Teaching ideas

Unit 1 Plants and humans as organisms

Possible lessons
Topic Number of Outline of In Coursebook In Workbook In Teacher’s
40-minute lesson content Resource
periods
1.1 Plant organs 1–2 Structure of Questions 1–6 Exercise 1.1, Worksheet 1.1,
a plant and Activity 1.1, Comparing Plant organs
functions of Pressing a plant leaves
major organs
1.2 Human 1 Functions of Questions 1–5 Exercise 1.2, Worksheet 1.2,
organ systems the digestive, Human organ Human organ
circulatory, systems systems
nervous and
respiratory
systems, and
their major
organs
1.3 The human 2 Structure of Questions 1–5 Exercise 1.3,
skeleton the skeleton; Activity 1.3, Breaking bones
investigating Do long bones
relationship break more
between length easily than
and strength of short bones?,
bones including
Questions A1–A2
1.4 Joints 1 Types of joints; Questions 1–7 Worksheet 1.4,
structure of a Activity 1.4, Arthritis
moveable joint Which kind of
joint?
1.5 Muscles 1 Antagonistic Questions 1–6 Exercise 1.5,
muscles in the Antagonistic
upper arm muscles in the
leg
1.6 Studying the 1–2 Researching Questions 1–3
human body the work of Activity 1.6,
scientists Researching
studying the the work of
human body scientists
End of unit 1 Review of unit Questions
questions 1.1–1.3

Topic 1.1 Plant organs

This topic introduces the terms ‘organism’ and ‘organ’, and looks at the functions of four major plant organs. There
are opportunities for students to develop their observational skills, and to record comparative information in a table.
Ideas for the lesson
• The Coursebook begins with a map of the world, generated using information obtained by recording near
infrared radiation. This is intended to bring home to students just how important plants are to life on Earth.
You could discuss this map with the class, and then discuss the answers to Questions 1 to 4 together. You might
also like to discuss what the white areas represent.

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 Teaching ideas: Unit 1

• It would be good to show students a complete, small plant that has roots, leaves, stems and flowers. Young
bean plants can be grown from seeds – these will need to be sown at least a week before the lesson, but will not
have flowers by that stage of their growth. Weeds could be taken from the school grounds, but take care not to
remove any specimens of vulnerable species from the environment.
• Some students find plants uninteresting, so you may like to try to show them some plants that are a little unusual.
For example, you could show them an insectivorous plant such as a sundew, Venus fly trap or pitcher plant. In
each case, the insect-trapping organ is a modified leaf. Plants with leaves that are sensitive to touch, such as Mimosa
pudica, are another possibility.
• Questions 5 and 6 could be used to introduce the idea of surface area, but this can be a difficult concept so do
not attempt to introduce it unless you are sure the class is ready.
• Activity 1.1, Pressing a plant, is a little time consuming, but it is very worthwhile as it involves students in
handling their own complete plant and looking at it carefully.
• Workbook Exercise 1.1, Comparing leaves, could be done in class, if time allows, or for homework. In either
case, students will need some guidance in how to complete it. In part 3, they should write a positive description
about each leaf in each row. For example, for the ‘surface’ row, they might write ‘smooth’ for leaf A and ‘hairy’
for leaf B. They should not write ‘smooth’ and ‘not smooth’, as this does not tell us anything positive about the
surface of leaf B. For the ‘length’ row, they could measure the length of each leaf.
Common misunderstandings and misconceptions
• Students often confuse the words ‘organ’ and ‘organism’.
• In some Spanish-speaking countries, the word ‘organism’ is sometimes wrongly used to mean ‘body’.
• Students may say that leaves ‘attract’ sunlight, rather than that they absorb it.
Homework ideas
• Worksheet 1.1, Plant organs
• Workbook Exercise 1.1, Comparing leaves

