This is a lesson which meets specification points within the WJEC GCSE ‘The Sciences’ Double Award (2026) spec, specifically from the Unit 1 - Basis of Life (Biology).

The lesson starts with an overview of the key vocabulary which students will be learning and using this lesson. Students can stick their key word lists into their books before the lesson begins.

The lesson begins by students thinking about the raw materials needed for plants to photosynthesise and which factors might limit the rate. The three factors which students will need to learn about are then revealed - carbon dioxide, light intensity and temperature. Three limiting factor graphs are then shown for each of these factors and students need to have a go at explaining what the graphs are showing, as a class discussion. After a short discussion, the teacher can use the PowerPoint slides to explain what each of the graphs show us about the rate of photosynthesis. Pupils will then need to complete a fill-in-the-blank task and self- their assess their work using the answers provided.

Next pupils are shown a green leaf and a variegated leaf and are asked to think>pair>share which leaf they believe will have a higher rate of photosynthesis, and why. This then leads to pupils learning that less chlorophyll means less photosynthesis will take place, which could lead to stunted growth.

The next part of the lesson focuses on pupils being able to use practical equipment to set up an investigation which measure the effect of light intensity on rate of photosynthesis. Pupils will firstly be given some images of equipment they could use and are asked to come up with a potential method for this investigation. After this pupils are then shown a video where they have to answers questions about the variables in this investigation and finally they are given a set of results to plot data and analyse it.

The plenary is a silent 5 task where pupils need to answer questions about what they learnt this lesson on their own in their books.