Organisms have to react to change in their environment (both internal and external) to stay alive.
This online lesson was written for GCSE science students.
The lesson is suitable for combined science students and biology (separate science) students. The curriculums of the various exam boards vary slightly, so I chose to focus here on the learning objectives of topic B5.2 of the OCR ‘ Twenty First Century Science’ course – GCSE (9-1) Combined Science B.
Before you begin, take a look at some of the videos I’ve collected for you. While you watch, look for answers to the questions I’ve asked. Don’t spend more than 15 minutes on this, it’s just an introduction to get your brain in gear. [video page]
The online lesson — with slides, video commentary, quizzes and surveys — will take you around 45 minutes to complete.
There are three practicals in the lesson, if you try these, plan for an extra half an hour for each one. [lesson]
Did you find it hard to label the parts of the typical neurone? You can practice with this online test.
If you want to practice drawing it out on paper, you can use this image as a guide. [neuron graphic]
Try out these online reaction tests. Don’t forget to note down your scores so you can share your results.
- Stoplight online test – make a note of your average response time. Mine was 0.2974s – can you beat that?
- Reaction time benchmark test – make a note of your average response time. Mine was 0.264s – can you beat that?
- Car stop reaction game – I like this one because it calculates your age based on your reaction time, and it said I was 26!
Finally, if you haven’t seen it yet, I recommend this video that documents the work of citizen scientists to better understand the reaction of domestic cats (Felis catus) to an unexpected visual stimulus by Cucumis sativus.
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