Topic 1.2 Human organ systems

This topic introduces the concept of organ systems, and looks at the structure and function of four of them in the
human body – the digestive, circulatory, nervous and respiratory systems. The reproductive system is not dealt with,
as this will be covered at stage 8. The word ‘function’ is used again, helping students to become familiar with this
important term.
Ideas for the lesson
• If available, use a three-dimensional model of the human body, with organs that can be taken out and replaced.
• Make a life-size outline of a human body on a piece of cardboard or other firm but soft material. Provide
students with life-size cut-outs of human organs, and ask members of the class to pin each organ in place on the
outline.
• Provide students with sets of cards, each card showing a body organ. In groups, ask them to sort the cards into
organ systems. One member from one or more groups can then feed back their decisions to the rest of the class.
• Questions 1 to 5 ask students to look carefully at the diagrams of the systems in the Coursebook, and could be
answered through a class discussion.
Common misunderstandings and misconceptions
• The term ‘stomach’ is often used to mean the part of the body that is correctly called the abdomen. The
stomach is an organ in the digestive system.
Homework ideas
• Students could each research the function of one particular organ in the body, and write down three interesting
facts about it. In the next lesson, ask students to tell the class one or all of these facts, which can then be used to
stimulate discussion.
• Worksheet 1.2, Human organ systems
• Workbook Exercise 1.2, Human organ systems

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Topic 1.3 The human skeleton

This topic covers the structure of the skeleton, and the names of the major bones. The correct scientific names are
used; students often enjoy learning these.
Activity 1.3, Do long bones break more easily than short bones?, involves many scientific enquiry skills, including
planning, making careful measurements, recording results in a table and drawing conclusions. It builds on work done
on forces and the use of forcemeters in Topic 9.2, Forces big and small. If that topic has not yet been covered, you
will need to explain how to use a forcemeter.
This would be a good point at which to introduce the term ‘variable’ for the first time. In this experiment, the
variable that is changed (the independent variable) is the length of the straw. The variable that is measured (the
dependent variable) is the force needed to bend the straw. There are also several variables that should be kept
constant, such as the diameter of the straw, the material from which it is made and the point at which the force is
applied to the straw. These are not mentioned in the instructions, and it would be very valuable to discuss these with
the students and ask them to suggest what variables should be kept constant, and why.
Ideas for the lesson
• A model skeleton always excites interest, and students will enjoy naming the bones, and finding them in their
own bodies.
• It is worth building up a collection of animal bones – for example, bones taken from chickens or other animals
eaten as food. Students can try to identify each bone and ‘match’ it to the equivalent bone in the human body.
This can stimulate discussion about how the same basic skeletal structure takes on different forms in different
animals, and how this relates to the different lifestyles of the animals.
• Questions 1 to 5 could be dealt with as a class discussion. Questions 1 to 4 require students to look carefully
at the diagram, and work out the answers from it. Question 5 requires them to compare an X-ray with the
diagram, and to recognise that it isn’t always safe to jump to conclusions where they don’t have full evidence.
• Activity 1.3, Do long bones break more easily than short bones?, can be carried out by students working in
small groups. Its purpose is to develop enquiry skills, rather than to learn information about bones. Begin
by discussing the experiment with them, and identifying the variables that will be changed, measured and
kept constant. If students are already used to carrying out experiments like this, you could make this more
challenging by asking them to test each length of straw two or three times, and then calculate the average force
needed to bend each one. They would then need to modify the results table. You could also extend the activity
by using five different lengths of straw rather than three. If students have learnt how to draw line graphs in
their mathematics lessons, they could plot a line graph of average force needed to bend the straw ( y-axis)
against length of straw (x-axis).
Common misunderstandings and misconceptions
• Students often think that the skin helps to support the body. This is entirely false.
• Students often confuse the terms ‘spine’, ‘spinal cord’ and ‘spinal column’.
Homework ideas
• Students could be asked to find out about the kind of skeleton that arthropods have – how is it similar to and
different from the human skeleton? Does it have the same functions?
• Workbook Exercise 1.3, Breaking bones, gives practice in using secondary data presented as a bar chart.

Topic 1.4 Joints

This topic looks at what a joint is, the differences between hinge joints and ball-and-socket joints, and the structure
of a moveable (synovial) joint. Links could be made to work done in physics on friction and lubricants. You could
probably cover the basics in one lesson, but if time is available it would be easy to extend this topic considerably.
Ideas for the lesson
• If available, show students a model of a synovial joint, such as the knee joint or the elbow joint.
• Many students will enjoy looking carefully at a joint obtained from a butcher. This should not be cooked! Joints
from an animal’s leg will clearly show the smooth, slippery cartilage layer over the surfaces at the ends of the
bones. You should be able to find the strong, shiny white tendons attaching the muscles to the bones above and
below the joint.

