A Science teacher by trade, I've also been known to be found teaching Maths and PE! However, strange as it may seem, my real love is designing resources that can be used by other teachers to maximise the experience of the students. I am constantly thinking of new ways to engage a student with a topic and try to implement that in the design of the lessons.
A Science teacher by trade, I've also been known to be found teaching Maths and PE! However, strange as it may seem, my real love is designing resources that can be used by other teachers to maximise the experience of the students. I am constantly thinking of new ways to engage a student with a topic and try to implement that in the design of the lessons.
This revision lesson has been designed to challenge the students on their use of a range of mathematical skills that could be assessed on the AQA GCSE Combined Science papers. The mathematical element of the AQA GCSE Combined Science course has increased significantly since the specification change and therefore success in those questions which involve the use of maths can prove to be the difference between one grade and another or possibly even more.
The engaging PowerPoint and accompanying resources contain a wide range of activities that include exam-style questions with displayed mark schemes and explanations so that students can assess their progress. Other activities include differentiated tasks, class discussion points and quick quiz competitions such as “YOU DO THE MATH” and “FILL THE VOID”.
The following mathematical skills (in a scientific context) are covered in this lesson:
The use of Avogadro’s constant
Rearranging the formula of an equation
Calculating the amount in moles using mass and relative formula mass
Calculating the relative formula mass for formulae with brackets
Using the Periodic Table to calculate the number of sub-atomic particles in atoms
Changes to electrons in ions
Balancing chemical symbol equations
Converting between units
Calculating concentration in grams per dm cubed and volumes of solutions
Calculating size using the magnification equation
Using the mean to estimate the population of a sessile species
Calculating percentages to prove the importance of biodiversity
Calculating percentage change
Calculating the acceleration from a velocity-time graph
Recalling and applying the Physics equations
Understanding prefixes that determine size
Leaving answers to significant figures and using standard form
Helpful hints and step-by-step guides are used throughout the lesson to support the students and some of the worksheets are differentiated two ways to provide extra assistance.
Due to the detail of this lesson, it is estimated that it will take in excess of 3 hours of GCSE teaching time to cover the tasks and for this reason it can be used over a number of lessons as well as during different times of the year for revision.
This lesson describes the relationship between the size of an organism or structure and its surface to volume ratio. The PowerPoint and accompanying worksheets have been designed to cover point 3.1 of the AQA A-level Biology specification and also have been specifically planned to prepare the students for the upcoming lessons in topic 3 on gas exchange and absorption in the ileum.
The students are likely to have been introduced to the ratio at GCSE, but understanding of its relevance tends to be mixed. Therefore, real life examples are included throughout the lesson that emphasise the importance of the surface area to volume ratio in order to increase this relevance. A lot of students worry about the maths calculations that are associated with this topic so a step by step guide is included at the start of the lesson that walks them through the calculation of the surface area, the volume and then the ratio. Through worked examples and understanding checks, SA/V ratios are calculated for cubes of increasing side length and living organisms of different size. These comparative values will enable the students to conclude that the larger the organism or structure, the lower the surface area to volume ratio. A differentiated task is then used to challenge the students to explain the relationship between the ratio and the metabolic demands of an organism and this leads into the next part of the lesson, where the adaptations of larger organisms to increase the ratio at their exchange surfaces is covered. The students will calculate the SA/V ratio of a human alveolus (using the surface area and volume formulae for a sphere) and will see the significant increase that results from the folding of the membranes. This is further demonstrated by the villi and the microvilli on the enterocytes that form the epithelial lining of these folds in the ileum. The final part of the lesson introduces Fick’s law of diffusion so that students are reminded that the steepness of a concentration gradient and the thickness of a membrane also affect the rate of diffusion.
The AQA specification states that a minimum of 10% of the marks across the 3 assessment papers will require the use of mathematical skills. This revision lesson has been designed to include a wide range of activities that challenge the students on these exact skills because success in the maths in biology questions can prove the difference between one grade and the next!
Step-by-step guides are used to walk students through the application of a number of the formulae and then exam-style questions with clear mark schemes (which are included in the PowerPoint) will allow them to assess their progress. Other activities include differentiated tasks, group discussions and quick quiz competitions such as “FROM NUMBERS 2 LETTERS” and “YOU DO THE MATH”.
The lesson has been written to cover as much of the mathematical requirements section of the specification as possible but the following have been given particular attention:
Hardy-Weinberg equation
Chi-squared test
Calculating size
Converting between quantitative units
Standard deviation
Estimating populations of sessile and motile species
Percentages and percentage change
Cardiac output
Geometry
Due to the detail and extensiveness of this lesson, it is estimated that it will take in excess of 2/3 hours of A-level teaching time to work through the activities and it can be used throughout the duration of the course
This resource has been designed to motivate students whilst they evaluate their understanding of the content in modules 1, 2, 3 and 5 of the OCR A-level Biology A specification which can be assessed in PAPER 1 (Biological processes). The resource includes a detailed and engaging Powerpoint (149 slides) and is fully-resourced with differentiated worksheets that challenge the students on a wide range of topics.
