Bioscience Rocks is a shop that specialises in resources for A-Level Biology and Applied Science students. The resources include a range of activities, starters, worksheets and powerpoints, all of which have been used successfully with students of a wide range of abilities. The author is a National Expert Teacher of Science (awarded by National Science Learning Centre) and also a National Space Academy Lead Educator with a long track record of producing high quality educational resources.
Bioscience Rocks is a shop that specialises in resources for A-Level Biology and Applied Science students. The resources include a range of activities, starters, worksheets and powerpoints, all of which have been used successfully with students of a wide range of abilities. The author is a National Expert Teacher of Science (awarded by National Science Learning Centre) and also a National Space Academy Lead Educator with a long track record of producing high quality educational resources.
An activity aimed at either 7-10 year olds (simply do the activity described on the first two pages and ask students to describe their observations) or 11-14 year old students(ask students to complete the worksheet of questions on diffusion), this resource provides a really engaging way of of showing students the phenomenon of diffusion in a quick, simple, creative and edible way!
Students are tasked with creating a simple picture or image on a plate using vegetable oil and a drinking straw. Skittle sweets/candy are then added to each area of the image and water is added. The colours from the skittle sweets/candy will start to diffuse and spread across the plate, colouring the image in. The colours are prevented from running into each other by the lines of oil.
The activity provides a great way of discussing key questions such as why the colours are spreading, why are some colours spreading faster than others, what effect different temperature water has on the rate of spread of the colour and why oil stops the colours from spreading any further. Most importantly though, the investigation is a FUN science activity tailored to Christmas!
The resource includes: Instruction sheet with diagrams, question worksheet for 11-14 year olds and various templates designs for Christmas pictures
Key words: diffusion, colour, art, christmas, santa, holly, reindeer, fun, skittles, spread, investigation
A bumper collection of seventeen resources (worth £35 individually!) including starter activities, guides to experiments, detailed worksheets and independent research tasks on the topic of cells, membranes, magnification and microscopes. All resources are aimed at advanced level study and would best suit biology students, although some resources could well be used by physical education or health and social care/applied science students.
Please view the description of each resource for more details.
Further resources from the same author can be found at Bioscience Rocks:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/cmrcarr
This is a highly engaging activity aimed at 11-16 year olds, but which could easily be adapted for younger children. The activity involves producing a simple microscope from a plastic tumbler, cling film and water. By placing water into a cling film well, students create a lens which refracts light and magnifies objects that can be viewed at the bottom of a plastic tube. Students can alter the shape of the lens and the amount of water to see the impact on magnification. The activity sheets include full instructions (with photographs) on how to set up the microscope and also a table of results for students to fill in details of specimen size, image size and calculate the magnification.
For younger students , the second page of the activity sheet provides details of how to set up the microscope; students could then be taken on a nature trail or encouraged to observe small specimens around the room (sweets work well!)
Key words: magnification, activity, microscope, specimen, lens, refraction
