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.
This covers use of respirometers and the advantages and disadvantages of different types.
Has questions as well as information.
For Salter-Nuffield Edexcel (context approach).
This worksheet was written for AQA GCSE Trilogy, Biology section on Ecology.
It is aimed at low ability to get them to think around some of the key terms used, habitat, population, community, abiotic, biotic and ecosystem.
This is for KS3 students to give them practice at collecting and analysing data. It proved to be very effective with a mixed ability group of Year 7 students. Although there is just one document there is enough here to keep a class busy for an hour and they are practising maths skills essential to science and some scientific skills as well
For Nuffield-Salters Edxcel A level Biology Topic 6. Power point has questions on it to help students review their work.\nCovers the symptoms and progression of the disease.
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/
This resource has enough material for a whole lesson on the single-gene inherited conditions, polydactyly and cystic fibrosis. It revises key genetic terms and allows for step by step explanation of genetic crosses using animation of Punnett squares. There are two worksheets, one on polydactyly inheritance and one interpreting information about cystic fibrosis which also has an evaluation of genetic testing. There are teacher notes to accompany the power point.
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.
This resource has loads of useful pictures and links to animations to liven up the AQA Science section on the heart which is about treatments for the heart and circulation problems (Biology, organisation sections 4.2.2.2 and 4.2.2.4.) There is a double page A4 information sheet and a set of questions with answer sheet available for peer or self marking. The power point is deliberately minimal as it then allows for differentiation as follows. It can be used in two ways. The teacher could use the information sheet as a guide to talk about the pictures on the ppt or the teacher could ask the class to make comments about the pictures using the information sheet as a prompt. There is a worksheet "which treatment would you give" where tests the students comprehension of this lesson by asking them to match treatments to symptoms. All images are from Wiki Commons.
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 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.
This has back-up materials for the required practical (AQA GCSE) on measuring the rate of photosynthesis. Ideal for non-specialists in Biology and for newly qualified teachers. It contains tips on how to get good results and results of a practical in case your class does not get any data. There are differentiated worksheets which ask about rate of reaction - as this is a requirement now at GCSE.
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!)