The resource has been written to include different types of activities such as exam questions with explained answers, understanding checks and quiz competitions. The aim was to cover as much of the specification content as possible but the following topics have been given particular attention:
Monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides
Glycogen and starch as stores and providers of energy
The homeostatic control of blood glucose concentration
Osmoregulation
Lipids
Ultrafiltration and selective reabsorption
Diabetes mellitus
Voluntary and involuntary muscle
The autonomic control of heart rate
The organisation of the nervous system
The gross structure of the human heart
Haemoglobin and the Bohr shift
Bonding
The ultrastructure of plant cells
Cyclic vs non-cyclic photophosphorylation
Oxidative phosphorylation
Anaerobic respiration in eukaryotes
Helpful hints and tips are given throughout the resource to help students to structure their answers. This resource can be used in the lead up to the actual Paper 1 exam or earlier in the course when a particular area of modules 1, 2, 3 or 5 is being studied.
If you are happy with this resource, why not look at the one which has been designed for Paper 2 (Biological diversity)?
This bundle contains 8 revision lessons which use multiple-choice assessments consisting of 20 questions to challenge the students on their knowledge and understanding of all 8 topics in the AQA A-level biology specification. In addition to the assessments, each lesson includes a PowerPoint which reveals the answers and contains additional questions to check on further knowledge and detail.
If you would like to sample the quality of these lessons, then download the topic 1 and 6 revision lessons as these have been uploaded for free.
This detailed and engaging lesson supports students with their revision in the build up to their UNIT 1 mocks or final assessment. The wide range of tasks and activities will challenge them on their knowledge of Molecules, Diet, Transport and Health (topics 1 and 2) of the Edexcel International A-level biology specification, allowing them to identify any areas which require further attention before the examinations.
Included in the range of tasks are exam-style questions and understanding checks and all answers are embedded into the PowerPoint. There are quiz rounds to maintain engagement and to encourage healthy competition, as well as guided discussion periods to provide opportunities for students to support each other.
The following content is directly covered by this revision lesson:
The nature of the genetic code
Globular and fibrous proteins
Protein structure
Haemoglobin and the affinity for oxygen
The role of the heart valves in the cardiac cycle
The course of events that lead to atherosclerosis
Passive and active transport
DNA replication
The structure and function of starch
Genetic terminology
Codominance
Sex-linked diseases
Many of the tasks have been differentiated to maintain challenge whilst providing access to all.
This is an extensive lesson with many tasks so it is estimated that it will take over 3 hours of teaching time if covered in full, but teachers may choose to use sections to focus on a specific topic.
This is a fully-resourced REVISION lesson that challenges the students on their knowledge of the content found in TOPIC 4 (Biodiversity and Natural resources) of the Edexcel A-level Biology (Salters Nuffield) specification. The lesson contains an engaging PowerPoint (104 slides) and accompanying worksheets that use a range of exam questions, differentiated tasks and quiz competitions to motivate the students whilst they evaluate their knowledge of the different sub-topics.
The lesson has been designed to cover as much of the topic 4 specification as possible, but the following sub-topics have been given particular attention:
Three-domain classification
The features of the kingdoms
Evolutionary relationships
Behavioural, anatomical and physiological adaptations
Glycosidic bonds
The structure and function of cellulose
The ultrastructure of plant cells
Calculating the index of diversity and the heterozygosity index
Applying the Hardy-Weinberg principle to calculate allele frequencies
This lesson is suitable for revision at the end of the topic, in the lead up to the mocks or in the lead up to the actual A-level exams as topic 4 is assessed on both Paper 1 and Paper 2.
This is a fast-paced lesson which goes through the main steps of selective breeding and looks at the potential risks of this process. The lesson begins by looking at the characteristics of a number of organisms that would be selected. Time is taken to ensure that students understand that selective breeding is not a new thing and has been going on for a very long time and therefore some of the problems associated with this are now being experienced. The actual process is reduced down into 5 steps which can be recalled and applied to questions. The remainder of the lesson looks at the potential issues with selective breeding. The reduction in the nose size of pugs is explored as an example of the health problems which bred animals may face.
This lesson has been written for GCSE students.
This bundle of detailed lesson PowerPoints and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the content of topic 5.1 (Photosynthesis) in the AQA A-level Biology specification. This cellular reaction can prove difficult for the students to understand, so extra planning has gone into these 4 lessons to ensure that the key details of the reactions are embedded and understanding is constantly checked through a variety of activities. All of the exam-style questions which are used in these current understanding and prior knowledge checks have mark schemes that are included in the PowerPoint to allow the students to assess their work.
