Here it is! The one and only…PHOTOSYNTHESIS SONG!

Warning…this is very catchy. I played it to my Year 10 this year and the daft lot ended up singing along.

Photosynthesis Song from Simple Science on Vimeo.

Simple Science videos on Vimeo are well worth checking out for a bit of light-hearted but educational songs. They are primarily designed for the younger student but in truth I think all students would enjoy a bit of cheesy entertainment.

Alcohol lesson plan and website for IGCSE or PSHE students

This site, by Bristol university, provided an information site for teenagers regarding alcohol. It allows students to calculate their alcohol intake, explore the effects and to complete a quiz. It also provides teacher resources.

Lesson Plan:

I have used it in my lessons before combined with an  activity highlighting the problem with estimating volume of drink. I have a mixture of coloured water to indicate red wine and clear water to indiocate vodka. I then ask the students to pour out a measure into tumblers or the large style wine glasses. Once done I inform them of the volume that is considered one unit for wine (125ml) and vodka (25ml). I then ask the students to pour out their measures into a measuring cylinder and ask them to compare what they poured to the correct volume. I often do a survey here of all the students (could graph results etc.). I then mention that the % alcohol content that is assumed for each calculation (9% for wine and 40% for spirits) is often actually higher. I hand out some sample wine bottles, and beer bottles/cans (EMPTY OF COURSE) for the students to survey the alcohol content. Again students could create survey, graphs and calculate actual unit content of the sample “drinks” they poured.

I either then do a class activity looking at the unit calculator in the site and we discuss what they consider a normal amount they might drink at a party (for older students naturally). Alternatively students could use the site to complete a research activity and calculate their own unit intake.

ALCOHOL AND YOU

Free courses from the Open University

I can’t believe I haven’t discovered this site before as I was a Masters student with the OU (I absolutely loved it and recommend it to anyone who doesn’t mind giving up a social life to study. I certainly recommend that you do a science Masters and not an education one, I think I benefitted a lot more from this as a teacher than I did from the MEd…phew…gone off on a tangent here…sorry).

Anyway there are loads of notes, diagrams and short video clips for an array of courses that are suitable for A level. From DNA structure (though they downplay Rosalind Franklin a bit, grrr), gene therapy and a wealth of other topics. Very useful to set as self study or holiday work.

Link is: Learning Space: Science and Nature

Videos on Biomolecules from www.edbiol.co.uk

Met up with @edbiol on twitter and checked his website out (WAIT…don’t go to his site yet, finish reading my blog first!!). Firstly, I like the website, very cool and looks much better than mine!!! I can see another weekend lost playing around with wordpress themes again.

He has posted on his site 4 videos covering lipids, carbohydrates, proteins and nucleic acids. They are similar to mine in that I think they are screencasts of PowerPoint presentations. The videos are basically key bullet points and diagrams. The sound quality is good, he has a soft northern irish accent and has a much better voice than me for videos. On some diagrams it can be difficult for a student to follow the audio because he does not use the pointer to direct attention to the section of diagram under discussion but other than that I think they would be very good revision tools for students. I particularly envision them being popped onto iPods for viewing and listening to. I don’t think it matters what exam board you do here as it is all standard biological molecules stuff.

Hopefully he will add more and I have placed a link to his site in my blogroll. Crumbs…that reminds me I should add the Mark Rothery site too!

Any way I have embedded 2 of the videos below plus a link to his site at the end so you can watch the others.

Carbohydrates (16 minutes 30 secs..ish)

Carbohydrates from neal mcknight on Vimeo.

Lipids (8 minutes 32 seconds)

EdBiol from Digmo on Vimeo.

The other two videos are on proteins and nucleic acids and can be found on Neils website:
www.edbiol.co.uk (NOW you can go visit it if you want!!)

Ever thought about using quarries as a topic for a coursework essay?

Obvious now I think of it, quarries are an excellent topic for the AS coursework essay and the QuarryEd website provides some excellent resources.

To quote the homepage:

“Although perhaps unlikely at a first glance, the extractive industry can provide learning opportunities for students of A level biology, such as species adaptations to survive in particular environmental conditions, ecosystem dynamics, succession, the ecological impact of human activities and nature conservation management techniques.”

Lots of downloadable information sheets.