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LAUNCH · Science · Week 4

Discover: Diffusion

Aut1·W4 (Discover) — Explain diffusion and the factors that affect its rate.

Edexcel GCSE Biology 1BI0 Foundation · Paper 1 · Topic 1Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9–1) Biology 1BI0 (Foundation, grades 1–5); GCSE Combined Science 1SC0 F where appropriate; AQA UAS science units
🎯 Learning Objective: I can explain diffusion and the factors that affect its rate.

✅ Success Criteria

  • I can define diffusion using 'net movement' and 'concentration gradient'.
  • I can name three factors that change the rate of diffusion.
  • I can apply diffusion to a real example in the body.
🔗 Assessment link: AQA UAS: 'Cells and transport'.

LAUNCH · one 40-minute session. Title orientation is untimed; keep the full 15-minute independent task.

Staff notes · feedback, participation, real-world link

Staff copy — not for pupil books. Codes live in books, never on pupil slides or printouts.

Lead with VF in the practical, sort and exit tasks. Written feedback is for extended writing only, strategic and not every piece (Curriculum Policy 2026/27 §14.3): here that means the Stretch explanation in the independent task, when it is worth a written next step.

Codes

VFVerbal feedback given here
WSWorked with support
IIndependent
NS + …Next step one specific thing
EEvidence captured on the school's digital evidence platform
RResponded loop closed (Audience has happened)
//Self-edit point
?Read this back to me

Curriculum Policy 2026/27 §14.3 summary: VF WS I NS E R (six codes; NS “next step”, E “evidence on digital software app”, R “responded to feedback”). The Feedback Policy, the code source, adds // and ? and expands NS to one specific thing and R to loop closed.

Make participation possible

Use regulation time, a trusted adult, accessible response routes and permission to refuse. The one small help prompt in We Do 2 is optional to open; genuine feedback is not optional and is not limited to that moment. Space: lung and breathing content can land close to home, so a pupil may work from the diagram and skip discussion.

Voice

The pupil responds in their own way: an edit in the margin in the same colour on the same page, a re-attempt, a verbal reply, a demonstration, a signed or symbol-chosen answer, or a captured comment. Voice is invited during the sort and again in the exit; it can be recorded as VF only when verbal feedback was actually given.

Audience

An adult genuinely reads, hears or watches the response and names what they heard back to the pupil. Add R only when the pupil responded AND the adult engaged with the response; no button, saved answer or completed exit supplies R on its own.

Influence

Change the next explanation, question, scaffold or task from what the pupil showed. In this lesson the sort tells you which example to re-model before the independent task; the exit tells you which route to open next lesson.

Model, supplied data, observation

The particle diagram and the sort cards are models. The alveolus figures are supplied illustrations. Neither is a measurement; do not record either as practical evidence. The breath test comes in the next lesson and is the pupil's own observation.

Destination link (Launch)

Diffusion is examined in Edexcel GCSE Biology 1BI0 Paper 1 Topic 1 and in Combined Science 1SC0. The same ideas run through Level 3 science and health routes, from nursing and paramedic practice, where gas exchange is the daily reality, to laboratory work on membranes and drug delivery.

Optional video (staff choice)

A short explainer clip exists online; it is linked for staff only, never embedded, never autoplayed and never assumed available. The lesson does not depend on it. If used, play it with captions from the classroom screen.

Response modes

Verbal, written, drawn, signed, symbol or choice selected, demonstrated or re-attempted, adult scribed. All count in the arrival, the sort and the exit.

Codes from the Feedback & Marking Policy 2025/2026 (Pilot), Issue 1, May 2026, verified in session 2026-09-15 (SHA-256 41046284a00c9218679b946134cbc6e53c1897aad28b15fc4bd4aa963720ff3b).

Optional staff video link: the explainer clip named in the science pack (opens in a new tab; never embedded or autoplayed on a pupil surface).

Teacher timing and core practice

40-minute session: Arrival 4; overview 1; I Do 1 4; We Do 1 4; I Do 2 3; We Do 2 5; independent work 15; exit 4. Title orientation is untimed. The optional two-minute evidence check sits inside independent time. Keep extra practice available; use the core question, a contrasting example and a recheck before extending.