If you would like to sample the quality of these lessons, download the chloroplast structure lesson as this has been uploaded for free.
This is a fully-resourced lesson that covers the details of specification point 5.1.2 (e) of the OCR A-level Biology A specification which states that students should be able to demonstrate and apply an understanding of the effects of kidney failure and its potential treatments. This lesson consists of an engaging PowerPoint (55 slides) and associated differentiated worksheets that look at the diagnosis of a number of different kidney-related conditions and the potential treatments for kidney failure. This lesson is designed to get the students to take on the numerous roles of a doctor who works in the renal ward which include testing, diagnosis and treatment. Having obtained measurements by GFR and results by taking urine samples, hey are challenged to use their knowledge of the function of the kidney to study urine samples (and the accompanying GP’s notes) to diagnose one of four conditions. They then have to write a letter to the patient to explain how they made this diagnosis, again focusing on their knowledge of the structure and functions of the Bowman’s capsule and PCT. The rest of the lesson focuses on haemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and kidney transplant. There are regular progress checks throughout the lesson so that students can assess their understanding and there are a number of homework activities included in the lesson.
This lesson is designed for A-level students who are studying the OCR A-level Biology specification and ties in nicely with the other uploaded lessons on this organ which include the structure and function of the nephron, ultrafiltration, selective reabsorption and osmoregulation.
This lesson bundle contains 9 lesson PowerPoints and their accompanying resources which have been intricately planned to deliver the detailed content of topic 6 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level Biology A (Salters Nuffield) specification and to make links to the 5 previously covered topics. In addition to the detailed content, each lesson contains exam-style questions with mark schemes embedded into the PowerPoint, differentiated tasks, guided discussion points and quick quiz competitions to introduce key terms and values in a fun and memorable way.
The following specification points are covered by the lessons in this bundle:
DNA can be amplified using the PCR
Comparing the structure of bacteria and viruses
Understand how Mycobacterium tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus infact human cells
The non-specific responses of the body to infection
The roles of antigens and antibodies in the body’s immune response
The differences in the roles of the B and T cells in the body’s immune response
Understand how one gene can give rise to more than one protein
The development of immunity
The major routes that pathogens may take when entering the body
The role of barriers in protecting the body from infection
The difference between bacteriostatic and bactericidal antibiotics
If you would like to sample the quality of the lessons in this bundle, then download the immune response and post-transcriptional changes lessons as these have been uploaded for free
This extensive revision lesson challenges students on their knowledge and understanding of the content of topics 5 - 8 of the AQA A-level specification. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain a selection of tasks which challenge the following points:
Directional, stabilising and disruptive selection
Saltatory conduction and other factors affecting conductance speed
The structure of a motor neurone
Sensory receptors, depolarisation and initiation of an action potential
Hardy-Weinberg principle
Genetic terminology
Codominance and sex-linkage
Autosomal linkage
Chi-squared test
Phosphorylation
The stages of aerobic respiration
Explaining lower ATP yields in anaerobic respiration
Skeletal muscle contraction
Structure and function of slow and fast twitch muscle fibres
The control of heart rate
Electrophoresis and genetic fingerprinting
The secondary messenger model
The students are tested through a variety of tasks including exam questions, understanding checks, and quiz rounds to maintain engagement. Due to the mathematical content in all A-level exams, there is also a focus on these skills. The answers to all questions are embedded into the PowerPoint so students can use this resource outside of the classroom.
The delivery of the whole lesson will likely need at least 2 or 3 hours of contact time so this resource could be used with students in the final weeks building up to their paper 2 exam, or alternatively with students before their mocks on these topics.
This bundle of fully-resourced revision lessons will engage and motivate the students whilst they assess their understanding of the content of topics 1 - 4 of the AQA GCSE Physics specification as assessed in PAPER 1.
The lessons cover the following topics:
Topic 1: Energy
Topic 2: Electricity
Topic 3: Particle model of matter
Topic 4: Atomic structure
The detailed PowerPoints and accompanying resources contain exam-style questions with clear explanations of answers, differentiated tasks, class discussions and quiz competitions.
If you would like to see the quality of the lessons, download the topic 1 revision lesson which has been shared for free
This lesson describes the importance of water and calcium, magnesium and nitrate ions in plants. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the content of point 4.12 of the Pearson Edexcel A-level biology A (SNAB) specification.
In the previous lesson, the students explored the relationship between the structure and function of the xylem vessel, so this lesson describes how the properties of water allow movement through the tissue. The students will understand how hydrogen bonds between water molecules leads to cohesion and this coupled with tension, causes the column of water to be pulled towards the leaves by the transpiration pull. Their knowledge and understanding of the role of water in hydrolysis and condensation reactions is challenged, before the role of water as a transport medium for multiple substances, including inorganic ions, is discussed.