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 Teaching ideas: Unit 1

• Activity 1.4, Which kind of joint?, asks students to work out for themselves what kind of joint they have at
different positions in the body.
• Some students may have a relative who has had a joint replaced (for example, a hip or a knee). If they have any
knowledge of how this was done, why the person needed the replacement or how the new joint has affected the
person’s life, they might like to tell the class about it.
• Find some articles in newspapers or magazines – or ask students to find articles –about joint injuries to athletes.
For example, tearing a cruciate ligament (at the knee joint) is a common injury for footballers. They could find
out what causes such an injury, and how long it takes to heal.
• Students might enjoy researching the kinds of joint that are used to make walking robots. They could look at
the types of joint chosen for different positions in the robot, and for different kinds of movement, and why this
joint was chosen. They could also compare the materials used for making the robot’s joints, and the way that
friction is reduced, with how this is done in the human body.
Common misunderstandings and misconceptions
• There are no common misunderstandings associated with this topic.
Homework ideas
• Worksheet 1.4, Arthritis
• Students could carry out some research on robots, as described above.

Topic 1.5 Muscles

A very important idea to get across in this topic is that muscles can pull, but they cannot push. Students should learn
to use the word ‘contract’ to mean ‘get shorter’, and should appreciate that muscles use energy to this, and can exert
quite large forces when they contract. They should use the word ‘relax’ to mean that the muscle is not contracting –
in this state, it will not change length unless another force pulls on it to make it longer. This force could be, for
example, a weight pulling the hand down, or it could be a force produced by the contraction of another muscle.
There are clear links to be made here with the work on forces covered in Unit 9, Forces and motion.
Ideas for the lesson
• Ask a student to sit at a bench with an elbow resting on it and the forearm lying horizontally on the bench
surface. When the lower arm is raised, it should be possible to see that the biceps muscle gets a little fatter, as it
contracts. You can also feel how the triceps is extended. Look, too, for the tendons that pass across the inside of
the elbow joint. Similar observations can be made when the arm is extended.
• You could use a model made of pieces of wood for the bones, with a bolt holding them loosely together at the
‘elbow’, and elastic bands to represent the muscles. This can demonstrate to students why – if muscles can only
pull, and not push – two muscles are needed at a joint.
Common misunderstandings and misconceptions
• In standard English, the name ‘biceps’ is a singular term – one biceps. There is no such word as ‘bicep’. The
same is true for triceps.
• Students often think that muscles can make themselves longer. They may say that the muscle ‘expands’, which is
incorrect. Encourage them to use the terms ‘contract’ and ‘relax’.
Homework ideas
• Workbook Exercise 1.5, Antagonistic muscles in the leg

Topic 1.6 Studying the human body

There is a tendency for students to think that science is all about learning facts, and that we already know most of
what there is to know. There is an opportunity here to dispel that idea, and help students to understand that ‘real’
scientists ask questions and try to find the answers to them.
When asked about scientists studying the human body, students are likely to think first of doctors and surgeons, yet
these are not mentioned in Topic 1.6 in the Coursebook. This is because doctors don’t really work as scientists; they
apply knowledge that scientists have discovered. Clearly there is overlap between the two fields – for example, Edward
Jenner worked both as a doctor and as a scientist who asked questions, tested out ideas and came to conclusions.
If students do want to include doctors in their research here, they should not be prevented from doing so.

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 Teaching ideas: Unit 1

Ideas for the lesson

• Activity 1.6, Researching the work of scientists, is probably best done in groups. You could either assign a
particular type of scientist to a group, or give them a selection from which they can choose. Access to suitable
materials is vital. There may be books that can be borrowed from the library. The best source, however, is
likely to be the internet. It is strongly recommended that you do careful initial research so that you can guide
students to suitable websites, or even provide them with printouts of web pages that you think are reliable and
contain useful information. You could ask each group to make a poster, or to construct a short PowerPoint®
presentation to give to the rest of the class. It can be helpful to allocate different roles to different members of
the group – for example, someone could find and select information, someone else could summarise it, someone
else could select or draw pictures, and one or two could give the presentation.
Homework ideas
• Students may be able to do part of the research, or the construction of their presentation, for homework.
• As this is the end of this unit, students could prepare for an end of unit test.

End of unit questions

These cover all aspects of the unit.

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