This fully-resourced lesson describes the relationship between the structure and function of the structures that are found in eukaryotic cells. The engaging and detailed PowerPoint and accompanying exam-question worksheets (which are all differentiated) have been designed to cover the first part of specification point 2.1.1 of the AQA A-level Biology specification and focuses on those structures found in animal cells. The additional structures, which are found in plant cells, are described in the next lesson uploaded under the title “Structure of eukaryotic (plant) cells”. As cells are the building blocks of living organisms, it makes sense that they would be heavily involved in all of the 8 topics in the AQA course and intricate planning has ensured that these links to previously covered topics as well as upcoming ones are made throughout the lesson. A wide range of activities, that include exam-style questions, class discussion points and quick quiz competitions, will maintain motivation and engagement whilst covering the finer details of the following structures: nucleus nucleolus ribosomes rough endoplasmic reticulum Golgi apparatus lysosomes smooth endoplasmic reticulum mitochondria cell surface membrane As mentioned above, all of the worksheets have been differentiated to support students of differing abilities whilst maintaining challenge Due to the detail that is included in this lesson, it is estimated that it will take in excess of 3 hours of allocated A-level teaching time to cover the work

A fully resourced lesson presentation (93 slides) and associated worksheets that uses a combination of exam questions, quick tasks and quiz competitions to help the students to assess their understanding of the topics found within unit C3 (Chemical reactions) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics that are tested within the lesson include: Formulae of elements and molecules Formulae of ionic compounds Conservation of mass Chemical equations Half equations The mole Exothermic and endothermic reactions The pH scale Hydrogen ions and pH Electrolysis of molten salts Electrolysis of solutions Students will be engaged through the numerous activities including quiz rounds like “E Numbers” whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which need further attention

This fully-resourced lesson explores the effect of geographical and reproductive isolation on the evolution of a new species. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 6.1.2 (g) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification which states that students should be able to demonstrate and apply an understanding of the effect of these isolating mechanisms on the evolution of a new species by either allopatric or sympatric speciation. The lesson begins by using the example of a hinny, which is the hybrid offspring of a horse and a donkey, to challenge students to recall the biological classification of a species. Moving forwards, students are introduced to the idea of speciation and the key components of this process, such as isolation and selection pressures, are covered and discussed in detail. Understanding and prior knowledge checks are included throughout the lesson to allow the students to not only assess their progress against the current topic but also to make links to earlier topics in the specification. Time is taken to look at the details of allopatric speciation and how the different mutations that arise in the isolated populations and genetic drift will lead to genetic changes. The example of allopatric speciation in wrasse fish because of the isthmus of Panama is used to allow the students to visualise this process. The final part of the lesson considers sympatric speciation and again a wide variety of tasks are used to enable a deep understanding to be developed. This lesson has been written to tie in with the other uploaded lessons on topic 6.1.2 (patterns of inheritance).

This resource contains a detailed and engaging PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets, all of which have been designed to cover point 2.14 of the Edexcel GCSE Biology or Combined Science specification. This specification point states that students should be able to explain the structure and function of a reflex arc including sensory, relay and motor neurones. The lesson builds on the knowledge from point 2.13 where students learnt about the structures in the nervous system. The lesson begins by challenging the students to come up with the word reflex having been presented with 5 other synonyms of the word automatic. This leads into a section of discovery and discussion where students are encouraged to consider how a reflex arc can be automatic and rapid despite the fact that the impulse is conducted into the CNS like any other reaction. Students will be introduced to the relay neurone and will learn how this provides a communication between the sensory neurone and the motor neurone and therefore means that these arcs do not involve processing by the brain. Moving forwards, the main task of the lesson challenges the students to write a detailed description of a reflex arc. Assistance is given on the critical section which involves the relay neurone in the spinal cord before they have to use their knowledge of nervous reactions to write a paragraph before and after to complete the description. As a final task, students will have to compare the structure and functions of the three neurones. This lesson contains a wide range of activities which include quiz competitions to introduce key terms and values in a fun and memorable way as well as understanding and prior knowledge checks so that students can assess their grasp of the critical content. It has been written for students studying the Edexcel GCSE Biology or Combined Science courses but is also suitable for younger students looking at the nervous system or A-level students who need to recall the key details and structures

