Throughout my career I have had the privilege to observe a large volume of science lessons. Two key stage 3 and key stage 4 topics fill me with a sense of dread in those lessons – osmosis and evolution (perhaps a future blog). The dread stems from my experience that many teachers, with the bestContinue reading “Osmosis – The Solution to a Concentration Problem”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Natural Selection of Large Mammals, not anymore.
When teaching evolution by natural selection it is very easy just to think about what the examiners need to read in the students’ responses. I know that I constantly hammerhome the sequence: Within a population there is genetic variation due to random mutations. Some of these mutations may result in different phenotypes. Following environmental change,Continue reading “Natural Selection of Large Mammals, not anymore.”
Our Best Biology Bloggers!
We thought we would collate some of our best biology blogs/bloggers all in one place for your reading pleasure! If you fancy writing a one off piece that you would like us to host on here to share with the ChatBiology community drop us a DM on twitter or use the contact us form onContinue reading “Our Best Biology Bloggers!”
The Sequencing of A Level Enzyme Practical Lessons
I teach OCR A Biology in a small, non-selective, 11-18 girls school in Jersey. This year the school has moved to a 6 hour per week per subject timetable to aid this difficult transition based upon the end of the students’ Year 11 experience. Early on in the term, it was clear that the lackContinue reading “The Sequencing of A Level Enzyme Practical Lessons”
The philosophy of biology: How it affects curricular design
During my teacher training we had to write a masters’ level essay on the implementation of the How Science Works component of the English secondary science curriculum. There was a bit of confusion as to what this really was, and many schools seemed to view it as a bolt-on exercise to appear intermittently (if atContinue reading “The philosophy of biology: How it affects curricular design”
How I Teach The Heart: Part 1
This is the first in a series of posts where I will go through how I teach different topics in biology. This post will focus on how I teach the structure of the heart so pupils can identify the four chambers of the heart, the vessels of the heart, which parts of the heart containContinue reading “How I Teach The Heart: Part 1”
Is it time to let MRS GREN die?
MRS GREN is a classic example of how Biology curricula have got stuck in the mud of “this is how we’ve always done things”. But even just a little digging reveals major problems. Here I discuss what those problems are and what I think is a simple alternative: https://acommonbiologist.wordpress.com/2020/08/30/is-it-time-to-let-mrs-gren-die/
Beyond description: Begin your biology curriculum with autopoiesis
Brett Kingsbury has declared MRS GREN dead. Beginning secondary biology education is a pivotal time for instilling the correct epistemic view of our subject, so what do we replace it with? Here’s my take: https://cmooreanderson.wixsite.com/teachingbiology/post/toward-a-explanatory-biology-y7-and-the-death-of-mrs-gren Christian Moore Anderson @CMooreAnderson (on twitter)
Chat Biology 