A resource designed for A-Level Biology students, this worksheet provides questions and diagrams to develop and consolidate student's understanding of the circulatory system layout and structure of the heart. The first page contains questions relating to the dual circuit found in mammals and clarifies the nature of arteries, veins and oxygenated/deoxygenated blood. The second page contains a detailed and labelled diagram of the heart that would provide a useful reference during a heart dissection. The final questions are ideal follow up questions to answer post-dissection or possibly to act as prompts for a teacher to ask during the dissection. The resource is differentiated - the first worksheet provides a diagram of the heart with full labels. The second worksheet has number prompts instead and an instruction to use available textbooks, etc to provide the labels. If you have planned to deliver a heart dissection practical, this is very much a self-contained resource that will serve as a starter and plenary for your session. Key words: heart, dissection, valves, atria, ventricles, aorta, pulmonary, artery, vein

An activity aimed at advanced level biology students, this resource consists of two worksheets that can be used together or separately. The first worksheet begins with a research task that requires students to make their own notes on key processes involved with glucose control; weblinks and animation references are included and this could be set as a homework the week before the topic commences in class. The second worksheet has a recap of the research learning points before continuing into a long-response question carrying a maximum of ten marks. Students are required to use their initial research to answer the long question: 'Describe the factors that influence blood glucose concentration and explain how the body responds to changes in blood glucose levels' before self marking using the mark scheme provided. Key words: glucose, homeostasis, glucagon, insulin, glycogenolysis, gluconeogenesis, glycogen, starch, blood, diabetes

A starter worksheet aimed at 14-16 year old biology students, this resource provides a recap of binary fission in bacterial cells. The worksheet covers several areas including the conditions necessary for optimal growth of bacteria, calculation of how many bacteria will be produced after a given time period, aseptic technique and a final challenge question requiring students to calculate magnification of a bacterial cell diagram. An ideal resource to recap several different concepts and skills in the topic of microbiology. Key words: microbiology, bacteria, agar, aseptic, colonies, binary fission

A resource aimed at advanced level biology students, this worksheet provides a research task on the theory, mechanisms and applications of DNA fingerprinting. Several questions/prompts are provided along with weblinks to online resources for students to use during their research. Keywords: DNA, fingerprinting, restriction fragment length polymorphism, microsatellite, short tandem repeat, unique, forensic, paternity

A resource aimed at advanced biology students, this worksheet provides an overview of the nervous system including how different parts are categorised, how nerve impulses are relayed around the body and the structure of different types of neurones. A useful exercise to give to students at the start of a topic on the nervous system. Key words: nervous system, neurones, relay, sensory, motor, cns, pns, autonomic, reflex arc, sympathetic, parasympathetic

A series of six worksheets aimed at advanced biology students, this comprehensive resource provides a series of exercises that discuss the role and properties of haemoglobin. This resource includes a starter task for initial discussion on the behaviour of haemoglobin followed by more detailed discussion on the nature of the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve, Bohr shift, haemoglobin in other organisms and comparison of adult haemoglobin to foetal haemoglobin and myoglobin. Key words: haemoglobin, Bohr shift, oxyhaemoglobin, dissociation, oxygen, carbon dioxide, chloride shift, respiration, partial pressure, myoglobin

Worksheet that discusses how plasmids from bacteria are recombined with donor DNA. The worksheet illustrates how screening for bacteria that have successfully taken up modified plasmids works, along with the use of antibiotic resistant marker genes.

A worksheet aimed at advanced biology students that introduces the concept of disease. The worksheet covers categories of disease (e.g. infectious, lifestyle, inherited), examples of disease, mechanisms of infectious disease, interfaces for pathogens and interpretation of epidemiological patterns.

A detailed worksheet/activity that introduces the idea of calorimetry as a means of measuring the energy value of foods. The worksheet provides space for initial readings and subsequent calculations. There is discussion of how to calculate and use specific heat capacity followed by questions on the limitations of this investigation. Finally, as extension material, the worksheet has an exercise on spearman rank statistical test to see whether there is a link between the amount of energy in food and the fat content. Suitable for use with A-Level biology students as a part of a practical investigation during any topic on energy transfer, food chains, etc. Key words: Energy, food chains, specific heat capacity, spearman rank, statistical test, fat, combustion, burning, calorimeter

A worksheet aimed at advanced biology students, this comprehensive set of worksheets can effectively be used to introduce the concept of homeostasis (focusing on negative feedback mechanisms and the need to keep a steady state) and thermoregulation. Students can work their way through each section of the worksheet before a class discussion to check understanding - for some sections a teacher may decide to lead on an explanation before using the worksheet exercises as a way of checking understanding. Key words: homeostasis, negative feedback, thermoregulation, sweating, vasoconstriction, vasodilation, piloerection, shivering

A resource aimed at advanced biology students, this comprehensive four-page worksheet covers an overview of kidney anatomy, blood vessel arrangements, filtration at the glomerulus and interpretation of micrograph images of podocytes at the renal capsule. Key words: kidney, transplant, dialysis, glomerulus, filtration, proximal convoluted tubule, distal convoluted tubule, loop of Henle, collecting duct, aldosterone, anti diuretic hormone, osmosis, reuptake, hydrostatic pressure

A worksheet (three different versions are included) that is aimed at Advanced Biology students and which discusses how heart rate is controlled by both the brain and hormones. Each worksheet has a slightly different emphasis and can be adapted to the needs of your class. Topics covered include: 1. How the heart is innervated by the brain 2. The nature of sympathetic and parasympathetic control 3. The involvement of hormones in controlling heart rate 4. The action of neurotransmitters at synapses 5. The action of drugs that can affect the cardiac cycle 6. How chemoreceptors and baroreceptors are involved in maintaining a constant blood pressure

Aimed at advanced biology students, this resource leads students through the design and use of a respirometer. The first few questions deal with causes of pressure changes inside a respirometer tube and predicting the direction in which fluid within a manometer tube would flow. The worksheet then moves on to cover two different investigations - measuring the amount of oxygen consumed over time and measuring the amount of carbon dioxide produced over time. Tables for the recording of data and calculations (e.g. converting distance measurments to volumes) are provided along with questions that check understanding. The data gathered from both oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide can be plotted as graphs to calculate rate of respiration or used to calculate RQ values, indicating which respiratory substrate is being used by the organisms under test (blowfly larvae are suggested). The second worksheet in this resource deals specifically with a thermo-barometrically balanced respirometer and calculation/interpretation of RQ values. Key words: respirometer, manometer, blowfly larvae, maggots, rate, RQ value, volume, distance, temperature, control, potassium hydroxide, thermo-barometrically balanced