LAUNCH · GCSE Biology · Week 6 · Explore
Active Transport in Root Hairs & Gut
🎯 Learning objective: I can apply active transport to root hair and gut cells and interpret evidence linking uptake to respiration.
✅ Success criteria
- Explain root-hair mineral uptake.
- Explain glucose uptake against a gradient.
- Use a graph to link oxygen/respiration to uptake.
ArrivalStarterI DoWe DoI Do 2We Do 2IndependentExit
🧬 Edexcel GCSE Biology 1BI0 Foundation · Paper 1 · Topic 1🧪 Uptake Evidence Lab⏱ 40 minutes
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Explore → Uptake Evidence Labobserve · predict · test · explain · applyQUESTIONEVIDENCEPATTERNEXPLANATIONAPPLICATIONEVALUATION
LAUNCH rule: the explanation is earned by observation, prediction, measurement, testing or reasoning from evidence.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Stable conditions and clear expectations make GCSE thinking possible.
⏱ 3 min
🚪 Arrival · previous learningRetrieve the previous learning: W6L1 against-gradient movement and energy.
Not here last lesson? Everything you need is in the box above — read it, then answer.
◆ Supported — three retrieval questions and one lead-in
R1 Last lesson
Point to the word energy on the card.
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can scribe your exact words. Next step up: Standard — Last lesson you met active transport. What makes it different from diffusion?
R2 Week 5
Say which way water moves in osmosis.
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can scribe your exact words. Next step up: Standard — Week 5: define osmosis using the word membrane.
R3 Week 4
Point to the air sac in the lung diagram.
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can scribe your exact words. Next step up: Standard — Week 4: name one adaptation that speeds up diffusion.
Lead-in Into today
Look at the root hair cell. Point to its long thin shape.
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can scribe your exact words. Next step up: Standard — A root hair cell is long and thin. How does that shape help it take in minerals?
▲ Standard — three retrieval questions and one lead-in
R1 Last lesson
Last lesson you met active transport. What makes it different from diffusion?
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can scribe your exact words. Next step up: Stretch — Last lesson: explain why active transport stops if respiration stops.
R2 Week 5
Week 5: define osmosis using the word membrane.
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can scribe your exact words. Next step up: Stretch — Week 5: explain why osmosis and active transport move things for different reasons.
R3 Week 4
Week 4: name one adaptation that speeds up diffusion.
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can scribe your exact words. Next step up: Stretch — Week 4: explain how a large surface area helps any exchange process.
Lead-in Into today
A root hair cell is long and thin. How does that shape help it take in minerals?
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can scribe your exact words. Next step up: Stretch — Predict what an experiment would show if you deprived root cells of oxygen, and say why.
★ Stretch — three retrieval questions and one lead-in
R1 Last lesson
Last lesson: explain why active transport stops if respiration stops.
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can scribe your exact words. Next step up: Supported — Point to the word energy on the card.
R2 Week 5
Week 5: explain why osmosis and active transport move things for different reasons.
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can scribe your exact words. Next step up: Supported — Say which way water moves in osmosis.
R3 Week 4
Week 4: explain how a large surface area helps any exchange process.
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can scribe your exact words. Next step up: Supported — Point to the air sac in the lung diagram.
Lead-in Into today
Predict what an experiment would show if you deprived root cells of oxygen, and say why.
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can scribe your exact words. Next step up: Supported — Look at the root hair cell. Point to its long thin shape.
Arrival retrieves three times, then leads in. R1 is last lesson, R2 is the previous week, R3 is older material, and the lead-in opens today without teaching today’s concept.
LAUNCH response routes
📝 write / edit🗣 structured verbal📏 measure / calculate📊 graph / interpret🧪 practical / demonstrate🔁 re-attempt
Access changes the response route, not the GCSE Biology entitlement.
QUESTIONEVIDENCEPATTERNEXPLANATIONAPPLICATIONEVALUATION
LAUNCH rule: the explanation is earned by observation, prediction, measurement, testing or reasoning from evidence.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Quiet retrieval before new demand; uncertainty is information, not public failure.
⏱ 4 min
🌱 Starter · observe / predict🔍 Scientific question
A graph shows mineral uptake falling when oxygen around roots falls. Oxygen is not the mineral. Why should it affect uptake?