This fully-resourced lesson covers part #1 of specification point 6.2.1 of the AQA A-level Biology specification which states that students should know the structure of a myelinated motor neurone and be able to explain why saltatory conduction enables a faster conduction along with the effect of axon diameter and temperature. 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 real 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 will learn and discover how the structure of a motor neurone is related to its function over conducting impulses from the CNS to the effector. There is a focus on 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 AQA A-level Biology course

This is a fully-resourced REVISION lesson which challenges the students on their knowledge of the content in TOPIC B4 (Natural selection and genetic modification) of the Edexcel GCSE Combined Science specification. The lesson uses an engaging PowerPoint (65 slides) and accompanying worksheets to motivate students whilst they assess their understanding of this topic. A range of exam questions, differentiated tasks and quiz competitions are used to test the following sub-topics: The discovery of key fossils and their implications for human evolution The dating of stone tools Evolution by natural selection Antibiotic resistance in bacteria as evidence for natural selection The domain and kingdom classification methods Genetic engineering of bacteria to produce human insulin The benefits and risks of genetic engineering and selective breeding The mathematical element of the course is also tested throughout the lesson and students are given helpful hints on exam techniques and how to structure answers. This resource is suitable for use at the end of topic B4 or in the lead up to mocks or the actual GCSE exams.

This fully-resourced lesson describes the roles of the T and B lymphocytes in the cellular and humoral responses and the development of immunological memory. The detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the third part of point 2.4 of the AQA A-level Biology specification and the structure of antibodies and the roles of plasma cells and memory cells in the primary and secondary immune responses are also included. Antigen presentation was introduced at the end of the previous lesson so the task at the start of this lesson challenges students to recognise the name of this process and then they have to spot the errors in the passage that describes the details of this event. This reminds them that contact between the APC and T lymphocytes is necessary to elicit a response which they will come to recognise as the cellular response. A series of quick quiz rounds reveals key terms in a memorable way and one that is introduced is helper T cells. Time is then taken to describe the importance of cell signalling for an effective response and students will learn how the release of chemicals by these cells activates other aspects of the response. The role of the killer T cells is also described before an exam-style question is used to check on their understanding at this point of the lesson. This leads into the section of the lesson that deals with the humoral response and students will understand how this involves the antibodies that are produced by the plasma cells that are the result of clonal selection and expansion. The remainder of the lesson focuses on the structure of the antibodies and then explains how the retention of memory B cells after the primary response enables a quicker and more effective secondary response to occur if necessary. Finally, students are challenged with a series of application questions where they have to apply their knowledge to potentially unfamiliar situations.

This lesson has been designed to cover the content as detailed in points 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 (Mitosis as part of the cell cycle) of the Edexcel GCSE Biology & Combined Science specifications. Consisting of a detailed and engaging PowerPoint (44 slides) and an accompanying worksheet, the range of activities will motivate the students whilst ensuring that the content is covered in detail. Students will learn how interphase, the 4 phases of mitosis and cytokinesis result in the production of genetically identical diploid daughter cells. Time is taken to go through each of the three stages of the cell cycle in detail so students can recognise how the key events of each stage allow this important form of “copying” cell division to occur. Progress checks are included throughout the lesson so that students can assess their understanding of the content and any misconceptions can be addressed whilst quiz competitions, like The Big REVEAL and YOU DO THE MATH, are used to introduce new terms and important values in a fun and memorable way. This lesson has been written for GCSE-aged students who are studying the Edexcel GCSE Biology or Combined Science specifications but can be used with older students who need to know the key details of the cell cycle for their A level course before taking it to greater depths

This lesson describes meaning of the mole and shows how this measurement is used in a range of calculations. The clear lesson PowerPoint presentation and accompanying question worksheet have been designed to cover points 1.50 & 1.51 of the Edexcel GCSE Chemistry specification and also covers those points in the Chemistry section of the Combined Science course. This lesson has been specifically written to explain the concept in a concise manner so that the key details are understood and embedded. Students are shown how to recognise when a mole calculation requires them to use Avogadro’s constant and when they should the formula including the relative formula mass.

