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 detailed lesson describes how aerobic glycolysis, the Krebs cycle and the electron transport chain produce energy for sport and exercise. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resource have been designed to cover the 4th part of point A7 in UNIT 1 of the Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma in Sport and Exercise Science specification which states that students should understand how these stages produce energy as well as the role of the mitochondria.
The lesson has been written to include a wide range of tasks which include exam-style questions and discussion points to check on understanding and quiz competitions to introduce key terms and values in a memorable way and to maintain engagement and motivation. There is a focus on the link between each stage and the next and the location in a cell where each one occurs.
Due to the extensiveness of this lesson, it is estimated that it will take in excess of 2 teaching hours to cover the detail within this resource
This lesson describes and explains how the contraction of the heart chambers during atrial and ventricular systole and the relaxation during diastole causes blood to flow through the heart. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resource have been designed to cover the first part of point B3 of UNIT 2 of the Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma in Sport and Exercise Science specification.
The students will have already encountered aspects of the cardiac cycle in unit 1 and this lesson aims to build on that knowledge. Students will be reminded that the sequence of events known as the cardiac cycle can be split into three parts, which are atrial systole, ventricular systole and diastole. There is a particular focus on the role of the AV and semi-lunar valves in the control of blood flow and students are challenged to explain how pressure changes cause these valves to open or close. The final task of the lesson involves a quiz round called “RECYCLE THIS?” where the teams have to use their knowledge of the cardiac cycle and the function and anatomy of the heart and blood vessels from a previous lesson to spot any errors in the description of blood flow through the heart
This lesson has been specifically designed to tie in with the next lesson outlined in the specification on the neural control of the cardiac cycle
This detailed lesson describes how the anatomy and location of the arteries, arterioles, capillaries, venules and veins enables them to perform their functions. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resource have both been designed to cover the 2nd part of point B1 in UNIT 2 of the Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma in Sport and Exercise Science specification.
The aorta, vena cava, pulmonary artery and pulmonary vein were covered in the previous lesson on the function and anatomy of the heart so this lesson focuses on the location and anatomy of the 5 different types of blood vessels. Students will have met arteries, veins and capillaries at GCSE so this lesson builds on that knowledge whilst introducing the arterioles and venules. Time is taken to look at the structure of the artery and specifically at how the narrow lumen and thick wall allows this blood vessel to maintain the high pressure of blood and also withstand it. The importance of the arterioles for decreasing this pressure is explained and then students will discuss how the location of capillaries next to tissues allows for a fast rate of diffusion. The rest of the lesson describes how venules connect capillaries to a vein and the structure of this final blood vessel is compared against arteries, where students have to explain why it has a wider lumen with valves and a thinner wall.
A series of quiz rounds are used to maintain engagement whilst introducing key terms and values.
This detailed lesson describes how the structure of the arteries, veins and capillaries enables these blood vessels to perform their functions. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resource have both been designed to cover the 3rd part of point 1.2.5 as detailed in the Edexcel A-level PE specification.
The aorta, vena cava, pulmonary artery and pulmonary vein were covered in a previous lesson on the structure of the heart so this lesson focuses on the location and structure of these 3 different types of blood vessels. Students will have met arteries, veins and capillaries at GCSE so this lesson builds on that knowledge whilst also introducing the arterioles and venules to deepen their understanding. Time is taken to look at the structure of the artery and specifically at how the narrow lumen and thick wall allows this blood vessel to maintain the high pressure of blood and also withstand it. Students will learn that arterioles are involved in the redistribution of blood and then are challenged to describe and explain when blood would be shunted away from the kidney. Moving forwards, the students are encouraged to discuss how the location of capillaries next to tissues enables a fast rate of diffusion. The rest of the lesson describes how venules connect capillaries to a vein and the structure of this final blood vessel is compared against arteries, where students have to explain a vein has a wider lumen with valves and a thinner wall.
A series of quiz rounds are used throughout the lesson to maintain engagement whilst introducing key terms and values.
