History GCSE Medicine Edexcel KT3 L2 Koch vs Pasteur Industrial c1700-1900 (Fully Resourced).
This fully resourced lesson explores the contributions of Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur, comparing their significance and assessing who had the bigger impact on medical understanding in Britain. No textbook required.

Lesson content (step by step):

Do Now / 5-a-day starter: retrieval quiz on Germ Theory — date, main ideas, and how it challenged miasma and Spontaneous Generation. Students then correct in full sentences.

Starter discussion: key question on why proving Germ Theory mattered and what Pasteur had/not yet achieved in 1861.

Guided input / reading: teacher introduces Koch and Pasteur in context:

Pasteur (France): Germ Theory (1861), vaccinations (chicken cholera, anthrax, rabies), pasteurisation.

Koch (Germany): Identified specific microbes that caused TB (1882), cholera (1883), developed staining techniques, agar plates, and systematic laboratory methods.

Comparison task: students complete a structured table on Pasteur’s achievements vs Koch’s achievements, noting discoveries, methods, and immediate impact.

Case study: Koch in Britain — pupils consider why Koch’s work was more influential in Britain than Pasteur’s, linking to:

British mistrust of French science.

Koch’s practical lab techniques being easy for others to copy.

The role of British doctors (e.g. William Roberts, William Cheyne) in spreading Koch’s ideas.

Factors task: class discussion and grid activity on Why Koch’s ideas spread more quickly in Britain (practical application, national rivalries, British scientists’ support, government interest).

Structured writing task: students answer “Was Koch’s impact greater than Pasteur’s in Britain?” using scaffolding (Intro – Point – Evidence – Explanation – Judgement).

Plenary interpretation: pupils evaluate Roy Porter’s statement that Koch’s work “established the foundations of modern bacteriology”. They agree/disagree with evidence.