Heart structure powerpoint presentation and worksheets

These worksheets and presentation are suitable for both AS level and IGCSE/GCSE lessons on structure and function of the heart. The presentation os very simple and concise with no extraneous information to distract pupils from the key facts. This style is a bit of a reaction to some sample presentations I received that were appalling, packed with text, too many pictures on slides and extortionate prices. I just think that sometimes people still get too caught up in all the features of PowerPoint rather than the actual job of delivering key information in as direct a manner as possible (see my previous rant on using PowerPoint).

The worksheets are also simple and note that I have deliberately not included arrows in the labelling worksheets. This is to encourage students to pay close attention to the actual structure being labelled rather than the position of the word on the sheet (that is, not simply transcribing but actually LOOKING at the diagram itself). The worksheets are in colour but do photocopy well in black and white.

Also keep an eye out for the interactive quiz version for heart structure which is useful for independent learning activities or revision (should be added soon). This takes a bit of programming but I will still be offering it for FREE!

CLICK BELOW FOR RESOURCES:

POWERPOINT PRESENTATION:

Heart structure and function teacher

WORKSHEETS:

Heart structure and function standard

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Food chains and webs worksheets updated

I have updated the worksheets I did for the original (orange) Mary Jones textbook for the newer, and in my opinion better, green textbook. I have also removed the typos (sorry!).

I noticed that my students this year hate the question where they are asked to describe a pond using the terminology they have just defined but I refuse to take the question out. It is a challenge for them to use the vocabulary in context and to try and fit as much in as possible in the small space provided. Plus there is help in the textbook!

Updated worksheets: organisms-in-their-environment

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IGCSE Biology: Skin and insulation coursework investigation

Most, if not all exam boards, require students to design, implement and evaluate their own investigations. For Cambridge IGCSE this is assessed by the practical skill C4. A popular coursework experiment for C4 in IGCSE Cambridge is for students to design an practical that models insulation adaptation in animals as there are a wide variety of choices.

Some may compare heat loss between a 100cm3 measuring cylinder (tall and thin or high surface area:volume ratio) and a 100cm3 beaker (short and fat or low surface area to colume ratio). Other students may choose to simulate clothing or fur by adding layers of clothing or wool to test tubes. Investigating huddling with many testubes surrounding one test tube as compared to one lone test tube is also popular as it can always be introduced with the segment from the Life in the Freezer video showing the emperor penguins in the Antarctic.

Another possibility is to investigate the role of fat as an insulating layer in skin. This relates directly to comparing adaptations as well as it is possible to talk about the fat layers laid down by seals etc. This practical simply involves pouring a layer of cooking oil onto the surface of some hot water and comparing the heat loss with a similar beaker of hot water that does not have the oil. I have tried this experiment with both Year 9 and 10 and it works very well. The beauty of this experiment is that the intial simple version can be used as an introduction for studnets to extend it to investigate the effects of different anounts of oil (and perhaps different types). Again I have tried this out and it does show a correlation adding up to 20cm3 of oil in 5 cm3 increments. Unlike many of the experiemnts suggested above this allows students to have a continuous variable to graph and so can be more challenging to analyse whilst being easy to design.

I have added the worksheets below which have the intial introductory practical and the practical design set as homework. It is in Word so is easy to modify. My colleague has used this experiment as a C4 training excersise for the Year 10 students and developed a short checklist to help them write their evaluations. I have added this as well.

Worksheets:

Investigating Skin Structure and Function

Coursework evaluation

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Video: Nitrogen cycle

Here is a short 3 minute video revising the nitrogen cycle. I am learning to use Camtasia at the moment so there are some glitches (if you make it full screen you lose resolution, plus I haven’t edited out the odd error here and there). The video concentrate sonly on the nitrogen cycle and is useful for IGCSE, GCSE and AS level revision.

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Advice for those studying IGCSE Edexcel Biology

I received an email the other day from a concerned parent trying to find help for their child studying IGCSE Edexcel Biology. Although I mainly develop resources for Cambridge IGCSE I did reply because, as we all know, many topics are the same regardless of the exam course being followed. So videos on enzymes etc will be useful whatever exam board is being used.  Anyway I thought it might be useful to replicate my email reply here in case anyone else has the same enquiry:

Hi,

Thank you for your email.

Most of the information and videos on the IGCSE pages will be useful, although the podcasts may well be specific to Cambridge IGCSE. Also the BBC Bitesize and S-cool.co.uk websites are useful. Student_room is also useful (my daughter really likes this site and they have good forums too), click on the revision tab and there are revision notes available for all subjects. For actual lessons, quizzes and audio explanations I think skoool.co.uk is great. However all of these are not specific to edexcel but if you know the syllabus then you can work out what topics are relevant. Usually most topics on these sites will be on your course.

To ensure that you do not spend time learning anything you don’t need to (for example in Cambridge IGCSE they don’t need to know anything about DNA) then it would be useful to have the specification (syllabus). You can get this from the Edexcel website plus examples of exam papers and markschemes. The edexcel site also has a student section with exam tips etc.

Finally text books specific to the course would help, if you do not already have one. Probably the most useful is IGCSE Biology for Edexcel (by Jackie Clegg) and the CGP revision guide for Edexcel biology (always popular). I would recommend getting the textbook as sometimes the syllabus is not always clear or detailed.

I had hoped to get my revision courses and online tuition set up for this exam season, in which case I could have offered to tutor via skype or email. If this maybe of value I can look at paypal invoicing if you wish and offer a couple of sessions.

Anyway, I wish your child a lot of luck in their exam.

Kind regards,
Allison Gardner

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