This fully-resourced lesson describes the principles and limitations of optical, transmission electron and scanning electron microscopes. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the specification details at the start of topic 2.1.3 of the AQA A-level Biology course and also explains the difference between magnification and resolution. When designing all four of the lessons to cover the detail of 2.1.3, I was conscious that microscopes and the methods of studying cells is a topic that doesn’t always attract the full attention of the students. In line with this, I aimed to plan lessons that encouraged engagement so that the likelihood of knowledge retention and understanding was increased. An ongoing quiz competition runs across the 4 lessons and in this particular lesson, rounds such as YOU DO THE MATH and IT’S TIME FOR ACTION will introduce key terms and values in a fun and memorable way. Time is taken to look at the key details of each of the types of microscope and students will be able to describe how light or the transmission of electrons through or across a specimen will form an image. Students will come to recognise the difference between magnification and resolution and examples are provided and exam-style questions used to check on understanding. As well as current understanding checks, prior knowledge checks challenge the students to make links to other biological topics which include specialised cells and tissues, cell structures and biological molecules. As detailed above, this lesson has been written to be the first in a series of 4 lessons and the others, which are uploaded are: Measuring the size of an object viewed under an optical microscope Use of the magnification formula Cell fractionation and ultracentrifugation

This lesson describes the principles of homeostasis and the differences between negative feedback and positive feedback. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 5.1.1 [c] of the OCR A-level Biology A specification and explains how this feedback control maintains systems within narrow limits but has also been planned to provide important details for upcoming topics such as osmoregulation, thermoregulation and the depolarisation of a neurone. The normal ranges for blood glucose concentration, blood pH and body temperature are introduced at the start of the lesson to allow students to recognise that these aspects have to be maintained within narrow limits. A series of exam-style questions then challenge their recall of knowledge from topics 1-8 to explain why it’s important that each of these aspects is maintained within these limits. The students were introduced to homeostasis at GCSE, so this process is revisited and discussed, to ensure that students are able to recall that this is the maintenance of a state of dynamic equilibrium. A quick quiz competition is used to reveal negative feedback as a key term and students will learn how this form of control reverses the original change and biological examples are used to emphasise the importance of this system for restoring levels to the limits (and the optimum). The remainder of the lesson explains how positive feedback differs from negative feedback as it increases the original change and the role of oxytocin in birth and the movement of sodium ions into a neurone are used to exemplify the action of this control system.

This lesson explains why large organisms with a low surface area to volume ratio need specialised gas exchange surfaces and a mass transport system. The PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets have been designed to cover points 4.1 (i & ii) of the Edexcel A-level Biology B specification and have been specifically planned to prepare students for the upcoming lessons on gas exchange (4.3) and circulation (4.4) The students are likely to have been introduced to the surface area to volume ratio at GCSE, but understanding of its relevance tends to be mixed. Therefore, real life examples are included throughout the lesson that emphasise the importance of this ratio in order to increase this relevance. A lot of students worry about the maths calculations that are associated with this topic so a step by step guide is included at the start of the lesson that walks them through the calculation of the surface area, the volume and then the ratio. Through worked examples and understanding checks, SA/V ratios are calculated for cubes of increasing side length and living organisms of different size. These comparative values will enable the students to conclude that the larger the organism or structure, the lower the surface area to volume ratio. A differentiated task is then used to challenge the students to explain the relationship between the ratio and the metabolic demands of a single-celled and multicellular organisms and this leads into the next part of the lesson, where the adaptations of large organisms to increase this ratio at the exchange surfaces are covered. The students will calculate the SA/V ratio of a human alveolus (using the surface area and volume formulae for a sphere) and will see the significant increase that results from the folding of the membranes. In addition to the ratio, time is taken to discuss and describe how the maintenance of a steep concentration gradient and a thin membrane are important for the rate of diffusion and again biological examples are used in humans and other organisms to increase the understanding. Fick’s law of diffusion is also introduced as a mechanism to help the students to recall that surface area, concentration difference and thickness of membrane govern the rate of simple diffusion. The final part of the lesson considers how a mass transport system is needed alongside the specialised gas exchange surface to allow the oxygen to be delivered to the respiring cells to enable them to continue to carry out aerobic respiration to generate ATP.

