A questionnaire that can be given to students as part of a homework or research task on the subject of MMR vaccinations. The questions are thought provoking and force students to think about how they would act in the situation of getting their own children vaccinated. This activity works well as a starter activity to ignite debate - particularly when students are tasked with using this questionnaire on members of their own family and reporting the results back to class.

A resource aimed at GCSE (14-16 year old) students and tailored specifically for AQA specifications, this crossword provides 16 crossword clues that relate to key vocabulary covered in the topic of mitosis (e.g. cytokinesis, interphase, centromere, chromosome, etc). This resource is ideal for students to practice using key vocabulary and can be used as either a starter or plenary task in lessons. An answer key is provided on the second page. Key words: Mitosis, interphase, cytokinesis, chromosome, division, nucleus, paternal, maternal, gene, cancer, asexual, growth, repair, centromere, clone, identical

A worksheet aimed at advanced biology students, this resource focuses on how the HIV virus has evolved resistance to drug treatments over the last few decades and how some individuals have evolved resistance to the virus. The resource contains two articles (from BBC News and Medical News Today) as stimulus material followed by questions that require students to link their knowledge to these real-life applied examples. This resource is ideal stretch and challenge material for more able students once they have completed a topic on evolution. Key words: HIV, resistance, evolution, disease, virus, AIDS, drugs, medicine

A worksheet aimed at advanced biology students, this resource aims to clarify details that students often struggle with in their understanding of meiosis. The worksheet requires students to draw a pair of chromosomes in a cell that will undergo meiotic cell division; students are asked to label the pair of chromosomes with genes and show the appearance of these chromosomes after DNA replication has occured, after meiosis I and after meiosis II. The worksheet also includes questions that students are required to answer in order to test their understanding of meiosis. This resource is a valuable exercise to conduct with students in order to identify and address misconceptions/misunderstandings that can often occur in this topic. Keywords: meiosis, chromosomes, interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase, DNA, replication, diploid, haploid, gene, loci, heterozygous, homozygous

This resource is aimed at advanced biology students and includes two differentiated practical schedules for the observation of phototactic behaviour in blowfly larvae (maggotts). Both schedules include a brief introduction to the nature of taxis behaviour, followed by details of the practical task. A table to collate data is provided, followed by a step-by-step method of using the chi-squared test to assess statistical significance. The worksheet for higher ability students also contains extra challenge questions on the reason for statistical testing and the rationale for using chi-squared. Key words: behaviour, blowfly larvae, maggotts, statistics, phototaxis, light, response, chi-squared

A resource aimed at advanced biology students, this is a revision worksheet with associated check questions and answers on the topic of human population changes. Included are topics on calculating percentage population growth, demographic pyramids, demographic transition patterns and survival curves. The worksheet concludes with exam-style questions with mark schemes for students to check their understanding.

A resource aimed at applied science/health and social care or medical physics students (either level 2 or 3) that provides a vocational discussion on how radiopharmaceuticals are used in the treatment and diagnosis of illnesses. The worksheet contains twelve questions that students are required to answer while the video plays (link to youtube video is provided on the worksheet). This is best used as a starter activity for this topic and as a prompt for further discussion. Asking students to answer questions while they watch the video helps to ensure that they are actively engaged and that they have a record of the information in their notes afterwards. Key words: radiopharmaceuticals, isotopes, cancer, radiotherapy, imaging, gamma, beta, alpha, radiation

A worksheet aimed at advanced level biology or applied science students, this resource provides several question prompts that require students to research norm blood count values and the nature of various diseases and disorders of the blood: leukaemia, sleeping sickness, anaemia and malaria. The worksheet includes weblinks and references for students to use as part of their research. Key words: blood, count, malaria, leukaemia, sleeping sickness, trypanosomes, plasmodium, anaemia, red blood cells, white blood cells, erythrocytes, leukocyctes

A starter worksheet aimed at GCSE Biology students, this resource provides five questions that recap basic definitions and the concept of magnification. The final questions require students to make measurements of the bacterial cell diagram and calculate magnification of the image (converting millimetres to micrometeres in the process). A useful resource to use in order to reinforce some of the basic ideas on the topic of bacterial/prokaryotic cells. Key words: AQA, biology, bacterial cells, magnification, micrometres, prokaryotic

