Having Taught for over 10 years OCR A Level Biology I have a huge amount of wisdom and knowledge that I have developed into my resources so please
Give feedback on what you think of them! :)
Having Taught for over 10 years OCR A Level Biology I have a huge amount of wisdom and knowledge that I have developed into my resources so please
Give feedback on what you think of them! :)
This Biotechnology booklet
Introduces some key terms regarding Biotechnology and the many different uses of microorganisms in Biotechnology.
The introduction of Primary and secondary metabolites and when they are produced in the microbial growth curve.
There are some deep level thinking questions to challenge learners.
The booklet then goes on to explain some key Biotechnological processes and the microbes involved covering :
The production of food, pharmaceutical drugs, commercial enzymes and Bioremediation.
The booklet then introduces industrial scale fermenters and the key factors that can affect microbial growth.
The booklet contains picture of a standard fermenter and a power point resource that pupils can use to label and learn the key parts.
The Booklet then briefly compares Batch and Continuous culture and the key differences between them.
The last page contains the key terms of aseptic technique, asepsis and Contaminants and the results of what happens if contaminants enter in the fermenter and why asepsis is key to pure culture.
Lastly the challenges faced when scaling up small scale fermenters to industrial scale.
This full lesson Booklet is the perfect resource to inform and educate students in the most latest developments of Biology in the 21st century.
The Booklet begins introducing what the advancements in DNA sequencing have done and how they have produced a large amount of processed data and information and that this has resulted in the development of a brand new are n Biology called Bioinformatics.
The booklet then explains as a result of all the information gathered comparison studies have been used to look at the firstly the genome size of different organisms and the number of functional genes they possess.
The booklet then demonstrates an inter species comparison study looking at Beta haemoglobin and how a single mutation can lead to disease such as sickle cell anaemia and how Bioinformatics can compare all the different species data and find similarities are closely related to each other.
The resource then touches on more complex disease such as cancer and the BRCA gene.
The Booklet then explains how pharmaceutical companies are using Bioinformatics to focus on SNPs and using them to make new drugs.
This then follows on into the NHS current project the 100,000 genome project and how Bioinformatics will be used.
The booklet finishes on two exciting future developments using Bioinformatics synthetic Biology and Proteomics.
This power-point can go with the Booklet or on its own. It covers a whole lesson on the mechanisms that control gene expression in eukaryotes and prokaryotes. These include
Transcription control e.g Chromatin remodelling and histone modifcation
Post -transcriptional control e.g RNA processing and editing
Translational control e.g Inhibitory proteins and initiation factors
Post -translational control e.g phosphate groups and protein shortening
This OCR A level Biology Resource on Gene therapy is a full lesson of learning the past, present and future of Gene therapy.
It covers :
The process of gene delivery and their main mechanisms
vectors for gene delivery and their advantages/disadvantages
Some key Trials that took place in the past their results and set backs
It covers the key difference between Somatic cell gene therapy and Germ line gene therapy and what their future challenges are.
Having learned about this in my Biochemistry degree. It has now been included in the OCR A level Biology A H420 Syllabus as a kind of introduction into cellular control.
Having taught this for several years I have had to make my own resource as there is very little material out on it that is relevant to A level students and the textbooks don’t explain the Biochemistry fully.
The resource is a Booklet gap fill with diagrams and the teacher telling them all about the various different mechanisms that control gene expression in organisms.
It covers
-Gene regulation-Transcriptional control : chromatin remodelling/Histone modification / Lac operon/cAMP-Post-Transcriptional control: RNA Processing /RNA editing-Translational control : protein kinases/inhibitory proteins/inititaion factors-Post-Translational control : phosphates/amino acid modification/folding proteins/cAMP modification
This extremely challenging content is easily explained in the OCR Biology A level Sliding Filament Theory Booklet
It includes :
Skeletal muscle Histology
The structure of the myofibril
The structure of a sarcomere
How the muscle contracts -sliding filament theory
How contractions change the pattern of banding
Maintenance of ATP
This A level Biology OCR booklet on the three types of muscles
It includes:
The structural and functional differences in :
Involuntary/smooth muscle
Cardiac muscle
Voluntary/Skeletal muscle
A full detailed summary table that helps with Revision
This is a Booklet resource with answers and allows students to understand functions of the Liver by filling in the Booklet and using the diagrams provided. This can be activity can be done independently or teacher led. It can last the whole lesson and would be ideal with looking at Liver tissue or modeling out the Ornithine cycle
This Biology OCR A level teaching resource is a great method of teaching and revising specifically plant cloning at A level
It covers:
Natural Clones
advantages and disadvantages of asexual reproduction
Vegetative Propagation
advantages and disadvantages of Vegetative Propagation
Artificial Clones
Grafting
Cuttings
Micropropagation (tissue culture)
advantages and disadvantages of tissue culture
Plant cloning questions
A level -Biology -Plant responses Topic -Lesson on Plant responses to Herbivory
This includes
An introduction to Herbivory what it is and the cost to the producer
The types of defences plant use including
Mechanical defences -spikes, hairs, barbs etc
Moving defences -specifically Mimosa Pudica
Chemical defence - Alkaloids with examples
Chemical defence - Phenols with examples
Chemical defence - Terpenoids with examples
Phenological defences - Volatile Organic compounds and Pheromones with examples
links to videos on the internet and a summary
This Resource will last for a 1 hour lesson and pupils will need to fill in the Booklet. The Booklet covers the key principles of Homeostasis and Communication that are learned at GCSE and it build on them to stretch and challenge pupils
This essential booklet covers the key aspects of organisation of the nervous system which includes:
The central nervous system
recap of a relay neurone
Diagrammatic section of a reflex arc
The Peripheral Nervous system
Somatic Nervous system
Autonomic Nervous system
How the nervous system is organised
The motor pathways for the autonomic and Somatic nervous systems
The sympathetic subsystems
The Parasympathetic subsystems
Consolidation questions
The lesson covers the key stage 3 UK National curriculum on Classification.
The resource covers Classification based on groupings or branches.
It looks into the main Kingdoms of life including plants and animals
It compares invertabrates and vertabrates
It looks at the key characteristics of Birds, Mammals, Reptiles, Amphibians and fish.
It ends with a fun game on pupils Knowledge of animals
Additionally there is some key points on how learning to learn at the end if there is time.
This is a A level Biology OCR Genetic Engineering Booklet that will last the whole lesson. It covers :
The basic process of Genetic Engineering
Methods how the gene is obtained
Restriction enzymes and their Recognition sites
Vectors used to get the genetic material into the desired cell
This revision booklet goes through the key aspects of the Neuromuscular junction key part of animal responses for OCR A level Biology.
The booklet includes:
Photomicrograph of the junction
Key structures such as the sarcoplasmic reticulum
The sequence of events at the Neuromuscular junction
How a nerve impulse causes a muscle contraction
compare and contrasting the neuromuscular junction and synapses
The resource is for pupils undertaking GCSE Science/ Biology and the topic of Monoclonal Antibodies how they are made and their uses.
It consists of a starter and main activity that is called 7 monkeys ( This is a teaching and learning activity that really helps pupils remember a hard and difficult topic of Biology)
Pupils will be given paper and the teacher will talk them through the process of making monoclonal Antibodies. This will be learned through pupils making their own diagrams and drawings to the sequence
Two previous pupils drawing are attached to help for SEN pupils
This full 10 page Booklet on
plant hormones
plant responses to herbivory
seed germination
Apical dominance
Abiotic responses to stress
Tropisms
Tropisms historical investigations
This resource booklet explores the Biological importance of water to life and how the key biochemical properties of water enable life to exist on our planet.