History GCSE Medicine Edexcel KT5 L7 Surgery and Medicine Western Front (Fully Resourced).
This fully resourced lesson investigates how the challenges of the First World War led to major developments in surgery and medicine, including new techniques and treatments. Students learn the content through structured practice of the ‘Describe two features’, the 4-mark follow-up enquiry, and the 8-mark usefulness exam questions. No textbook required.

Lesson content (step by step):

Do Now retrieval: recap quiz on the chain of evacuation and illnesses/injuries (e.g. trench foot, CCS, shell shock). Students correct their answers in full sentences.

Starter image analysis: pupils study a photograph of a soldier with facial injuries and discuss what new medical challenges such wounds created.

Mini-teach on surgical and medical developments during WWI:

New techniques:

The Thomas Splint (hugely reduced deaths from leg wounds).

Mobile X-ray units to locate shrapnel.

Blood transfusions in Casualty Clearing Stations (using sodium citrate to prevent clotting).

Brain surgery improvements (Cushing’s techniques).

Plastic and facial surgery pioneered by Harold Gillies.

Students complete guided notes and examples in a structured table.

2 features exam practice:

Question example: “Describe two features of new surgical treatments developed during WWI.”

Teacher models one feature (Thomas Splint) with evidence.

Pupils complete their own second feature with scaffolding provided.

4-mark follow-up practice:

Source provided (e.g. diary or hospital record on the use of blood transfusions).

Pupils apply the four steps: detail, question, source type, how it helps.

Teacher models specificity and students complete the scaffolded table.

8-mark usefulness practice:

Pupils evaluate a source (e.g. photograph or newspaper report on surgery) for its usefulness in studying medical developments.

Teacher models how to balance content, omissions, and provenance.

Pupils write their own structured usefulness paragraph.

Plenary reflection: pupils answer in one sentence — “Which surgical development had the biggest long-term impact and why?”