🖨 Teacher print tools

Resources · shared task, PDFs and video
🚪 Arrival · four quick questions

Arrival task — pick your tier

Choose one route. Point, say, sign, draw, type or write. You may pass or say not sure. Use the screen or paper; you do not need to do both.

Nothing here assumes you have met diffusion before. The questions use everyday ideas about smells, drinks and breathing; an adult can read them to you or write your words.

1. Someone opens a bottle of perfume at the front. Can people at the back smell it after a while? Yes / No.

2. Two glasses of squash: one strong, one weak. Which one has more squash particles in the same amount of water? Strong / Weak.

3. In a gas, are the particles close together or far apart? Close / Far apart.

4. When you breathe in, where does oxygen get into your blood? Lungs / Stomach.

Show Supported arrival answers

Allow four minutes within the arrival stage. Read or scribe as needed. Start from what pupils show; a pass or a not-sure is information about the starting point, not a label. Accept spoken, signed, drawn, pointed, chosen or scribed answers as equal.

  1. Yes. Accept pointing or nodding. The smell spreads through the air on its own.
  2. Strong. More particles in the same volume means a higher concentration.
  3. Far apart, and moving. Accept a gesture that shows spread-out particles.
  4. Lungs. The air sacs in the lungs are where oxygen enters the blood.
🗺️ Today at a Glance

Three things we do today

1.

Define it precisely

2.

Three rate factors

3.

Apply it to the lungs

👩‍🏫 I Do · watch me think

Watch me define it properly

🧠 Watch me think: Weak version: 'diffusion is when things spread out'. That earns very little. Marking version: 'the NET movement of particles from an area of HIGHER concentration to an area of LOWER concentration, DOWN a concentration gradient'. Three technical phrases, each doing work.

📖 Key definitions

  • diffusion — The net movement of particles from a higher to a lower concentration.
  • concentration gradient — The difference in concentration between two areas.
  • net movement — The overall movement, once movement in both directions is counted.
  • passive — Requiring no energy from the cell.
❌ Common mistake: Particles only move one way in diffusion.
✅ Actually: They move randomly in all directions. The NET result is down the gradient.
🤝 We Do · together

Faster or slower?

Decide before you tap.Found 0/5
Steeper concentration gradient
Higher temperature
Thicker membrane
Larger surface area
Adding energy from the cell

👩‍🏫 I Do 2 · the evidence loop

Evidence loop

🧠 Watch me think: You apply it, out loud as you write: 'Oxygen diffuses from the alveolus into the blood because oxygen concentration is higher in the alveolus. The wall is one cell thick, so the diffusion distance is short, which increases the rate.' Direction, reason, adaptation.

Assessor witness · what the adult is watching for

  • Defined diffusion using 'net movement' and 'concentration gradient'.
  • Named three factors affecting rate.
  • Applied diffusion to gas exchange in the alveoli.

📸 Capture: Photograph the pupil's annotated alveolus diagram with all three adaptations labelled.

🤝 We Do 2 · sort, then write

Diffusion or not?

Sort, don’t guess. Put each card in the right bin.Sorted 0/6
Oxygen into the blood at the alveoli
Carbon dioxide out of a cell
A smell spreading across a room
Glucose pumped into a root hair against the gradient
Water across a partially permeable membrane
Net movement down a gradient, no energy used
● DIFFUSION
■ NOT DIFFUSION
▲ OSMOSIS

Need a different way to take part? (optional)

During the sort, point, say, sign or show the adult an idea, a question or a change that would help you take part. You may pass or speak privately. The adult listens, says what can change and checks whether it helped.

✏️ Independent Work

Your turn — pick your tier

15 minutes. Choose the tier your adult rings for you.

Use the task time to work, check and improve: reserve up to two of these 15 minutes for an evidence check with your adult or a partner, then act on one useful point. Point, say, sign, demonstrate, write or use an agreed scribe. Manual pause stays available.

15:00

◆ Supported

Label the alveolus diagram and complete three gap-fill definition sentences from the word bank.

▲ Standard

Label and annotate the alveolus diagram, then answer three application questions on rate factors.

★ Stretch

Annotate the diagram, answer the application questions, and explain why a person with damaged alveoli has reduced gas exchange, referring to surface area and distance.