FRAME 1/4
READ BOTH AXES
Pause for observation or prediction before advancing.
FRAME 2/4
DESCRIBE PATTERN
Pause for observation or prediction before advancing.
FRAME 3/4
LINK TO RESPIRATION
Pause for observation or prediction before advancing.
FRAME 4/4
TRANSFER TO ANOTHER CELL
Pause for observation or prediction before advancing.
🎯 Commit to a prediction
Before we look at the data: what happens to mineral uptake if oxygen is removed?
Choose one. Say it, point to it, or press it.
Nothing here is right or wrong yet, and nothing is marked, scored or stored. A prediction is still worth having when it turns out differently — that is what makes the test worth running.
LAUNCH response routes
📝 write / edit🗣 structured verbal📏 measure / calculate📊 graph / interpret🧪 practical / demonstrate🔁 re-attempt
Access changes the response route, not the GCSE Biology entitlement.
QUESTIONEVIDENCEPATTERNEXPLANATIONAPPLICATIONEVALUATION
LAUNCH rule: the explanation is earned by observation, prediction, measurement, testing or reasoning from evidence.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Prediction/observation precedes explanation.
⏱ 4 min
👩🏫 I Do · model the reasoning🧠 Teacher reasoning model — reveal only after the class has observed/predicted.
STEP Build root-hair reasoning from concentration evidence.
STEP Transfer reasoning to glucose uptake in gut.
STEP Connect many mitochondria to energy release.
✔ What this model helps us seeIt shows the same process in two very different places, so the pattern is separable from the particular cell.
✘ What this model does not showIt leaves out the rate — the diagram cannot show how much slower uptake becomes when respiration is limited.
QUESTIONEVIDENCEPATTERNEXPLANATIONAPPLICATIONEVALUATION
LAUNCH rule: the explanation is earned by observation, prediction, measurement, testing or reasoning from evidence.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Teacher models scientific reasoning; staff watch access and the point where the idea lands.
⏱ 4 min
🤝 We Do · hinge & responseCommit before reveal: Why can low oxygen reduce mineral uptake?
Answer first. The reveal is earned by the response, not by a timer.
LAUNCH response routes
📝 write / edit🗣 structured verbal📏 measure / calculate📊 graph / interpret🧪 practical / demonstrate🔁 re-attempt
Access changes the response route, not the GCSE Biology entitlement.
QUESTIONEVIDENCEPATTERNEXPLANATIONAPPLICATIONEVALUATION
LAUNCH rule: the explanation is earned by observation, prediction, measurement, testing or reasoning from evidence.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Adult genuinely receives the response; the next question, explanation or scaffold changes because of it.
⏱ 4 min
👩🏫 I Do 2 · connect / extend🧠 Teacher reasoning model — reveal only after the class has observed/predicted.
STEP Read both graph axes first.
STEP Describe pattern before explaining.
STEP Avoid claiming the graph proves oxygen is the only factor.
QUESTIONEVIDENCEPATTERNEXPLANATIONAPPLICATIONEVALUATION
LAUNCH rule: the explanation is earned by observation, prediction, measurement, testing or reasoning from evidence.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Teacher models scientific reasoning; staff watch access and the point where the idea lands.
⏱ 5 min
🤝 We Do 2 · scientific model / dataInteractive reasoning: predict/observe first → use the model → explain the evidence → adult receives it.
🧪 Scientific reasoning model
🌱📊
Prediction / observation first. Then use the reveal.
What do you notice or predict before revealing the explanation?
🌱 Uptake evidence lab
The model above reveals one explanation. This lab is button-only. It tests three pieces of evidence about a root hair cell, and freezes what each one proves.
Step 1 · Predict, before you test
Soil nitrate measures LOWER than nitrate inside the root hair cell. Can diffusion alone explain the root taking nitrate in?
Choose one. Say it, point to it, or press it. Nothing here is right or wrong yet.
Step 2 · Test each piece of evidence
Press one to test it.
Frozen results — these stay on the page
Nothing tested yet.
Step 3 · Explain
SCIENCE GLITCH: “Roots absorb minerals by diffusion, because soil is full of them.”