This fully-resourced lesson describes the roles of the SAN, AVN, bundle of His and the Purkyne fibres in the cardiac conduction system. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the fifth specification point in topic 1.1.2 of the AQA A-level PE specification
The lesson begins with the introduction of the SAN as the natural pacemaker and then time is given to study each step of the conduction of the impulse as it spreads away from this node in a wave of excitation. The lesson has been written to make clear links to the cardiac cycle which is introduced to provide a deeper understanding and to the structure of the heart and students are challenged on their knowledge of this system. Moving forwards, students are encouraged to consider why a delay would occur at the AVN and then they will learn that the impulse is conducted along the Bundle of His to the apex before being conducted on the Purkyne fibres so that the contraction of the ventricles can happen from the bottom upwards. The final task of the lesson challenges the students to describe the full sequence of events in the conduction of the electrical impulse through the heart tissue, and there is a particular emphasis on the use of key terminology
This fully-resourced lesson explains how a shift of the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve is a beneficial phenomenon for exercising individuals. Both the detailed PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the 2nd part of the transportation of oxygen section as detailed in the Applied Anatomy and physiology unit of the AQA A-level PE specification.
The previous lesson introduced the transportation of oxygen by haemoglobin and the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve so this lesson has been written to build on that knowledge and this is immediately checked at the start of the lesson by getting the students to recall key terms as well as the shape of the curve. A quick quiz competition, called SPORTS SCIENCE, is used to challenge their knowledge of the names of famous sports people to identify the surname of the scientist, Christian Bohr. They are told that this effect describes how an increase in the concentration of a substance affects the dissociation curve and are encouraged to predict what this substance might be. By shifting the curve to the right, students will learn that the affinity of haemoglobin is reduced. The curve is used to show how the saturation of haemoglobin is less at low partial pressures of oxygen when there is increased carbon dioxide concentration before they are challenged to summarise the effect on the dissociation before applying all of their knowledge to a final sporting situation.
The final task has been differentiated 2 ways so that students of differing abilities are able to access the work
This fully-resourced lesson describes the specific stages of the glycolytic energy system and explains its role in ATP production for exercise. Both the PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the content of the “Energy systems and ATP resynthesis” section of the OCR A-level PE specification so that students know the type of reaction, fuel used, site of the reaction and ATP yield.
The lesson begins by challenging the students to explain which out of stored ATP, phosphocreatine and glycogen in a muscle would be depleted after 10 seconds of intense exercise. This introduces glycogen as the starting substance in the glycolytic system and students will use their prior knowledge to recognise that the 1st step in this system involves the breakdown of glycogen to glucose. The main part of the lesson focuses on glycolysis and the key details of this step are discussed and explained, such as the net yield of ATP. Moving forwards, the students will learn how the product of glycolysis, pyruvate, is converted to lactate but does not result in the formation of any more ATP and this small yield of just 2 ATP means that this system is quickly fatigued. The lesson finishes by covering the duration of exercise that can be supported by the glycolytic system as the dominant energy provider.
This lesson has been specifically written to tie in with the next lesson on the aerobic system as well as making links to a previous lesson on the ATP-PC system.
This fully-resourced bundle includes 10 detailed PowerPoint lessons and their accompanying worksheets which cover the content as set out in topic 3.4 (Mass transport) of the AQA A-level Biology specification. This topic includes sections on mass transport in animals (3.4.1) and mass transport in plants (3.4.2).
The lessons have been designed to include a wide range of tasks to maintain motivation whilst ensuring that the understanding of the content is constantly checked and links are made to other topics.
The specification points in topic 3.4 which are covered in these lessons are:
The haemoglobins
The role of haemoglobin in the transport of oxygen
The oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve
The Bohr effect
The general pattern of blood circulation in a mammal
The gross structure of the human heart
The valve movements in the cardiac cycle
The structure of the blood vessels
The formation of tissue fluid
The transport of water in the xylem
The structure of the phloem tissue
Translocation by mass flow
If you would like to see the quality of these lessons, download the arteries, tissue fluid and translocation lessons as these have been uploaded for free
This is a fully-resourced lesson bundle, where the detailed and engaging PowerPoints and accompanying worksheets have been designed to cover the details of topic 6 of the CIE International A-level Biology specification which concerns the nucleic acids and protein synthesis. All 7 of the lessons include differentiated tasks to cater for all abilities of students whilst containing the detail to push them to the next level.
The following specification points are covered within these lessons:
The structure of nucleotides
ATP as a phosphorylated nucleotide
The structure of DNA
The structure of mRNA, tRNA and rRNA
DNA replication
Genes and polypeptides
Gene mutations
Sickle cell anaemia
Transcription and translation
Links are continually made throughout the lessons to previously-covered topics as well as to those which will be covered later in the AS course or during the second year
If you would like to sample the quality of the lessons, download the semi-conservative replication and gene mutation lessons as these have been shared for free
This detailed lesson describes the structure of a nucleotide including the structure of the phosphorylated nucleotide, ATP. The engaging PowerPoint has been designed to cover point (a) of topic 6.1 as detailed in the CIE International A-level Biology specification and links are made throughout to earlier topics such as biological molecules as well as to upcoming topics like DNA structure and replication.
