Post 16

Thigmotropism is an adaptive growth response shown by plants to mechanical stimuli, such as being touched. This resource gives some ideas of ways that structural responses can be explored, providing opportunities for individual student investigations.

Distance learning resources

Here you will find a selection of resources that have been carefully selected with your students in mind. The resources contain a mixture of videos, animations, practicals and some which are intended for learning outside where possible. Grouped by the anticipated age of the students, we have tried to be mindful of availability of equipment in order to undertake these activities. Over the coming weeks we will be adding to this bank of resources so watch this space.

Making and using a straw potometer

This is a quick and easy way to demonstrate how to use a potometer to measure the rate of transpiration in a plant.

Improving Food Production with Agricultural Technology and Plant Biotechnology

This free online course, hosted on FutureLearn, is aimed at 16- to 19-year-old students considering studying science at university. Designed to extend beyond curricula, it takes students on a journey through the plant-based food production system, from growing to harvesting to food processing. Through video case studies, interviews with experts, discussion boards and an interactive game, students will discover how science and technology are innovating food production to solve some of the biggest challenges in global food security.

Interviews with scientists - Omega-3

Omega-3 fatty acids are vital for human health. But how can we source them sustainably? Professor Johnathan Napier of Rothamstead Research talks about the role that Omega-3 fatty acids play in our diets, how we currently source them from algae via fish, and how he hopes to use genetic engineering to breed plants that produce these molecules in their oils.

Interviews with scientists - the mystery of the evolution of stomata

In this 5 minute talk, Professor Alistair Hetherington of Bristol University discusses the mysterious evolution of stomata. The accompanying notes include a teachers' summary, plus student questions and answers.

Interviews with scientists - How big data is transforming biology

in this 6 minute video, Professor David Salt of the University of Aberdeen introduces the topic of ‘big data’ – huge data sets that are at the heart of much of today’s cutting edge biological research. He talks about what big data is, how researchers work with it to test their hypotheses, and what the potential implications may be for scientific research in the future.

Interviews with scientists - Photosynthesis to Feed the World?

In this 8 minute video, Professor Jane Langdale of the University of Oxford discusses her work leading a team of scientists seeking to increase food production through research into the fundamentals of photosynthesis.

Interviews with scientists - saving the world's forests

In this 5-minute video Dr Ed Mitchard, of the University of Edinburgh, introduces the use of new technologies in conservation, specifically the role of REDD+ in preventing deforestation across the world. The accompanying notes include a teachers' summary, plus student questions and answers.

Interviews with scientists - feeding sub-Saharan Africa

This 5-minute video interview with Professor Giles Oldroyd offers a thought-provoking take on the topic of fertilisers and nitrogen fixation. In the west, we’ve spent 50 years relying on increasing food yields by adding nitrogen-based fertilisers to the soils. But it’s not an approach that seems to be working for the millions of smallholder farmers across western and central Africa.

Interviews with scientists - Plant-derived medicines to cure cancer

This 5-minute video interview with Professor Sarah O’Connor from the John Innes Centre, introduces her work to find new molecules that can successfully treat cancer. This is an interesting way to introduce students to biochemistry, and to encourage them to take a synoptic approach to their biology curriculum, by bringing together plant science and medicine.

Interviews with scientists - Plant survival strategies: hormones and responses

In this 5-minute video interview,Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, Director of the Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, discusses the different survival strategies of plants and animals. This video gets students to develop their understanding of the role of plant hormones in an intriguing context.

Interviews with scientists - Drew Purves on computer modelling, ecology and climate change

In this 5-minute video interview, ecologist and computer scientist Dr Drew Purves introduces computer modelling and its role in biology.

Interviews with scientists - GFP and reporter proteins

This 5-minute video interview with Prof John Christie of the University of Glasgow introduces students to fluorescent reporter proteins and their importance to our understanding of cell biology. The accompanying notes include a teachers' summary, plus student questions and answers.

Interviews with scientists - Dr Cristobal Uauy on wheat genomics and yield

This 5-minute video interview with Dr Cristobal Uauy of the John Innes Centre introduces post-16 students to contemporary genomics and food security. The accompanying notes include a teachers' summary, plus student questions and answers.

A-level practical skills - Molecular Modelling

This practical activity aims to develop students' understanding of primary, secondary and tertiary structure of proteins through computer protein modelling. Computer modelling can create 3D interactive images to support the student to visualize different interactions between amino acids within a molecule.

Measuring forests: saving forests

This relevant and engaging activity gives a concrete example of how conservation activity can be guided by science. It also covers some of the practical and mathematical skills common to all biology A-level courses, particularly logarithms. Students work with data from a conservation scientist, Dr Ed Mitchard of the University of Edinburgh, and identify how new technologies can be used to preserve the world's forests.

A-level set practicals - investigating flower structure and function in primulas

In this activity, students follow in Darwin’s footsteps, investigating primulas. They will dissect and record primula flowers, which grow in two forms: ‘pin-eyed’ and ‘thrum-eyed’. This resource is designed to meet the specifications for the A-level practical endorsement in England (CPAC). However, given its focus on adaptation and evolution, it will make a valuable resource for those following a variety of different specifications, such as the Advanced Higher Biology Organisms and Evolution Unit.

Plant disease - Fighting for Survival (post-16)

In this worksheet and case study, for post-16 students, students develop their understanding of communicable plant disease and how plants respond to infection. It addresses the plant related learning outcomes in the OCR Biology A specification, section 4.1.1 ‘communicable diseases, disease prevention and the immune system’.

A-level set practicals - microscopy of root tip mitosis

An improved and simplified version of this well-known practical, designed specifically for use for the new A-level practical specifications.

Articles tagged as "Post 16"