The rest of the lesson describes the role of magnesium in the production of chlorophyll, nitrates to make DNA and amino acids and calcium ions to form calcium pectate in the middle lamellae. There are multiple understanding checks and also prior knowledge checks, where the students recall of the structure and function of haemoglobin is challenged.
This bundle of 19 lessons covers the majority of the content in Topic B6 (Global challenges) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Biology specification. The topics covered within these lessons include:
Investigating distribution by sampling
Increasing biodiversity
Loss of biodiversity
Selective breeding
Genetic engineering
Producing a GMO
Health and disease
Communicable diseases
Stopping the spread of diseases
Plant diseases
Plant defences
The Human Body’s Defences
Blood clotting
The uses of vaccines
Monoclonal antibodies
Antibiotics
Developing drugs
Non-communicable diseases
Treating cardiovascular diseases
Organ transplants
Stem cells in medicine
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This REVISION resource has been designed to motivate and engage students whilst they are challenged on their knowledge of the content in topics C1-C5 of the AQA GCSE Chemistry specification which can be assessed on PAPER 1. This is fully-resourced and contains a detailed PowerPoint (208 slides) and accompanying worksheets, some of which have been differentiated.
The resource was written with the aim of covering as many of the sub-topics in C1-C5 as possible, but the following ones have been given a particular focus:
The chemical properties of the Group 1, 7 and 0 elements
The structure of atoms and ions
The properties of ionic compounds
Drawing dot and cross diagrams to represent ionic compounds
Extracting metals using carbon
REDOX reactions
Electrolysis of molten salts and solutions
Neutralisation reactions
Writing balanced chemical symbol equations
Simple and giant covalent structures
Diamond and graphite
Calculating the relative formula mass
Moles and Avogadro’s constant
Calculating the mass in reactions
Molar volume (Gas calculations)
Concentration of solutions
The organisation of the Periodic Table
Due to the extensiveness of this resource, it is likely to be used over the course of a number of lessons with a particular class and this allows the teacher to focus in on any sub-topics which are identified as needing more time.
A detailed lesson presentation (25 slides) that introduces students to the difficult topic of specific heat capacity. Students are guided through the equation for energy transferred and shown how to rearrange the equation, so they are able to tackle the question, no matter the subject of the question. There are regular opportunities for students to apply their new found knowledge to questions and to assess themselves against the answers. Quick games and competitions are also used to maintain engagement.
If you choose to download this lesson, it would be much appreciated if you would take just a few seconds to write a review so I can improve my practice and other teachers can see if this resource is right for them. Thank you in advance.
This engaging lesson describes the relationship between the structure and functions of a phopholipid, focusing on the role performed in membranes. The PowerPoint has been designed to cover specification point 2.2 (g) of the CIE International A-level Biology specification and includes constant references to the previous lesson on the structure and function of triglycerides.
The role of a phospholipid in a cell membrane provides the backbone to the whole lesson. A quick quiz round called FAMILY AFFAIR challenges the students to use their knowledge of the structure of a triglyceride to identify the shared features in a phospholipid. This then allows the differences to be introduced, such as the presence of a phosphate group in place of the third fatty acid. Moving forwards, the students will learn that the two fatty acid tails are hydrophobic whilst the phosphate head is hydrophilic which leads into a key discussion point where the class has to consider how it is possible for the phospholipids to be arranged when both the inside and outside of a cell is an aqueous solution. The outcome of the discussion is the introduction of the phospholipid bilayer which is critical for the lesson in topic 4 on the fluid mosaic model. The final part of the lesson describes how proteins found floating in the cell membrane allow both facilitated diffusion and active transport to occur and this also helps to begin the preparations for the upcoming lessons.
An engaging lesson presentation (16 slides) which looks at the surface area to volume ratio and ensures that students can explain why this factor is so important to the organisation of living organisms. This is a topic which is generally poorly misunderstood by students and therefore time has been taken to design an engaging lesson which highlights the key points in order to encourage greater understanding.
The lesson begins by showing students the dimensions of a cube and two answers and challenges them to work out what the questions were that produced these answers. Students are shown how to calculate the surface area and the volume of an object before it is explained how this can then be turned into a ratio. Time is taken at this point to ensure that students can apply this new-found knowledge as they have to work out which of the three organisms in the “SA: V OLYMPICS” would stand aloft the podium. Students are given the opportunity to draw conclusions from this task so that they can recognise that the larger the organism, the lower the surface area to volume ratio. The lesson finishes by explaining how larger organisms, like humans, have adapted in order to increase the surface area at important exchange surfaces in their bodies.
There are regular progress checks throughout the lesson to allow the students to check on their understanding. This lesson has been written for GCSE students but is perfectly suitable for A-level students who want to look at this topic from a basic level