to antigens, self and non-self
Explain the role of memory cells in long term immunity
Autoimmune diseases as exemplified by myasthenia gravis
11.2: Antibodies and vaccination
Relate the molecular structure of antibodies to their functions
Distinguish between active and passive, natural and artificial immunity and explain how vaccination can control disease
Each of the lesson PowerPoints is accompanied by worksheets which together contain a wide range of tasks that will engage and motivate the students whilst challenging them on their understanding of the current topic as well as previously-covered topics.
If you would like to get an understanding of the quality of the lessons in this bundle, then download the transmission of infectious diseases and phagocytes and phagocytosis lessons as these have been shared for free.
This lesson describes why a disease would be deemed to be an autoimmune disease and describes the mechanisms involved in a few examples. The PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets have been primarily designed to cover point 4.1.1 (k) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification, but this lesson can also be used to revise the content of modules 2 and 3 and the previous lessons in 4.1.1 through the range of activities included
The lesson begins with a challenge, where the students have to recognise diseases from descriptions and use the first letters of their names to form the term, autoimmune. In doing so, the students will immediately learn that rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, type I diabetes mellitus, multiple sclerosis and myasthenia gravis are all examples of autoimmune diseases. The next part of the lesson focuses on the mechanism of these diseases where the immune system cells do not recognise the antigens (self-antigens) on the outside of the healthy cells, and therefore treats them as foreign antigens, resulting in the production of autoantibodies against proteins on these healthy cells and tissues. Key details of the autoimmune diseases stated above and lupus are described and links to previously covered topics as well as to future topics such as the nervous system are made. The students will be challenged by numerous exam-style questions, all of which have mark schemes embedded into the PowerPoint to allow for immediate assessment of progress.
This lesson describes self and non-self antigens and how a failure to distinguish between the two is the mechanism of autoimmune diseases. The PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets have been primarily designed to cover points 11.1 (d & f) of the CIE A-level Biology specification and describe examples of these diseases including myasthenia gravis, but this lesson can also be used to revise the content of the earlier topics as well as the previous lessons in topic 10 & 11 through the range of activities that are included
The first part of the lesson focuses on the antigens and explains how the failure of the immune system cells to recognise these molecules on the outside of a cell or organism elicits an immune response. Moving forwards, the students are challenged to recognise diseases from descriptions and then to use the first letters of their names to form the term, autoimmune. In doing so, the students will discover that rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, type I diabetes mellitus, multiple sclerosis and myasthenia gravis are all examples of autoimmune diseases. The next part of the lesson focuses on the mechanism of these diseases where the immune system cells do not recognise the antigens (self-antigens) on the outside of the healthy cells, and therefore treats them as foreign antigens, resulting in the production of autoantibodies against proteins on these healthy cells and tissues. Key details of the autoimmune diseases stated above and lupus are described and links to previously covered topics as well as to future topics such as the pancreas and nervous system are made. The students will be challenged by the numerous exam-style questions, all of which have mark schemes embedded into the PowerPoint to allow for immediate assessment of progress.
This lesson describes the action of bactericidal and bacteriostatic antibiotics, as illustrated by penicillin and tetracycline. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 6.3 (i) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification but it has been specifically planned to make continual links to earlier lessons in topic 6 and to protein synthesis as covered in topic 1
The lesson begins by challenging the students to use their general biological knowledge and any available sources to identify the suffixes cidal and static. Students will learn that when the prefix is added, these form the full names of two types of antibiotics. Their understanding of terminology is tested further as they have to recognise that Polymyxin B is an example of a bactericidal antibiotic as its actions would result in the death of the bacterial cell. Time is then taken to describe the action of penicillin and students will learn how inhibitors and modified versions of this antibiotic are used to overcome those bacteria who have resistance. Tetracycline is used as the example of a bacteriostatic antibiotic and students will discover that its prevention of the binding of tRNA that inhibits protein synthesis and this reduction and stopping of growth and reproduction is synonymous with these drugs. Students are challenged on their knowledge of translation and will also be given time for a class discussion to understand that these antibiotics encourage the body’s immune system to overcome the pathogen in natural, active immunity.
The final part of the lesson uses a quick quiz competition and a series of exam-style questions to ensure that students can recognise these different types of antibiotics from descriptions.
