During my teacher training we had to write a masters' level essay on the implementation of the How Science Works component of the English...

When beginning secondary education in science the physicist may discuss energy, or forces, possibly even motion, the chemist may discuss...

In the UK, the knowledge curriculum seems to be enjoying high levels of popularity. The pendulum has swung (and rightly so) away from...

During my training year as a teacher I taught one lesson that went really well with a bottom set science class. It generated a lot of...

Cellulose is an incredibly important component of cell walls, plant cells, plants, and whole ecosystems. However, cellulose can only be a...

Biological systems are highly complex and non-linear. Students will struggle to see the wood for the trees unless the multitude of...

Ideas in this blog post eventually developed into a much more advanced idea presented in my book. Life exists within the context of its...

Mendelian genetics is ubiquitous in secondary school biology curricula and the Punnet square is iconic to genetics. Think about the...

Should mitosis be taught alongside meiosis or separately? Should organelles be taught together or separately across the curriculum? How...

During the popularity of the skills curriculum, there appeared to be some agreement across school subject areas about what skills were...

Explanation in biology is split between two big questions. These questions should inform how we teach, and the answers we expect from...

Why is the word glucose problematic? Cellular respiration, which is the oxidation of organic molecules for the production of ATP, is...

How should we define DNA (or in some cases, the nucleus) in secondary school? Since beginning teaching biology I have seen such things...

How many biology courses begin with cells? Most Year 7 courses (11 years old) begin with cells. Then at 14 years old GCSE biology courses...

This post is somewhat old now, for my more advanced ideas check out my book. The big ideas in biology transcend all its individual...