History GCSE Medicine Edexcel KT4 L6 Lung Cancer Modern c1900-Present (Fully Resourced).
This fully resourced lesson investigates the government’s response to the rise of lung cancer after 1900, focusing on diagnosis, treatment, and prevention campaigns. No textbook required.

Lesson content (step by step):

Do Now – Retrieval 5-a-Day: recap on penicillin — Fleming, Florey and Chain, WWII mass production, and its significance as a turning point. Students correct their answers in full sentences.

Starter image/source task: pupils analyse a government anti-smoking poster and discuss what message it is trying to convey.

Guided input / context: teacher explains the rise in lung cancer cases during the 20th century, linking to the growth of cigarette smoking after WWI.

Diagnosis and treatment: pupils learn about modern methods such as bronchoscopy, PET-CT scans, blood tests, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgery (lobectomy). Students complete a grid noting what each method does and how it helps.

Government prevention measures:

1965: ban on cigarette advertising.

2007: ban on smoking in public places.

Increased taxation on tobacco products.

NHS anti-smoking campaigns and support programmes.
Pupils categorise these as legal action, advertising campaigns, or tax measures.

Factors task: students consider why the government acted — rising deaths, public health responsibility, scientific evidence linking smoking to cancer.

Structured exam writing: pupils attempt a question such as “Explain why the government acted to reduce smoking-related diseases in the 20th century.” Scaffolding and sentence starters support extended responses.

Plenary reflection: pupils evaluate whether treatment or prevention has been more effective in tackling lung cancer, writing one sentence to justify their view.