I have been teaching science for over 30 years. although Biology is my specialism I have lots of experience of teaching Physics and Chemistry to GCSE. I am particularly interested in practical work and believe that all science teachers should be able to teach good practicals and give practical demos.
I have been teaching science for over 30 years. although Biology is my specialism I have lots of experience of teaching Physics and Chemistry to GCSE. I am particularly interested in practical work and believe that all science teachers should be able to teach good practicals and give practical demos.
A science Christmas quiz based around the plants and animals we associate with Christmas. Suitable for higher end KS2 and KS3 as an end of term activity. It looks at adaptations, classification and even science methodology so it reviews topics and has a bit of end of term Christmas fun.
Why choose this resource? It has easy to follow instructions that individual groups of students can use to extract DNA very successfully. It also has questions suitable for A level or Higher Biology students or a "good" class of Biology Triple GCSE students. Practical guide would be very useful for non-specialists.
This is for Edexcel A level Biology context-led course. There is information and questions to answer including an exam-style question. I have used and modified some slides from hmc keating's power point on this topic ( on the TES website), and have added some more to suit the teaching of the Edexcel course. Thanks to hmc Keating.
The blog link has a little etra about the Red Queen theory of evolution.
The aim of this resource is to get children outdoors looking for wild flowers according to the month. This month's sheet is for January - with the others in preparation. Outdoor learning enhances the well-being of children, is fun and instructive. In KS1 and 2 children have to learn some of the common names of living things around them and this resource enables teachers to do this, with plants that can be found around the playground in this case. The short descriptions about each plant are written for children aged 6 to 9 years, so can be used individually as well as a class resource.
To share your children's finds – just post them on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #herbologyhunt or in our new Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/530501890646957/
Bioaccumulation
This power point gives an increasing number of clues to help students work out why people died in the disaster at Minamata. (Bioacccumulation of mercury in the food chain.)
My top set Yr 8s enjoyed the challenge.
This could be used as a starter for a lesson on adaptations or just as a general biology "thinking" starter. I will use it for my Year 12s who have just done stem and leaf structure. There are suggested questions and some background about the cabbage white caterpillars on the power point. Further details available at
http://wilsonevescience.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/adaptations-caterpillars.html
This resource based on AQA Trilogy, helps students review and consolidate their knowledge in an engaging way. Students usually like “puzzles” and I hope this may make revision more interesting. In this resource there are grids of sixteen words and phrases commonly found in a particular topic such as “digestion”, Topics are: Evolution, Evidence for Evolution, Selective breeding and GM, Adaptation, Interrelationships and Competition, Ecosystems, Biodiversity, and Human Interaction with the Environment and Practical Techniques. Students have to find 4 groups of four words/phrases that are linked in some way. By doing so they show understanding of how the words/phrases are linked and the resource can be further developed by asking students to explain the links either verbally or in written form. The answers are given in the resource so students can check their work. The resource is given in power point and word. Individual word walls can be printed and given as homework. It can be differentiated by condensing some of the phrases to just words. The phrases and sentence starters in some of the walls make linking easier
This resource based on AQA Trilogy, helps students review and consolidate their knowledge in an engaging way. Students usually like “puzzles” and I hope this may make revision more interesting. In this resource there are grids of sixteen words and phrases commonly found in a particular topic such as “digestion”, Topics are: Cells, Digestion, Blood and circulation, Plant tissues and transport, Disease, Disease prevention, Drugs, Photosynthesis and Respiration. Students have to find 4 groups of four words/phrases that are linked in some way. By doing so they show understanding of how the words/phrases are linked and the resource can be further developed by asking students to explain the links either verbally or in written form. The answers are given in the resource so students can check their work. The resource is given in power point and word. Individual word walls can be printed and given as homework. It can be differentiated by condensing some of the phrases to just words. The phrases and sentence starters in some of the walls make linking easier.
This is aimed at AQA GCSE Science and Biology Students as a review and revision tool. This resource revises the topics of the nervous system, homeostasis and DNA and genes. It emulates the “Only Connect” wall where students have to find connections between four items and find 4 groups of four in a grid of 16. In doing this they reveal their understanding of key terms and the associations between them. It is a more interesting way to revise and review knowledge and understanding. There are 6 walls presented in a power point and in word, with answers supplied. Can be used in class or for homework.
Tried and tested for Year 6 and written by a secondary school biology teacher, these activities work well. Particularly suited for teachers not confident with the content of this part of the science curriculum. Students have some "hands-on" activities and they learn the characteristics of the major groups. There are activities included on using and devising keys. There is enough material here for 2 hours work or more.
This whole-lesson resource provide you with an assessment of how well students can use a microscope and their knowledge of microscopes and cells. It works very well with KS3 students, but I have also used it as revision with KS4 students. There is an incentive to do well as each student will receive a certificate for completion of the practical work. This resource has materials for a whole one hour lesson.
This has a handy way to help students memorise the Kreb's cycle. There are diagrams illustrating various steps in respiration with questions for students to answer. This is useful to review or revise the topic. There is a power point with answers and a word document with answers to allow some differentiation in the way students mark their work.
Choose this resource to liven up your lesson on plant diseases. It has a practical that works and delighted some teachers recently at a workshop. It has differentiated tasks to extend the more able. It reviews work on fungi and viruses.
Here are two lessons of resources for the new science GCSE ( 2016) unit on Health and Disease. Written for the AQA scheme but will apply to other boards. Initially there are pictures to provoke thoughts about health and what health means.There is a differentiated literacy activity on different types of disease. It also contains a practical activity illustrating how diseases are communicated, which can be extended to allow students to analyse the data collected and develop mathematical skills. Finally there is some information and there are differentiated activities about the interactions between diseases.
The resource contains a power point and accompanying lesson plan. There are instructions for the practical simulation and a worksheet about types of disease.
Why choose this resource? It provides material for a whole lesson. It has instructions for a piece of practical work that the students will enjoy and helps them learn skills such as manipulation and dissection. The practical work is directly linked to the task of learning the parts of the flower. It has some clear diagrams that help explain pollination and some great pictures. It has differentiated tasks and a homework!
Why choose this resource? It has the most brilliant way for students to see stomata - you will never use a different method again! Apart from which there are ready made plan diagrams of a leaf for students to annotate and 3 different presentations of information for them to interpret depending on their ability. The power point explains meristems which has appeared in the AQA trilogy, ( never seen it at GCSE before!)
A primary colleague asked me how she could incorporate some practical activity when teaching evolution to Year 6. This activity models different types of bird catching a variety of prey and how their success rate might change given a different environment. It was a huge success with Year 6. The presentation sets the scene and the students experience recording results and interpreting them. The results we got from our class are included and there is a worksheet on these that can be used or adapted. There is scope for questioning the students about reliability of results and whether this is a valid way of collecting data.
Ideal for new teachers and/or busy teachers. Three different homeworks here. This resource saves time as it has answers to the questions so that the students can mark it themselves or peer-mark. One homework includes approx GCSE grades to give an idea of attainment. All homeworks have an extension question.