🎫 Exit · two small checks

Before you go

Two small checks to finish. Point, say, sign, draw, type or use paper. An adult can scribe your words. You may pass; complete one route, once.

1. Diffusion is the net movement of particles from a higher concentration to a ____ concentration.
2. A steeper concentration gradient makes diffusion happen ____.
Compare Supported answers after your attempt
  1. Lower. Particles spread from where they are crowded to where they are few.
  2. Faster. A bigger difference in concentration means a faster net movement.

Use these with an adult. Your response is not automatically marked.

Next lesson: Diffusion in the Lungs: Testing Breath

Diffusion knowledge organiser

Learning objective: Explain diffusion and the factors that affect its rate.

Success criteria

Key words, with their tier
WordTierMeaning
DiffusionTier 3The net movement of particles from a higher concentration to a lower concentration.
ConcentrationTier 2How many particles of a substance there are in a given volume.
Concentration gradientTier 3The difference in concentration between two places. Particles diffuse down it.
Net movementTier 3The overall movement once movement in both directions has been counted.
PassiveTier 3Needing no energy from the cell; diffusion is passive.
Surface areaTier 2The total area available for particles to cross.
MembraneTier 3A thin layer that particles must cross, such as a cell membrane.
AlveolusTier 3One of the tiny air sacs in the lungs where oxygen enters the blood. Plural: alveoli.
RateTier 2How fast something happens; here, how quickly particles move across.

Key ideas

Particle model of diffusion across a membrane: many particles on the left, few on the right, net movement arrow pointing righthigh concentrationlow concentrationmembrane
A particle model of diffusion across a membrane. Particles are drawn far larger and fewer than the real thing, and the membrane is drawn as a line. This is an explanatory model, not a measurement of any real gas.

Examples

Slide 1/10
🏅📸✍️

Discover: Diffusion — banked!

LAUNCH Science · Week 4 ✅

✓ I can define diffusion using 'net movement' and 'concentration gradient'.✓ I can name three factors that change the rate of diffusion.✓ I can apply diffusion to a real example in the body.
⏸ MID-POINT PEER CHECK

Pens down — quick partner check!

📣 Show your partner where you’re up to. Check together against today’s success: I can define diffusion using 'net movement' and 'concentration gradient'. and I can name three factors that change the rate of diffusion.. If something’s missing, help them add it — kindly.

Optional check: use up to two minutes of the independent-work allocation. Manual pause is available if you need more time.

Lesson resources · W4L1

LAUNCH Science · W4L1 · lesson resources

Count both directions

Choose one shared task or resource within the current lesson stage. Keep the lesson’s 40-minute timetable and 15-minute independent work.

We Do · Count both directions

Equal volumes: 12 particles on the left, 3 on the right. Predict the initial net direction.

IntervalLeft → rightRight → left
Early82
At balance55

Find the net crossing count for each interval. What keeps happening at balance?

Discuss, point, write or dictate your first reason. Use one example first; extend only if there is time.

Reveal shared reasoning after an attempt

Early: 8 − 2 = 6 net left to right.
At balance: 5 − 5 = 0 net.
Particles still move randomly and cross both ways. These are illustrative model counts.

This page keeps your writing while it stays open. It does not save or send it.

Model explanation and diagram
Scientific visual for this lesson A local vector model used to support observation and reasoning. Labels and explanations are supplied in the lesson. random motion; net pattern from counts
A model illustration. Use the stated measurements for calculations.

Particles move randomly in both directions. Net movement is the difference between those two movements, not a rule obeyed by every particle.

Watch for: Passive means no energy supplied by respiration is needed. It does not mean particles have no kinetic energy.

Give a smaller support cue

Net movement = crossings one way minus crossings the other way. Start: “More particles move from ___ to ___ because…”

Optional video · Diffusion

Watch for: What keeps happening when there is no net movement?

Use a short relevant extract within I Do, then pause for an explanation. The clip replaces part of the modelling time.

Open the freesciencelessons video in a new tab

No-video version · use the same question
Scientific visual for this lesson A local vector model used to support observation and reasoning. Labels and explanations are supplied in the lesson. random motion; net pattern from counts

Particles continue to move randomly and cross in both directions. At equilibrium the crossings balance, so there is no net movement.

Internet is needed for the optional clip. It is concept teaching; viewing it is not completion of a practical.