Students were introduced to the term monomer and nucleotide in topic 2, so the start of the lesson challenges them to recognise this latter term when only the letters U, C and T are shown. This has been designed to initiate conversations about why only these letters were used so that the nitrogenous bases can be discussed later in greater detail. Moving forwards, students will learn that a nucleotide is the monomer to a polynucleotide and that deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) are two examples of this type of polymer. The main part of the lesson has been filled with various tasks that explore the structural similarities and structural differences between DNA and RNA. This begins by describing the structure of a nucleotide as a phosphate group, a pentose sugar and a nitrogenous base. Time is taken to consider the details of each of these three components which includes the role of the phosphate group in the formation of a phosphodiester bond between adjacent nucleotides on the strand. At this point students are challenged on their understanding of condensation reactions and have to identify how the hydroxyl group associated with carbon 3 is involved along with the hydroxyl group of the phosphoric acid molecule. A number of quiz rounds are used during this lesson, as a way to introduce key terms in a fun and memorable way. One of these rounds introduces adenine and guanine as the purine bases and thymine, cytosine and uracil as the pyrimidine bases and the students are shown that their differing ring structures can be used to distinguish between them. The remainder of the lesson focuses on ATP as a phosphorylated nucleotide and links are made to the hydrolysis of this molecule for energy driven reactions in cells such as active transport
Disaccharides are formed from the condensation of two monosaccharides and this lesson describes the formation of maltose, sucrose and lactose. The PowerPoint and accompanying question sheet have been designed to cover the second part of point 1.2 of the AQA A-level Biology specification but also make links to the previous lesson on monosaccharides when considering the different components of these three disaccharides.
The first section of the lesson focuses on a prefix and a suffix so that the students can recognise that the names of the common disaccharides end in -ose. In line with this, a quick quiz round is used to introduce maltose, sucrose and lactose before students are challenged on their prior knowledge as they have to describe how condensation reactions and the formation of glycosidic bonds were involved in the synthesis of each one. The main task of the lesson again challenges the students to recall details of a previous lesson as they have to identify the monomers of each disaccharide when presented with the displayed formula. Time is taken to show how their knowledge of these simple sugars will be important in later topics such as digestion, translocation in the phloem and the Lac Operon in the control of gene expression. The lesson finishes with two exam-style questions where students have to demonstrate and apply their newly acquired knowledge
This fully-resourced lesson describes how the different properties of water make this biological molecule incredibly important in Biology. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets have been designed to cover point 1.7 of the AQA A-level Biology specification.
Hydrolysis reactions have been a recurring theme throughout topic 1, 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. A quick quiz round is used to introduce cohesion and tension so students can understand how the column of water is able to move along this vascular tissue without interruption. 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 fully-resourced lesson describes the movement of molecules by active transport, endocytosis and exocytosis and explains the need for ATP. The PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets have been designed to cover the second part of point 2.4 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology specification. The first part of 2.4, concerning simple and facilitated diffusion, was covered in the previous lesson.
The start of the lesson challenges the students to use their prior knowledge of biological molecules to come up with the abbreviation ATP and they will learn that this is a phosphorylated nucleotide that contains adenine, ribose and three phosphate groups. Students may not have known this as the energy currency from GCSE so time is taken to explain that this molecule must be broken down to release energy and students are challenged to recall which type of reaction will be involved and to predict the products of such a reaction. This hydrolysis of ATP can be coupled to energy-requiring reactions within the cell and the rest of the lesson focuses on the use of this energy 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 enery 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 detailed and engaging lesson describes the basic structure of a mononucleotide and the similarities and differences between DNA and RNA. The PowerPoint and accompanying worksheet containing exam-style questions have been designed to cover points 2.5 (i) & (ii) of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A specification.
In topic 1, the students were introduced to a number of monomers and the start of the lesson challenges them to recognise the key term nucleotide when only the letters U, C and T are shown. The next part of the lesson describes the structure of a DNA nucleotide and an RNA nucleotide so that the pentose sugar and the bases adenine, cytosine and guanine can be recognised as similarities whilst deoxyribose and ribose and thymine and uracil are seen as the differences. Time is taken to discuss how a phosphodiester bond is formed between adjacent nucleotides and their prior knowledge and understanding of condensation reactions is tested through a series of questions. Students are then introduced to the purine and pyrimidine bases and this leads into the description of the double-helical structure of DNA and the hydrogen bonds between complementary bases. The final section of the lesson describes the structure of mRNA, tRNA and rRNA and students are challenged to explain why this single stranded polynucleotide is shorter than DNA
In addition to the current understanding and prior knowledge checks, a number of quiz rounds have been written into the lesson to introduce key terms in a fun and memorable way and the final round acts as a final check on the structures of DNA and RNA.
