This collection includes six essential plant practicals for 14-16 and post-16 biology, covering a range of topics that you're likely to teach during the course of the year. These practicals are reliable, affordable, and engaging for your students, so if you're not already using them in your lab, give them a go!
We particularly recommend these resources for PGCE students and early career teachers, as they cover the key areas that you're most likely to teach over the course of the year, with topics including photosynthesis, cells, germination, totipotency and ecology.
Bubbling pondweed for photosynthesis |
Plant cell microscopy |
||
 |
A popular way to demonstrate photosynthesis is by gathering bubbles of gas given off by pondweed. This resource guide takes you through the process of using Cabomba pondweed, a reliable and effective alternative to the frequently used Elodea. Placed in a solution of sodium hydrogencarbonate in the presence of light of appropriate intensity, the pondweed will photosynthesise and produce bubbles of oxygen-containing gas. The rate of bubbling indicates the rate of photosynthesis.
|
 |
It's quick and simple to see a range of plant cells and structures, including guard cells and stomata, trichomes and cytoplasmic streaming, xylem vessels and pollen grains. There's no need to stain the slides, and students simply place a small piece of plant tissue in a drop of water on the slide, before covering with a cover slip. |
Photosynthesis with algal balls |
Cloning cauliflowers |
||
 |
Photosynthesis can be a hard topic to demonstrate reliably in the lab, especially in winter. This fun and replicable practical makes investigating photosynthesis easy, with a technique that can be used with students from KS3 to post-16, and offering quantifiable and repliable results. Algae are immobilised in alginate beads, making them easy to get a standard quantity of photosynthetic material. When placed in hydrogen carbonate indicator and exposed to light, they will photosynthesise, causing the colour of the indicator to change dramatically over the course of a lesson.
|
 |
Cloning cauliflowers in the classroom is a popular way to look at tissue culture and totipotency. Our well-known cauliflower cloning practical is based on a technique developed by conservation experts at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. This reliable technique, originally designed to be used by scientists in the field, overcomes many of the difficulties students have had with the procedure in the past. The result is a fun and thought-provoking practical. |
Seed germination practicals |
Ecology: sampling techniques |
||
 |
A simple protocol to investigate the germination of seed under different conditions, by growing seeds upright in Petri dishes. While simple enough to be used at KS2, the practical can be used for investigations at GCSE and post-16. The experiment allows students to make quantitative measurements of root / shoot growth, length of root hairs, etc, as well as % germination. By rotating the dishes, some tropic effects can also be investigated. This technique can be used to investigate the effects of acid rain or pollution and its effects on germination, by filling the reservoir with an appropriate solution |
 |
This online ecology resource introduces random sampling, diversity and different measures of abundance, with students looking at close-up photographs of quadrats and using our field guide to identify them. The resources are intended to help students develop skills and plant identification techniques before going out into the field.
|
