Pairs of words that students might confuse, in meaning and/or spelling. Pick a specific slide to use in a lesson or pick one at random to fill a few spare minutes at the start or end of a lesson.

Useful starter activity. 3 tables on a sheet.

Powerpoint slide to add into any lesson presentation on scale / microscopy / orders of magnitude / standard form. Also 4 on a page to print off on labels to be stuck inside exercise books for easy reference. Formatting looks a bit off on the preview but it prints off fine.

Differentiated card sorts. Sheet 1 has less text than sheet 2. Could be KS3 and KS4 or less and more able. I use them as starter activities. Print on card and cut up, put in small zip bags. Could be used as a starter to assess prior knowledge or as a plenary to assess learning in the lesson.

Lesson presentation on the need for handwashing. Slide 2 is a learning framework. Slides 3-4 are for you to print off for yourself. I’ve just copied and pasted the text that accompanies the video clips that are hyperlinked on those slides. Slide 5 shows how to set up agar plates to grow microbes. Use permanent markers to label the bottom of the agar plate. Add name to the rim of the lid then keep lid on with 2 small pieces of tape. DO NOT SEAL. When microbes grown you will be able to see through the lid (or base) without opening it. DO NOT OPEN CONTAMINATED PLATES. When plates have been observed in a second lesson, use slide 6 to draw microbial growth and conclusions. Label diagrams identifying differences between bacterial colonies and fungal growth. COLLECT PLATES AND GIVE TO TECHNICIAN TO AUTOCLAVE.

This could be done as a revision task to assess understanding of concepts. I have found it most useful as an alternative homework task. Students either love it or hate it. Those that love doing these want to do more. Some just don’t get it. I have always found that more students do the homework if they have a choice of activities. Consider this as one alternative. I usually print off 4 slides to a page. Slides 1-3 and one other. Print off landscape so that each slide is easier to read.

This is not an original idea. Plenty to read about it on-line. But I put this slide together to use as a template. Just change the word in the middle and print off.

Four different organisms and some of their various adaptations. Cut out, match up and stick in exercise book. Could also be done as a card sort (starter or plenary) Easy to differentiate LAPS - cut off bottom 4 boxes. Aimed at KS3 and GCSE.

Aimed at GCSE Trilogy AQA.

Powerpoint presentation with lesson on microscopes and a video link to clip explaining light, scanning and transmission electron microscopes. Then activity to sort sizes and link to type of microscopes needed to see things. Answers are on the presentation. There is a worksheet for students to fill in as they go around the room to look at the lists of mis-ordered words. This always takes longer than I expect. It is worth putting a time limit on time spent at each list. Leave plenty of time to go through answer slides so that you can discuss any disagreements. It is worth having some electron microscope images for students to guess at as a plenary. The one I use was not done by me so I haven’t included it but I am fairly sure I downloaded it from TES resources. It is called ‘Amazing images through the eyes of the electron microscope’ and the author is Craig Prestidge.

This is just four slides so not a whole lesson but hopefully you will be able to copy them into your own lessons and I have done the fiddly work for you. This could be used as a plenary to apply learning to a new situation i.e. labelling a real micrograph of a plant cell. The first two slides show the cell labelled and unlabelled. You need to show this in slideshow in order to label the cell one sub-cellular structure at a time. The second two slides are a cloze activity. Again answers will fill in one at a time in slideshow. I print off the cells onto label sheets, 4 to a page. I’ve supplied these. Stick into centre of the page so that you can add labels around it. Some of my students need missing words on the table in front of them, so I have supplied these. Some also need to fill in gaps on a sheet due to time constraints or poor/slow handwriting, so I’ve supplied these as well.

This is preparation for the Reaction time required practical in AQA GCSE Trilogy. Slide 1 is a learning framework for the lesson. Slide 2 provides the key words for the lesson. Can simply be a visual aid to introduce the vocabulary. I tend to print this slide off for individuals in the class who would benefit from their own copy and for TAs. More able students use this as a basis for a mind map to make links between key words. Slide 3-5 are pictures of root hairs Slide 6-7 describe transpiration Slide 8-10 show how stomata work Slide 11 has a link to a YouTube video on 'sticky water’ Slide 12 explains transpiration in more detail Slide 13 Questions Slide 14 diagram of a potometer -need to explain how it works Slide 15 gives a method for setting up a practical on surface area of leaves and rate of transpiration. Two sheets supplied one has diagrams of transpiration to go with slide 12 and the other has diagrams of open and closed stomata to go with slides 9-10. I include these simply because I find them useful for particular students with my mixed ability classes. If I know a particular student makes a meal of using glue, I will print directly onto labels for them. I keep a supply of 4 labels to a page for this purpose.

I wrote this song in the shower one morning. It just came to me. (Sing to the tune of Frere Jacques.) At that time I had a particularly joyful class who I thought would like it, as a bit of fun. However I have since used it with classes of all ages and all abilities. We have also done very simple actions. ( Not as popular with the older ones.) I have even witnessed students mouthing the words during an exam! I hope you have as much fun with it as I have done over the years.

This is preparation for the Reaction time required practical in AQA GCSE Trilogy. Slide 2 is a learning framework for the lesson. Slide 3 provides the key words for the lesson. Can simply be a visual aid to introduce the vocabulary. I tend to print this slide off for individuals in the class who would benefit from their own copy and for TAs. More able students use this as a basis for a mind map to make links between key words. Slide 4 is a picture diagram of a reflex arc. Slide 5 shows a simplified version of previous slide with questions to answer. Differentiate by number of examples given in Q4. Slide 6 is a fill in the gaps cloze. Slide 7 inserts the answers to slide 6. Slide 8 shows a synapse. Slide 9 gives details of each neurone. Slide 10 is a literacy activity. Slide 11 - instructions for a simple ruler drop test. This is a short practical so that students understand what to do for the Required practical next lesson. Slide 12 - Plenary Two sheets supplied one has the diagrams and the other has the questions and cloze. I include these simply because I find them useful for particular students with my mixed ability classes. If I know a particular student makes a meal of using glue, I will print directly onto labels for them. I keep a supply of 4 labels to a page for this purpose.

Print onto A4, chop in half to A5. Keep a supply for pupils who just can’t draw a test tube.

Useful for less able students who struggle to draw axes and identify where to put the numbers. Don’t be put off by the formatting on the preview, it downloads and prints off fine.

This worksheet allows students the opportunity to decide if an adaptation is structural, functional or behavioural. Written with AQA Trilogy in mind. Also included Powerpoint slide with answers to be used for self or peer assessment of worksheet.

Consolidation of scientific vocabulary. GCSE written for AQA Trilogy. Will fit onto a single page in an A4 exercise book. Answer sheet also included.

Consolidation of scientific vocabulary. GCSE written for AQA Trilogy. Will fit onto a single page in an A4 exercise book. Answer sheet also included.

Watch video (find on YouTube) whilst answering questions. Approx. 20 mins video. Can be answered on the sheet with (mostly) single word answers.