A resource aimed at GCSE biology students, this worksheet provides a brief review of basic key terms (e.g. antibody, antigen, phagocyte, lymphocyte) followed by more open ended and challenging questions that require students to fully explain the principles of active immunity in their own words. Key words: active, immunity, phagocyte, lymphocyte, vaccination, antibody, antigen

A worksheet aimed at A-Level Biology students which begins with a quiz on key word definitions (e.g. habitat, population, community, ecosystem, biotic factor, abiotic factor) and then moves on to the concept of diversity. The worksheet includes an exercise on calculating diversity index for two habitats and subsequent interpretation of results. Keywords: Biodiversity, habitat, population, biotic, abiotic, ecosystem, community, population, diversity index

A resource aimed at advanced biology students that looks at how organisms (a kagaroo rat is used as an example) in desert environments have both physiological and behavioural adaptations to cope with their environment. Key words: osmoregulation, behavioural, physiological, desert, water potential, osmosis, kidney, loop of Henle, cortex, medulla, sweating

A worksheet aimed at advanced biology students, this resource provides 27 questions on the topic of gas echange across insects, amoeba, fish and mammals. Each question requires a simple one or two word answer. This is a useful exercise to use as a starter recap on the basics once these topics have been taught. Key words: gas exchange, fish, amoeba, insects, mammals

A worksheet aimed at advanced level biology students which serves to review the reasons for the hydrophilic/hydrophobic nature of phospholipids. The worksheet also contains simple matching tasks for the name of a component in the fluid mosaic model and its function.

Climate change is sometime a 'dry' topic and difficult to include much in the way of practical experiences for students. This worksheet contains a practical procedure that looks at the effect of temperature on the heart rate of Daphnia and the resultant impact on ecosystems. There is also provision for the analysis of results using 95% confidence limits and standard error. An engaging way to look at the impacts of climate change and global warming on living organisms. Key words: Daphnia, heart rate, climate change, global warming, temperature, food chains, ecology, 95% confidence limits and standard error

Biological molecules is often a topic that students struggle with in A-Level Biology. This resource provides a table in which students can pull together all their notes on the different categories of molecules, including carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Nucleic acids are also included as extension and to foster links between different units.

This resource is aimed at GCSE (14-16 year old) biology students and consists of two worksheets. The first worksheet is an introduction to the concept of cells, tissues, organs and organ systems and involves a mix and match task to sort key definitions. The worksheet also has a table to fill in with specific examples of cells, tissues, organs and organ systems. The second worksheet consists of eleven questions that are related to an online video that neatly (in the space of 3-4 minutes) introduces the topic of the digestive system. Students watch the video (link to the video is provided on the worksheet) and answer the questions as they go. This is ideal to use as a starter task for a lesson on the digestive system.

A worksheet resource that could be used by either 14-16 or 16-18 year old biology students, this resource provides an 'active video' task on the history of thalidomide with a series of question prompts that students complete while watching the video clip. the video clip can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0QpnqjKGJo The video clip provides an overview of the thalidomide tragedy and how the United States stood their ground in refusing a drug licence while the disaster played out across the rest of the world. This is a good activity to set the scene for any topic on how drugs are developed and the importance of drug testing and clinical trials. Key words: Thalidomide, disaster, focomelia, drugs, clinical trials, pharmaceutical, USA, regulations

A worksheet aimed at advanced biology students consisting of a lengthy passage of text on the topic of passive and active transport. The passage requires key words to be added in the appropriate places. Once complete, students have a written record summary of both passive and active transport processes. This is a good activity to complete at the end of this topic and reinforces key words and vocabulary with students. Suggested answers to each missing space are given at the end of this worksheet

This activity sheet is suitable for A-Level Biology and BTEC Level 3 Science students; it is part of my DRAW IT series and contains a list of descriptions that detail how competitive and non-competitive inhibitors work. Students are tasked with reading each description carefully and then illustrating each description; meanwhile, other students in the class can be given the textbook style diagrams and are asked to provide a written commentary. After both sets of students have finished, they can then be paired up and tasked with comparing their written notes/ illustrations and explain the process to each other. Finally, the lesson can be concluded by asking students to verbally describe each step in the process during a question and answer plenary. I first devised DRAW IT tasks as a way of turning fairly dry subject material into something more interactive and student led. DRAW IT tasks can easily change a teacher led session into a much more engaging, enjoyable and competitive classroom activity.