A fully resourced, enquiry-led GCSE History lesson exploring the development of antibiotics and the difficult decisions behind medical breakthroughs. Students examine the work of Paul Ehrlich and Gerhard Domagk, challenging the idea that medical progress was simply the result of straightforward scientific discovery.

The lesson includes:

A low-stakes Register Task introducing Paul Ehrlich through a historical mystery
A sequence of WWYD (What Would You Do?) activities exploring Ehrlich’s development of chemical treatments
A second sequence of WWYD activities analysing Domagk’s development of Prontosil
A structured reflection task developing understanding of the qualities required for scientific progress
A judgement task evaluating whether Domagk could have succeeded without Ehrlich
A reflective plenary task applying knowledge of scientific decision-making and medical progress

All worksheets, slide materials, and full slide-by-slide teacher notes are included, designed for immediate classroom use.

Designed for Edexcel GCSE Medicine Through Time, but easily adaptable for AQA, OCR, and Eduqas.

The lesson develops key disciplinary skills including interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and supported judgement, while reinforcing understanding of the development of antibiotics, chemotherapy, Salvarsan, Prontosil, Paul Ehrlich, and Gerhard Domagk.