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LAUNCH · Science · Week 6

Discover: Active Transport

Aut1·W6 (Discover) — Explain active transport and distinguish it from diffusion and osmosis.

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 active transport and distinguish it from diffusion and osmosis.

✅ Success Criteria

  • I can state that active transport moves substances AGAINST the concentration gradient.
  • I can state that it requires energy from respiration.
  • I can compare all three transport processes.
🔗 Assessment link: AQA UAS: 'Cells and transport'.

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

Teacher timing and core practice

40-minute session: Arrival 3; overview 1; I Do 1 4; We Do 1 4; I Do 2 3; We Do 2 4; independent work 15; feedback and next step 3; exit 3. 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 · start this as you come in

Arrival task — pick your tier

◆ Supported

Complete from the word bank: active transport moves substances ____ the concentration gradient and needs ____.

🗺️ Today at a Glance

Three things we do today

1.

Against the gradient

2.

Energy from respiration

3.

Compare all three

👩‍🏫 I Do · watch me think

Watch me compare the three

🧠 Watch me think: Three columns, three questions each time. Which way relative to the gradient? Does it need energy? What is moving? Diffusion: down, no, any particle. Osmosis: down, no, water only, and it needs the partially permeable membrane. Active transport: UP, yes, and it needs carrier proteins. Fill that table and you can answer any comparison question.

📖 Key definitions

  • active transport — Movement of substances against the concentration gradient, using energy.
  • against the gradient — From lower concentration to higher concentration.
  • carrier protein — A protein in the membrane that moves the substance across.
  • respiration — The reaction that releases the energy active transport needs.
❌ Common mistake: Active transport is just fast diffusion.
✅ Actually: Direction is the difference, not speed. Diffusion goes down the gradient; this goes up it.
🤝 We Do · together

Which process?

Decide before you tap.Found 0/5
Oxygen into the blood at the alveoli
Water into a root hair cell
Mineral ions into a root hair from dilute soil
Glucose from the gut into higher-concentration blood
Carbon dioxide out of a cell

👩‍🏫 I Do 2 · the evidence loop

Evidence loop

🧠 Watch me think: You give the answer shape for the classic question: 'Mineral ions move into the root hair cell by active transport because their concentration is HIGHER inside the cell than in the soil water. Moving against the gradient requires energy, released by respiration in the mitochondria.' Direction, then why energy is needed, then source.

Assessor witness · what the adult is watching for

  • Stated that active transport works against the concentration gradient.
  • Linked the energy requirement to respiration.
  • Compared diffusion, osmosis and active transport correctly.

📸 Capture: Photograph the pupil's completed three-column comparison table.

🤝 We Do 2 · sort, then write

True or false?

Sort, don’t guess. Put each card in the right bin.Sorted 0/6
Active transport needs energy
Diffusion needs energy
Active transport moves substances up the gradient
Active transport is just faster diffusion
Cells doing active transport have many mitochondria
Osmosis moves any particle
● TRUE
■ FALSE

✏️ 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

Complete the three-column comparison table from the word bank, then label the root hair cell.

▲ Standard

Complete the comparison table unaided, label the root hair cell, and answer two application questions.

★ Stretch

Complete the table, answer the application questions, and explain what would happen to mineral uptake if a plant's roots were waterlogged and short of oxygen.

🔁 Lundy Loop

Where what you say changes something

This is where your voice changes what happens next.

🛡 Space

Three processes at once is a genuine memory load. The comparison table stays visible all lesson — that is deliberate.

🗣 Voice

If you can defend a different answer on the sorting task, defend it. Some of these are genuinely close.

👂 Audience

Your comparison table goes into the Topic 1 folder and is the core revision tool at W7.

⚙ Influence

The class decides which of the three processes gets extra practice next lesson.

🎫 Exit Ticket

Before you go

◆ Supported

Active transport moves substances ______ the concentration gradient.

against / up

Slide 1/10
🏅📸✍️

Discover: Active Transport — banked!

LAUNCH Science · Week 6 ✅

I can state that active transport moves substances AGAINST the concentration gradient. I can state that it requires energy from respiration. I can compare all three transport processes.
⏸ 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 state that active transport moves substances AGAINST the concentration gradient. and I can state that it requires energy from respiration.. 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 · W6L1

LAUNCH Science · W6L1 · lesson resources

Predict the energy effect

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 · Predict the energy effect

Equal-volume regions: 2 nitrate ions outside, 8 inside. Net movement of nitrate ions is inwards.

  1. Which way is movement relative to the gradient?
  2. What does the membrane transport protein need?
  3. Predict what happens if respiration is reduced.

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

Reveal shared reasoning after an attempt

Inward movement is lower → higher: against the gradient. Active transport needs energy released by respiration. Less available energy reduces uptake. An instant on/off model simplifies a real cell.

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. against gradient + membrane mechanism + cellular energy
A model illustration. Use the stated measurements for calculations.

Active transport uses energy released by respiration to move a substance against its concentration gradient through membrane transport proteins.

Watch for: Diffusion is random at particle level. The contrast is net movement down a gradient versus energy-dependent movement against it, not “diffusion never moves backwards”.

Give a smaller support cue

Compare the concentration outside and inside. Add an inward arrow. Start: “The ions move from ___ to ___. This needs…”

Optional video · Active transport

Watch for: What two clues distinguish active transport from diffusion?

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. against gradient + membrane mechanism + cellular energy

Active transport causes net movement against the concentration gradient and requires energy released by respiration. The cell type alone does not prove the mechanism.

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