Category Archives: Biology

Counting bubbles

Recording the rate of photosynthesis by counting bubbles of oxygen being released from the cut stem of some upturned pondweed is a classic experiment (some would say a right of passage) for every biologist. How do we allow our students to enjoy the delights and disappointments of this investigation while teaching remotely? Here’s a possible lockdown solution.

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Sense and response

During lockdown I’ve had time to prepare lots of lesson plans and resources. This one has had lots of positive feedback from colleagues and requests that I share it, so that’s what I’m doing.

This lesson, about how organisms sense changes in their environment (both internal and external) and respond, is suitable for combined science students and biology (separate science) students.

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Mitosis

The phases of mitosis – where eurcaryote cells (that’s animals, plants, fungi… but not bacteria and the other prokaryotes) divide to create two identical copies of themselves can be tricky to remember. To make learning sequences easier – I like to write poems and songs of little artistic merit. Here is my haiku cycle ‘Mitosis.’ I hope you enjoy it.

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