Within this resource, learners will work in groups of four, use their mathematical skills and scientific knowledge to help plan for an expedition to the Antarctic in 3 sessions.  They will consider the appropriate clothing, food and other essential equipment they will need to take with them.  Learners will also use...

These Key Stage Three...

These Key Stage Three National Strategy training materials from the Department for Education are designed to run a session with science teachers on helping students make progress in lessons - intended to follow their Subject Leaders' attendance at a Planning and...

These Key Stage Three National Strategy training materials from the Department for Education are designed to run a session with school science department Subject Leaders with overall responsibility for the Key Stage Three science scheme of work.

Produced by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in 2009, this guidance supports the planning, development and implementation of the curriculum for pupils with learning difficulties. It draws on effective practice across a range of schools and can be used in...

This collection of resources introduces 14-16 students to the world of plant disease in a lively and engaging way. They include practicals and classroom activities to get your students thinking about plants as living organisms, with their own defences against the threat of invading pathogens. 

Ideas about...

In this activity, students act as detectives, piecing together information from the sources provided to identify common plant diseases, including the type of pathogen causing it, ways in which the disease is spread, and how to stop the spread.

The activity will help students to demonstrate the following...

In this practical activity, students explore how the technique of re-infection (using infected material to infect healthy plant tissue) can help to identify the cause of a plant disease.

 Ideas about communicable diseases in plants are included in the updated programmes of study for Key Stage 4 science...

In this practical activity, students use magnification to examine leaves showing symptoms of a common plant disease, and produce labelled drawings of the fungal spores.

Ideas about communicable diseases in plants are included in the updated programmes of study for Key Stage 4 science published in December...

In this practical and data analysis activity students collect samples of leaves showing samples of infection with powdery mildew; the samples can be sent for analysis as part of the Powdery Mildew Survey citizen science project.

Students analyse data from the survey at the end of this activity.

The poster ‘Plant Pathogens – Identification’ illustrates diagnostic tests that are commonly used to identify plant pathogens in the lab and in the field.

The poster is accompanied by a presentation, which can be used as a step-by-step walkthrough of the ideas in the poster.

The poster ‘Plant Pathogens: Control’ illustrates the many ways that we control plant pathogens, from polyculture farming to controlling the import of plants.The poster is accompanied by a presentation, which can be used as a step-by-step walk-through of the ideas in the poster. Full teaching notes are given,...

Can understanding photosynthesis help save thousands of lives a year?

This poster and accompanying article introduce C3 and C4 photosynthesis in the context of food security and genetic modification.

Rice biologists have a problem. Rice is a staple food for more than half the world’s...

Most current theories of adaptation and evolution are based on an organism’s inflexible genetic inheritance, where variation depends on chance mutations to the DNA sequence. Now, biologists studying epigenetics are trying to uncover the roles of this more flexible system.

GM, genome editing and CRISPR are all in the news, with hot debate over how new techniques should be regulated. Over the past 50 years, our ability to make specific changes to DNA in plants and animals has been revolutionised.
New techniques of genome editing allow us to make precise changes to individual...