This detailed lesson describes the process of translation and the roles of the mRNA, tRNA, rRNA and amino acids during this second stage of protein synthesis. Both the PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the second part of points 2.5 (i) & (ii) of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A specification and contains constant links to the previous lessons in this topic on transcription and the structure of DNA and RNA.
Translation is a topic which is often poorly understood and so this lesson has been written to support the students in answering the different types of questions by knowing and including the details of the key structures involved. The lesson begins by challenging the students to consider why it is so important that the amino acids are assembled in the correct order during the formation of the chain. Moving forwards, a quick quiz round called “LOST IN TRANSLATION” is used to check on their prior knowledge of the mRNA strand, the tRNA molecules and the ribosomes. The next task involves a very detailed description of translation that has been divided into 14 statements which the students have to put into the correct order. By giving them a passage that consists of this considerable detail, they can pick out the important parts to use in the next task where they have to answer shorter questions worth between 3 and 4 marks. These types of questions are common in the assessments and by building up through the lesson, their confidence to answer this type should increase. The final two tasks of the lesson involve another quiz, where the teams compete to transcribe and translate in the quickest time before using all that they have absorbed to answer some questions which involve the genetic code and the mRNA codon table
Some of the key biological topics are covered in topic 2 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) course and include the transport of materials across cell membranes, DNA structure and replication, protein synthesis and monohybrid inheritance. In line with this, many hours of intricate planning have gone into the design of all of the 19 lessons that are included in this bundle to ensure that the content is covered in detail, understanding is constantly checked to immediately address misconceptions and that engagement is high. This is achieved through the wide variety of tasks in the PowerPoints and accompanying worksheets which include exam-style questions with clear answers, discussion points, differentiated tasks and quick quiz competitions.
The following specification points are covered by the lessons within this bundle:
The properties of gas exchange surfaces in living organisms
Understand how the rate of diffusion is dependent on these properties and can be used in the calculation of the rate of diffusion by Fick’s law
Adaptations of the mammalian lung for rapid gaseous exchange
Structure and properties of cell membranes
Simple and facilitated diffusion as methods of passive transport
The involvement of ATP and carrier proteins in active transport, endocytosis and exocytosis
The basic structure of mononucleotides
The structures of DNA and RNA
The process of protein synthesis
The roles of the template strand, mRNA and tRNA
The nature of the genetic code
A gene is a sequence of bases on DNA that codes for the amino acid sequence of a polypeptide
The basic structure of an amino acid
The formation of polypeptides and proteins
The primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure of proteins
Globular and fibrous proteins using haemoglobin and collagen as examples
The mechanism of action and the specificity of enzymes
Enzymes are biological catalysts that reduce activation energy
The process of DNA replication
Errors in DNA replication can give rise to mutations
The meaning of key genetic terms
Patterns of inheritance, in the context of monohybrid inheritance
Understand how the expression of a gene mutation in people with cystic fibrosis impairs the functioning of the gaseous exchange, digestive and reproductive systems
Understand the uses and implications of genetic screening and prenatal testing
Due to the detail included in each of these lessons, it is estimated that it will take in excess of 2 months of allocated teaching time to cover the content.
If you would like to see the quality of the lessons, download the gas exchange surfaces, cell membranes, transcription, globular and fibrous proteins, monohybrid inheritance and cystic fibrosis lessons as these have been shared for free
This fully-resourced lesson describes the relationship between the structure, properties and functions of triglycerides in living organisms. The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets have been designed to be the first lesson in a series of two that cover specification points 2.1.2 (h), (i) & (j) of the OCR A-level Biology A course and the lesson contains numerous references to relevant future topics such as the importance of the myelin sheath for the conduction of an electrical impulse.