An engaging lesson presentation (72 slides) and associated worksheets that uses a combination of exam questions, quick tasks and quiz competitions to help the students to assess their understanding of the topics found within unit C6 (Global Challenges) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics that are tested within the lesson include: Extracting metals Extracting iron Extracting aluminium Cracking oil fractions Water for drinking Students will be engaged through the numerous activities including quiz rounds like “EXTRACT the non-FACT” and “Say what you SEE” whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which need further attention

A lot of time and effort has gone into the design of this revision resource as it covers the very important Atoms, elements and compounds topic (C3) of the CIE IGCSE Combined Specification which will be examined in June and November 2020 and 2021. This topic tends to contribute a high volume of the questions in the examination papers as it contains fundamental understanding. The resource contains a detailed and engaging PowerPoint (87 slides) and associated worksheets, which have been differentiated to allow differing abilities the chance to complete the task. The range of activities that include exam questions, quick tasks and quiz competitions aim to cover as much of the content as possible but the following topics have received particular attention: Metals vs non-metals Using the proton and nucleon number to calculate the number of sub-atomic particles Atoms vs ions Drawing dot and cross diagrams for ionic compounds The structure of an ionic compound and the relation to its properties Drawing dot and cross diagrams for simple molecules Understanding of the terms solution, solvent, solute and soluble Throughout the lesson, links have been made to other modules (e.g. Electricity and chemistry) so that students can see how they will be expected to make these connections. The detail of this lesson means that it can be used a number of times and is ideal for revision during the learning of C3, at the end of the topic or in the lead up to mocks or terminal exams.

This is a fully-resourced revision lesson that uses a combination of exam questions, understanding checks, quick differentiated tasks and quiz competitions to enable students to assess their understanding of the content found within Topic 3 (Voice of the Genome) of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A specification. The sub-topics and specification points that are tested within the lesson include: Know the ultrastructure of eukaryotic cells Understand the role of the rER and the Golgi apparatus in protein transport within cells Know the ultrastructure of prokaryotic cells Be able to recognise the organelles of eukaryotic cells from EM images Know that a locus is the location of a gene on a chromosome Understand the linkage of genes on a chromosome and sex linkage Understand the role of meiosis in ensuring genetic variation Understand the role of mitosis and the cell cycle in producing identical daughter cells Understand how gene expression is controlled Understand how phenotype is the result of an interaction between genotype and the environment Know how some phenotypes are affected by multiple alleles as well as the environment and how this shows continuous variation Students will be engaged through the numerous quiz rounds such as “Is your knowledge of the Lac Operon LACKING” and “Can I have a P please Bob” whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which require their further attention during general revision or during the lead up to the actual A-level terminal exams

This lesson describes the similarities and differences between the xylem and phloem vessels and the sclerenchyma fibres. The engaging and detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 4.11 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A specification which states that students should be able to compare these tissues in terms of structure, position in the stem and function. The lessons begins by challenging the students to identify the substances that a plant needs for the cellular reactions, where they are absorbed and where these reactions occur in a plant. The aim of this task is to get the students to recognise that water and mineral ions are absorbed in the roots and needed in the leaves whilst the products of photosynthesis are in the leaves and need to be used all over the plant. Students will be reminded that the xylem and phloem are part of the vascular system responsible for transporting these substances and then the rest of the lesson focuses on linking structure to function. A range of tasks which include discussion points, exam-style questions and quick quiz rounds are used to describe how lignification results in the xylem as a hollow tube of xylem cells to allow water to move as a complete column. They will also learn that the narrow diameter of this vessel allows capillary action to move water molecules up the sides of the vessel. The same process is used to enable students to understand how the structures of the companion cells allows assimilates to be loaded before being moved to the sieve tube elements through the plasmodesmata. The final part of the lesson introduces the sclerenchyma tissue as part of the vascular bundle and along with the structure and function, the students will observe where this tissue is found in the stem in comparison to the xylem and phloem. It is estimated that it will take in excess of 2 hours of A-level teaching time to cover the detail which has been written into this lesson

