Can understanding photosynthesis help save thousands of lives a year?

This poster and accompanying article introduce C3 and C4 photosynthesis in the context of food security and genetic modification.

Rice biologists have a problem. Rice is a staple food for more than half the world’s...

This issue of Big Picture provides lots of interesting information about flowering plants and their uses. 

The plant hormones animation explores the action of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and shows how scientists used experimental evidence to explain the role of auxins in a phototrophic response.

The...

The poster ‘Plant Pathogens – Identification’ illustrates diagnostic tests that are commonly used to identify plant pathogens in the lab and in the field.

The poster is accompanied by a presentation, which can be used as a step-by-step walkthrough of the ideas in the poster.

The poster ‘Plant Pathogens: Control’ illustrates the many ways that we control plant pathogens, from polyculture farming to controlling the import of plants.The poster is accompanied by a presentation, which can be used as a step-by-step walk-through of the ideas in the poster. Full teaching notes are given,...

This resource from Science & Plants for Schools (SAPS) describes the work of Charles Darwin on carnivorous plants to determine what causes the leaves to curl up when stimulated.

Darwin’s experiments are very easy...

These resources consider adaptation and competition in the context of carnivorous plants.

This module uses carnivorous plants and their habitats as a stepping-stone for exploring broader ecological concepts, in particular the structure of an ecosystem and predator-prey relationships. Students will engage in...

The Science upd8 activity set in the context of the universe. Earlier missions failed to find life on other planets. Is it still worth looking? Can we justify the expense of the search for extra terrestrial intelligence? Students will be deciding just how likely intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy is.

These materials, from Waste Watch (part of Keep Britain Tidy), have been developed to make explicit links between sustainability and packaging for students following GCSE level design and technology courses. The scheme of learning includes suggested activities for five active learning sessions, supported by the...

In this practical activity, students use magnification to examine leaves showing symptoms of a common plant disease and produce labelled drawings of the fungal spores.

The activity will help students to demonstrate the following learning outcomes at KS4:

• describe a common plant disease...

The poster ‘The Never-Ending Battle for Fortress Plant’ illustrates ideas about plant defences against pathogens. It depicts the plant as a fortress which is defended against invading pathogens. The poster is accompanied by a presentation, which can be used as a step-by-step walk-through of the ideas in the poster...

This resource, aimed at primary level, contains many activities related to plants, habitats, food chains and recycling. It looks at the features of different habitats and compares the plants that grow in each. Children learn about the features of plants and how certain...

Produced by The Centre for Industry Education Collaboration (CIEC), these resources help to put curriculum science in a real life context. In these activities, children compare plants grown in a variety of nutrients. They investigate the best conditions to grow turf for a sports pitch.

During the activities...

Produced in 2015, these resources look specifically at how genes can be altered in plants and how bacteria are central to genetic engineering techniques. Genetically modified (GM) crops offer the potential to help improve food security though this still remains...

The Nuffield Foundation provide this resource which can be used to introduce the idea of representing objects using plans and elevations. Students will have the opportunity to identify everyday objects photographed from plan and elevation views, draw 3D sketches of solids from their plan and elevation views, as...

There are teacher notes and student materials which describe the research into the potential effects of climate change on a Coralline algae species. Curriculum links include biodiversity, sampling techniques, student t test, Simpson’s Index, photosynthesis, climate...