This lesson provides an overview of the key breakthroughs and individuals of the 18th and 19th century. For example, students learn about the role of Edward Jenner, James Simpson, John Snow, Louis Pasteur. Joseph Lister, Robert Koch and Florence Nightingale.

UPDATED & RE-VAMPED CONTENT IN LINE WITH THE 2026 SPEC

The 22 slide fully resourced lesson contains activities, tasks, practice exam questions, printable resources and all background knowledge:

• Slide 1: Title slide - The role of key individuals on the progress of medicine
• Slide 2-3: Warm Up - A fun brain teaser using words about medicine. Answer/solution provided.
• Slide 4-5: Recap - Students recap the key individuals they studied during the Medieval and Renaissance period. Answers provided.
• Slide 6-7: Starter - Students use various images to work out what the medical breakthroughs of the 18th and 19th centuries were. Answers included.
• Slide 8-9: Task Sheet - A choice of two tables for the students to use to help them organise their notes about the key individuals and their work. Printable.
• Slide 10: Challenge activities
• Slide 11: An interview based activity for students to select one of the key individuals and focus on their work.
• Slide 12: Learning Review 1 - Which key individual or breakthrough was the most significant?
• Slide 13-15: Learning Review 2 - Match the key individual with their breakthrough. Includes answers and small printable worksheets.
• Slide 16-17: EXAM FOCUS - Two examples of assessment questions for students to complete or practice.
• Slide 18-20: Lesson fact sheets
• Slide 21: An information poster covering the historial factors that cause continuity and change.
• Slide 22: More from RA Resources

All images used in this resource are in the public domain and are therefore copyright free. Images which require attribution have been attributed in the notes section of each slide where the image appears. Images labelled as AI are from from which I have a subscription and commercial licence to use the images generated. Proof of subscription available on request if needed. If you feel any errors have been made, please contact me at raschoolresources@gmail.com in the first instance to resolve any issues. My lessons are completed using PowerPoint and designed on widescreen formatting. Thank you.

This resource is for personal use only unless a school license is purchased and for copyright reasons any slides, worksheets, RA Resources maps or diagrams should not be copied/amended for commercial use.