This diagnostic question is part of a series adapted for primary aged pupils from the Best Evidence Science Teaching project for ages 11 to 14.

It helps students to understand how scientists classify organisms into groups based on their observable characteristics. It targets any misunderstandings pupils may...

Birmingham Institute for Forest Research (BIFoR) has provided a free online learning platform for schools which includes curriculum linked activities, developed to support secondary school students. These activities provide the opportunity for students to join a growing community of citizen scientists who are...

This film tells the story of how DNA sequencing was used to identify the gene BRAF. Clinical researcher Ultan McDermott tells the story of how scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute discovered a specific mutation in the BRAF gene, which is found in around half of malignant melanoma cases. He...

These biology resources for students in Years 10-11 are part of the BRaSS initiative and should be used in conjunction with the ...

These biology resources for students in Years 7-9 are part of the BRaSS initiative and should be used in conjunction with the ...

The Broadening Secondary School Science, or BRaSS initiative, seeks to develop teachers’ and students’ understanding and insight about:-

• how knowledge works
• cross-curricular links in science 
• the place of...

This is a hand-on activity to explore the inheritance of cystic fibrosis, using counters to represent normal and faulty CFTR genes.  Curriculum links include:

• Punnet squares & autosomal recessive diseases
• Autosomal...

Bacteria are one of the simplest forms of independent life with no nucleus or membrane bound organelles. These animations, from the Wellcome Trust, show that, despite this apparent simplicity, bacterial diseases pose a profound threat to world health. The animations are suitable as a lesson starter, to introduce...

This is a quick worksheet for students to label the parts of the uterus and describe the function of each part. Curriculum links include reproduction, pregnancy.

This is a starter activity in which students describe the route of a molecule of oxygen from air in the lungs to a muscle in a leg. A simple circulation “map” is provided to enable students to trace the route from the lungs, through the heart and to the leg. The map is supplied in 2 forms
at different levels...

In this starter activity, students use the information on a labelled diagram of a knee joint to complete a cloze exercise. Students can work out logically where to insert words, given a list. Additionally, sports injuries and treatment can be considered. Curriculum links include the skeletal system and muscles....

A Year Ten module from the Salters’ double award GCSE science course. This module deals with interactions between species in ecosystems. Students are shown how stable conditions lead to a natural balance in populations and how human activities can disturb this balance....

This resource from Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is a practical, classroom activity that allows the students to make a balloon model of a disease-causing bacterium. This illustrates its basic shape and structure. Students can choose from three bacteria species...

In this activity, students consider the evidence for causal links between sugar consumption, obesity and disease. They then weigh up arguments for and against banning sugary drink sales to children.

Curriculum links include:

Key Stage Three:

*Working Scientifically: Analysis and evaluation –...

This article from Catalyst looks at the ageing process in bananas. As bananas age, spots develop on their skins. These contain fluorescent substances which can be seen with a UV torch.

The article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2.

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