Video - Using bubbling pondweed to investigate photosynthesis

Video - Photosynthesis with algal balls

A great way to see plants reacting immediately to their environment, this is a reliable version of the old 'bubbling Elodea pondweed' practical. 

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Huge fun, loads of visual appeal, and with the option to generate plenty of quantitative data, the 'algal balls' practical is a wonderful starting point for photosynthesis and respiration at GCSE and post-16.

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Video - Demonstrating totipotency by cloning cauliflowers

Video - Demonstrating totipotency by cloning cauliflowers: technicians' video

If you haven't already tried out the improved SAPS / Kew Cauliflower Cloning method for yourself, watch the video and then give it a try. The looks on these students' faces say it all!

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For those using the Cauliflower Cloning protocol, we've created an additional 'how to' video for technicians showing how to make up the agar growth medium. 

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Two minute biology practical - How do nettles sting?

Two minute biology practical - Can a Venus Fly Trap count?

A quick and easy plant practical for your biology lab.

Using Universal Indicator paper, students investigate the pH of nettle stings.

This can easily be built up into a broader investigation, or used as a quick practical to introduce the topics of plant defences, adaptations and specialised cells.  

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In this quick and easy practical, students investigate what causes a Venus' Fly Trap to shut its trap. These experiments are related to a series of investigations that Darwin carried out as part of his work on evolution and adaptation.

This can easily be built up into a broader investigation, or used as a quick practical to introduce the topics of plant defences, adaptations and osmosis. 

Two minute biology practical - Leaf surface temperature

This practical is designed to be used as the opening lesson of the transport in plants section of the A level specification.

It provides an intriguing introduction to the topic of evaporative cooling and stomata, by encouraging students to investigate changes in leaf surface temperature when plants are prevented from transpiring.