The lesson begins with a focus on the basic structure and roles of lipids, including the elements that are found in this biological molecule and some of the places in living organisms where they are found. Moving forwards, the students are challenged to recall the structure of the carbohydrates from earlier in the sub-module so that the structure of a triglyceride can be introduced. Students will learn that this macromolecule is formed from one glycerol molecule and three fatty acids and have to use their understanding of condensation reactions to draw the final structure. Time is taken to look at the difference in structure and properties of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids and students will be able to identify one from the other when presented with a molecular formula. The final part of the lesson explores how the various properties of a triglyceride mean that it has numerous roles in organisms including that of an energy store and source and as an insulator of heat and electricity.
This fully-resourced lesson describes the relationship between the structure and function of globular proteins, specifically focusing on haemoglobin, insulin and pepsin. The detailed and engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been primarily designed to cover specification point 2.1.2 (n) of the OCR A-level Biology A course but due to the detailed coverage of haemoglobin, the start of this lesson could also be used when teaching lessons that cover specification points 3.1.2 (i) and (j).
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to describe that the interactions of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic R groups results in a spherical shape that is soluble in water and be able to explain the importance of this property with reference to the individual functions of these three globular proteins. They will also be able to name key individual details for each protein, such as haemoglobin being a conjugated protein, insulin being linked by numerous disulfide bridges and pepsin’s low number of basic R groups meaning it is stable in the acidic environment of the stomach.
Extra time has gone into the planning of this lesson to ensure that links are continuously made to previous topics such as amino acids and the levels of protein structure as well as to upcoming topics like the control of blood glucose concentration that is covered in module 5.1.4.
This engaging lesson describes the relationship between the structure, properties and functions of a phopholipid and cholesterol. The PowerPoint has been written as the second lesson in a series of two that cover specification points 2.1.2 (h), (i) & (j) of the OCR A-level Biology A course and there is a particular focus on their roles in membranes to link to module 2.1.5.
In the previous lesson, the students met triglycerides and a quick quiz round called FAMILY AFFAIR is used at the start of the lesson to challenge the students on their knowledge of the structure of this macromolecule to identify the shared features in a phospholipid. This then allows the differences to be introduced, such as the presence of a phosphate group in place of the third fatty acid. Moving forwards, the students will learn that the two fatty acid tails are hydrophobic whilst the phosphate head is hydrophilic which leads into a key discussion point where the class has to consider how it is possible for the phospholipids to be arranged when both the inside and outside of a cell is an aqueous solution. The outcome of the discussion is the introduction of the bilayer which is critical for the lesson in module 2.1.5 on the fluid mosaic model. Students are briefly introduced to facilitated diffusion and reminded of active transport so they can recognise that proteins will be found in the membrane to allow for movement of large or polar molecules. The remainder of the lesson focuses on cholesterol, beginning with the structure. The hydrophobic nature of this molecule is then considered and discussed so that they can understand its role in the regulation of membrane fluidity. That just leaves one final quiz round which identifies vitamin D, testosterone and oestrogen as three substances that are formed from cholesterol
The biological molecules sub-module is incredibly important, not just because it is found near to the start of the course, but also because of its detailed content which must be well understood to promote success with most of the other OCR A-level Biology A modules. Many hours of intricate planning have gone into the design of all of the 13 lessons that are included in this bundle to ensure that the content is covered in detail, understanding is constantly checked and misconceptions addressed and that engagement is high. This is achieved through the wide variety of tasks in the PowerPoints and accompanying worksheets which include exam-style questions with clear answers, discussion points, differentiated tasks and quick quiz competitions.
The following specification points are covered by the lessons within this bundle:
The relationship between the properties of water and its roles for living organisms
The concept of monomers and polymers and the importance of condensation and hydrolysis reactions
The chemical elements that make up biological molecules
The ring structure and properties of glucose and structure of ribose
The synthesis and breakdown of a disaccharide and a polysaccharide
The relationship between the structures, properties and functions of starch, glycogen and cellulose
The structure of a triglyceride and a phospholipid as macromolecules
The synthesis and breakdown of triglycerides
The relationship between the properties and functions of triglycerides, phospholipids and cholesterol
The general structure of an amino acid
The synthesis and breakdown of dipeptides and polypeptides
The levels of protein structure
The structure and function of globular proteins
The properties and functions of fibrous proteins
The key inorganic ions that are involved in biological processes
How to carry out and interpret the results of the chemical tests for proteins, reducing and non-reducing sugars, starch and lipids
Due to the detail of each of these lessons, it is estimated that it will take in excess of 6 weeks of allocated teaching time to cover the content.
If you would like to see the quality of the lessons, download the properties of water, glucose & ribose, amino acids and dipeptides and polypeptides lessons as these have been shared for free