This fully-resourced lesson has been designed to cover the higher tier content of specification points 7.13 & 7.14 (Control of blood glucose concentration) as found in topic 7 of the Edexcel GCSE Biology & Combined Science specifications. This resource contains an engaging PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets, some of which have been differentiated so that students of different abilities can access the work. The resource is filled with a wide range of activities, each of which has been designed to engage and motivate the students whilst ensuring that the key Biological content is covered in detail. The students will learn how blood glucose concentration is controlled by insulin and glucagon secretion and some time is taken to look at diabetes type I and II to make the link. Understanding checks are included throughout so that the students can assess their grasp of the content. In addition, previous knowledge checks make links to content from earlier topics such as the endocrine system and literacy checks ensure that the students can spell and recognise the key words, which is extremely important considering how many terms begin with the letter g in this homeostatic control system. As stated at the top, this lesson has been designed for GCSE-aged students who are studying the Edexcel GCSE Biology or Combined Science courses, but it can be used with A-level students who need to go back over the key points before looking at the homeostatic control in more detail

This lesson describes the mechanisms of ventilation and gas exchange in insects. The PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets are the part of the second lesson in a series of 2 lessons which have been designed to cover the details that are set out in point 3.1.1 (f) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification. The first lesson in this series describes ventilation and gas exchange in bony fish In the previous lesson, the students were introduced to the different circulatory systems of mammals and bony fish and this knowledge is checked upon at the start of this lesson. This is relevant because the open circulatory system of an insect explains how oxygen is not transported in the blood but instead is absorbed from the body fluid that bathes the tissues. The next part of the lesson describes the structure of the spiracles, tracheae and tracheoles in the tracheal system and explains how this system is responsible for the delivery of oxygen to the open end of the tracheole for gas exchange with this fluid. As the tracheae are supported by chitin, which is similar in structure and function to cellulose and keratin respectively, a series of exam-style questions are used to challenge the students on their knowledge of those polymers from module 2.1.2 (biological molecules). As always, the mark scheme is embedded in the powerpoint so students can assess their understanding and progress. The final part of the lesson describes how squeezing of the tracheoles by the flight muscles and the changes in the volume of the thorax as a result of the movement of the wings are similar to mechanisms observed in mammals.

This fully-resourced lesson looks at the series of small steps that form the Krebs cycle and focuses on the reactions which involve decarboxylation and dehydrogenation and the reduction of NAD and FAD. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resource have both been designed to cover points 12.2 (d) and (e) of the CIE International A-level Biology specification. The lesson begins with a version of the Impossible game where students have to spot the connection between 8 of the 9 terms and will ultimately learn that this next stage is called the Krebs cycle. The main part of the lesson challenges the students to use descriptions of the main steps of the cycle to continue their diagram of the reactions. Students are continually exposed to key terminology such as decarboxylation and dehydrogenation and they will learn where carbon dioxide is lost and reduced NAD and FAD are generated. They will also recognise that ATP is synthesised by substrate level phosphorylation. The final task challenges them to apply their knowledge of the cycle to work out the numbers of the different products and to calculate the number of ATP that must be produced in the next stage This lesson has been designed to tie in with the other uploaded lessons on glycolysis, the Link reaction and oxidative phosphorylation.

This is a fully-resourced revision lesson which covers the content detailed in topic 10 (electricity and circuits) of the Pearson Edexcel GCSE Physics specification. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources contain a wide range of activities which include exam-style questions with clearly explained answers, differentiated tasks and quiz competitions to allow students to assess their understanding and ultimately recognise those areas which need further consideration. The following specification points have been given particular attention in this lesson: The electrical symbols that represent the electrical components Describe the differences between series and parallel circuits Recall that a voltmeter is connected in parallel One volt is equal to one joule per coulomb Recall and use the equations that calculate energy transferred, charge, potential difference, power and electrical power Recall that an ammeter is connected in series Calculate the currents, potential differences and resistances in series and parallel circuits Explain how current varies with potential difference in resistors Know the functions of the wires in a plug and the safety features This lesson has been designed to fall in line with the heavy mathematical content of the Physics specification with a number of calculation tasks and students are guided through the range of skills that they will have to employ