Use your frozen list as the evidence. Decide, then say why.
Every step is a button, and each option carries a shape and a word as well as its colour. Say it, point to it or have an adult press it — the route does not change the Biology.
LAUNCH response routes
📝 write / edit🗣 structured verbal📏 measure / calculate📊 graph / interpret🧪 practical / demonstrate🔁 re-attempt
Access changes the response route, not the GCSE Biology entitlement.
QUESTIONEVIDENCEPATTERNEXPLANATIONAPPLICATIONEVALUATION
LAUNCH rule: the explanation is earned by observation, prediction, measurement, testing or reasoning from evidence.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Adult genuinely receives the response; the next question, explanation or scaffold changes because of it.
⏱ 12 min
✏️ Independent · evidence & transfer✏️ Independent GCSE Biology
Label the root hair cell. Then the gut cell. Read the graph. It shows oxygen. It shows uptake. Write one explanation. Use the graph as evidence.
🧪 PRACTICAL / EVIDENCE READY
EquipmentRoot hair/gut diagrams; local graph; data questions.
Safety / accessNo practical hazard; graph remains visible and may be discussed before writing.
Evidence targetAnnotated cell + graph interpretation + causal explanation.
12 minutes. Supported / Standard / Stretch are movable routes, not grade identities.
◆ Label the cell. Mark the mitochondria. Use the graph sentence frame.
As oxygen ___, uptake ___. This is because ___.
Fade: remove the first prompt that no longer changes success.
▲ Explain the root hair cell. Then the gut. Then the graph.
Direction → energy → adaptation.
Fade: remove the first prompt that no longer changes success.
★ Evaluate the graph. Is oxygen the only limiting factor? Say why.
Three parts. Describe. Explain. Evaluate.
Fade: remove the first prompt that no longer changes success.
1 · Learner decisionprediction, plan, command-word choice or calculation set-up
2 · Observable Sciencemeasurement, graph, working, model, practical result or answer
3 · Learner responseexplanation, evaluation, edit or re-attempt after feedback
📖 WORD HELP
root haira long thin outgrowth of a root cell that increases surface area
active transportmoving substances against the gradient, using energy
respirationthe reaction in cells that releases energy
Use the Biology word first. Ask for help only when you need it. TA fade route: model the word. Then prompt for it. Then wait for it. Drop a step as soon as the pupil no longer needs it.
LAUNCH response routes
📝 write / edit🗣 structured verbal📏 measure / calculate📊 graph / interpret🧪 practical / demonstrate🔁 re-attempt
Access changes the response route, not the GCSE Biology entitlement.
QUESTIONEVIDENCEPATTERNEXPLANATIONAPPLICATIONEVALUATION
LAUNCH rule: the explanation is earned by observation, prediction, measurement, testing or reasoning from evidence.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Pupil reasoning stays attributable; feedback produces an edit, re-attempt, calculation, explanation or application.
⏱ 4 min
🎫 Exit · receive and use the response◆ Supported
Which organelle links to respiration?
▲ Standard
Why use active transport for mineral ions?
★ Stretch
Explain graph pattern and one limitation.
🔁 LAUNCH Lundy close — use the existing work
1) Pupil answers / edits / re-attempts. 2) Adult genuinely reads, listens or watches and names back what was received. 3) Where appropriate, the pupil adds the single response/next-step line on the same work: “I changed / next I will …”
No adult signature/countersignature. If local policy uses R, it follows genuine Audience only; this page never adds it automatically.
Closing the loop: this one ends on paper — your own hand, or your words scribed by an adult. Saying it aloud starts the loop; writing it is what closes it. Pass is always allowed.
What I said, and what it changed:
LAUNCH response routes
📝 write / edit🗣 structured verbal📏 measure / calculate📊 graph / interpret🧪 practical / demonstrate🔁 re-attempt
Access changes the response route, not the GCSE Biology entitlement.
QUESTIONEVIDENCEPATTERNEXPLANATIONAPPLICATIONEVALUATION
LAUNCH rule: the explanation is earned by observation, prediction, measurement, testing or reasoning from evidence.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
LAUNCH response stays on the existing work; adult genuinely receives it, then the next learning move changes.