Biology Teaching & Learning Resources

This site offers teaching resources for Biology GCSE & IGCSE

Introductory Biology CD

This CD ROM contains PowerPoint presentations covering basic concepts necessary for understanding biological processes. Topics covered include Chemicals of Living Cells, Photosynthesis, and Respiration. Each presentation includes self-assessment tests, and some are accompanied by Word documents describing relevant practical and experimental work.

 

Introductory Genetics CD

This CD ROM contains PowerPoint presentations covering basic concepts necessary for understanding genetics. Topics covered include DNA, Chromosomes and Cell Division, and Heredity. Each presentation includes self-assessment tests, and some are accompanied by Word documents containing questions and answers.

• The PowerPoint presentations contain from 15-38 slides. Over 60% of the slides consist of illustrations. The text is kept to the minimum required to explain concisely, without over-simplification, the structures and processes involved.
• Full use has been made of the 'animation' features available on PowerPoint.
• Many of the drawings are presented initially unlabelled. The leaders and labels are then added individually as required for teaching and testing. This also avoids presenting the student with a mass of terminology all at once.
• The facts are presented one at a time and the explanations in small steps.
• The presentations can be saved and edited by the teacher to exclude or modify the text.
• Each presentation also includes from 4 - 11 multiple-choice questions on screen, with links to indicate correct or incorrect answers.
• Feedback from teachers suggests that the presentations are being used to introduce or revise a topic.
• They could also be used by individual students to catch up with topics they had missed.
• Each topic includes a self-assessment test which can be printed and passed to the students.
• The short-answer questions involve recall of information, application of principles and interpretation of evidence. Answers are provided on a separate page.
• The CDs are offered for a nominal fee. Sample PowerPoint presentations are available for download.

 

Biology Experiments 1

A bank of biology experiments giving full details of the method of setting up the experiment, the apparatus, living material and reagents needed. The experiments and accompanying discussions, questions, and answers are free to download.

 

Biology Experiments 2

Further experiments grouped under the heading 'Supplementary' because they are either (i) extensions of previous experiments, (ii) involve more expensive reagents, (iii) need specially prepared apparatus, (iv) are more complicated than those in the previous list, or (v) more suited to advanced students.

 

Question Bank

Questions for testing GCSE and IGCSE Biology, for self-assessment or teaching, with answers and additional exercises and discussions.

 

Insect Life-Cycles

Annotated drawings illustrating the anatomy and life-cycles of insects, viewable and downloadable as Word documents. Many illustrations of insects, and background articles on the aphid, butterfly, honey bee, housefly, locust, mosquito, termite, and weevil.

 

Insect Structure and Function

Annotated drawings illustrating the structure and function of insect anatomy, viewable and downloadable as Word documents. Many illustrations, and background article on insect structure and function.

 

Insect - Tropical. The Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly - Papilio demodocus

Teaching notes and drawing on the The Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly, and background article on The Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly.

 

Fish: Characteristics

The characteristics of fish. Illustrated teaching notes and drawings, and article on Fish: Structure and Function.

 

Fish: Tilapia

Tilapia Life-Cycle, including breeding and feeding. Illustrated teaching notes and drawings, and article on Tilapia, an Introduction.

 

Amphibia

The characteristics of amphibia. Illustrated teaching notes and drawings, and article on The frog, an Introduction.

 

Birds, Structure and Function

Illustrated teaching notes and drawings, and article on Birds, an Introduction.

 

Protista, Structure and Function

Illustrated teaching notes and drawings on protista, and articles on Amoeba, Paramecium, Spirogyra, Chlamydomonas, Euglena, and Parasitic Protozoa.

 

Plants: Buds and Twigs

Illustrated teaching notes and drawings on buds and twigs, and article on Buds and Twigs.

 

Plants: Seeds and Germination

Illustrated teaching notes and drawings on seeds & germination, and article on Seed Structure, an Introduction.

 

Plants: Vegetative Reproduction

Illustrated teaching notes and drawings on vegetative reproduction, and article on An Introduction to Vegetative Reproduction.

 

Plants: Vegetative Reproduction - Tropical Examples

Illustrated teaching notes and drawings on tropical examples of vegetative reproduction.

 

Plants: Flower Structure

Illustrated teaching notes and drawings on flower structure, including buttercup, stitchwort, deadnettle, lupin, grasses and maize.

 

Plants: Flower Structure - Tropical Examples

Illustrated teaching notes and drawings on tropical examples of flower structure, including caesalpinia pulcherrima, thunbergia grandiflora, aspelia latifolia and crotalaria retusa.

 

Plants: Fruit Formation

Illustrated teaching notes and drawings on fruit formation, including tomato, blackberry, poppy, campion, strawberry and apple.

 

Plants: Fruit Formation - Tropical Examples

Illustrated teaching notes and drawings on tropical examples of fruit formation, including tecoma stans, carica papaya or pawpaw, annona muricata or soursop.

 

Fungi

Illustrated teaching notes and drawings on fungi, including including rhizopus, mushrooms, and parasitic fungi, and background article on Fungi, an Introduction.

 

Article and Drawing Index

Index of articles, teaching notes and illustrations.

 

Links

Useful links relating to the topics on this site.

 

Biology Bookshop

Browse books on biology and other sciences.

 

Biology Education Web Search

If you don't find what you are looking for on this site, try here for other sites about biology education. This internet browsing and search facility is provided by The Open Directory.

 

Contacts: Enquiries about the biology teaching CDs and the content of the site: DonMackean@biology-resources.com
Technical enquiries about the site: IanMackean@biology-resources.com