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LAUNCH · GCSE Biology · Lesson 7 of 18 · Introduce

Growth and Differentiation: Building an Organism

Sequence outcome: Edexcel GCSE Biology 1BI0 Foundation · Paper 1 · Topic 2 · specification points 2.5–2.7, growth and cell differentiation in animals and plants.

🎯 Learning objective: I can describe how animals and plants grow and explain how differentiation produces cells specialised for particular functions.
✅ Success criteria
  • Describe animal growth using cell division followed by growth and differentiation.
  • Describe plant growth using cell division, cell elongation and differentiation in growth regions.
  • Explain differentiation as a change in gene activity and cell structure that supports a specialised function.
Arrival · previous learningStarter · observe / predictI Do · model the reasoningWe Do · hinge & responseI Do 2 · connect / extendWe Do 2 · scientific model / dataIndependent · evidence & transferExit · receive and use the response
🧪 Growth Control Room: separate cell number, cell size and specialised function⏱ 40 minutes📍 C40 only🔁 Live Lundy loop↺ Retry without penalty
➕DIVISIONmore cells↕️ELONGATIONplant cell length🧬DIFFERENTIATIONspecialised function
QUESTIONEVIDENCEPATTERNEXPLANATIONAPPLICATIONEVALUATION

LAUNCH rule: explanation is earned through prediction, observation, measurement, calculation or reasoning from evidence.

🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE

SPACE available · VOICE waiting · AUDIENCE waiting · INFLUENCE waiting

⏱ 4 min
🚪 Arrival · previous learning
Retrieve only what has already been taught
  1. Lessons 4–6: mitosis produces two genetically identical daughter cells and supports growth and repair.
  2. Lessons 4–6: chromosome number is maintained through mitosis; growth does not require each body cell to gain extra chromosomes.
  3. Topic 1: specialised cells have structures related to their functions.
  4. Lead-in: growth can involve more cells, larger cells and changes in what cells do.
New to this class, absent, or not sure? Everything needed is in the retrieval box above. Read it, point to it or ask a familiar adult to read it exactly.
◆ Supported
  1. Last lesson: choose what mitosis makes — two daughter cells or one gamete.
  2. Point to the process that increases cell number: division or diffusion.
  3. Match specialised to 'suited to a job'.
  4. Lead-in: circle one way a plant organ could become longer.
▲ Standard
  1. State one role of mitosis in a multicellular organism.
  2. Distinguish an increase in cell number from an increase in cell size.
  3. Recall one specialised cell and one structural adaptation.
  4. Lead-in: predict why a root needs both new cells and elongated cells.
★ Stretch
  1. Explain why genetically identical cells can develop different structures.
  2. Connect mitosis to tissue growth without claiming chromosome number increases.
  3. Distinguish growth from development.
  4. Lead-in: propose how gene activity could connect differentiation to specialised function.
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.

🔊 Read-aloud route: a familiar adult may read the task exactly while the text remains visible. No device voice or media permission is required.
QUESTIONEVIDENCEPATTERNEXPLANATIONAPPLICATIONEVALUATION

LAUNCH rule: explanation is earned through prediction, observation, measurement, calculation or reasoning from evidence.

🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE

SPACE available · VOICE waiting · AUDIENCE waiting · INFLUENCE waiting

⏱ 4 min
🌱 Starter · observe / predict

A young root becomes longer. Which explanation is the most complete starting model?

LOCAL VISUAL HOOK · FRAME 1
Mitosis in a growth region increases cell number.
1 cell→mitosis: 2 cellsgrowth region (meristem / growth plate): cell NUMBER goes up
More cells, same genetic information.
LOCAL VISUAL HOOK · FRAME 2
Some plant cells then elongate.
before→elongatedplant cells stretch: LENGTH goes up
Growth is number AND size.
LOCAL VISUAL HOOK · FRAME 3
Differentiation gives cells structures suited to functions.
xylem: transportroot hair: absorptionDIFFERENTIATIONstructure suits function
A root hair cell and a xylem cell carry the same genes but express different ones.

Commit one first idea. Predictions are held, not marked. Pointing, selecting, saying or signing all count.

QUESTIONEVIDENCEPATTERNEXPLANATIONAPPLICATIONEVALUATION

LAUNCH rule: explanation is earned through prediction, observation, measurement, calculation or reasoning from evidence.

🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE

SPACE available · VOICE waiting · AUDIENCE waiting · INFLUENCE waiting

⏱ 5 min
👩‍🏫 I Do · model the reasoning

Make the first scientific idea visible

GROWTHincrease in size or cell numbera permanent increase in the size and dry mass of an organism, often involving an increase in cell number
ELONGATIONcells become longeran increase in the length of a cell, important in plant growth
DIFFERENTIATIONcells become specialisedthe process by which a cell changes to become specialised for a particular function

WHAT THIS MODEL HELPS US SEE

Use the chain process → cellular change → organ effect. For data, DESCRIBE the measured pattern before using cellular knowledge to EXPLAIN it.

WHAT THIS MODEL DOES NOT SHOW

Block and arrow models separate processes that overlap in living tissues. They omit signalling, nutrition, hormones and cell death, and a growth curve cannot show individual cells dividing or differentiating.

Step 1

Build an animal-growth chain: mitosis increases cell number; daughter cells grow; some differentiate into specialised tissue cells.

Step 2

Build a plant-growth chain: mitosis in meristem regions increases cell number; cells can elongate and then differentiate.

Step 3

Keep genetic information and function separate: most body cells retain the same genetic information, while different genes are switched on and used in different specialised cells.

Word help keeps the scientific term visible and adds a plain-language bridge.

🌱 Growth chain + % change calculator

Press the three growth processes in order, then work a percentage change.

Order: —

Seedling height: day 1 = 20 mm, day 8 = 45 mm. Percentage change = (final − initial) ÷ initial × 100.

Which is right? Check the denominator.
QUESTIONEVIDENCEPATTERNEXPLANATIONAPPLICATIONEVALUATION

LAUNCH rule: explanation is earned through prediction, observation, measurement, calculation or reasoning from evidence.

🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE

SPACE available · VOICE waiting · AUDIENCE waiting · INFLUENCE waiting

⏱ 5 min
🤝 We Do · hinge & response

Which statement correctly compares animal and plant growth?

Everyone commits before explanation.

Use a button, point, say/sign or let an adult operate the chosen button. A retry is information, not a penalty.

QUESTIONEVIDENCEPATTERNEXPLANATIONAPPLICATIONEVALUATION

LAUNCH rule: explanation is earned through prediction, observation, measurement, calculation or reasoning from evidence.

🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE

SPACE available · VOICE waiting · AUDIENCE waiting · INFLUENCE waiting

⏱ 4 min
👩‍🏫 I Do 2 · connect / extend

Connect the model to the second idea

Connection: the model is useful when its visible pattern is translated into a scientific explanation.
Connection 1

Read a fictional growth record by naming the variables, units and time interval before describing the trend.

Connection 2

Calculate change as final value minus initial value, and percentage change as change divided by initial value multiplied by 100.

Connection 3

Explain cautiously: organism-level data show a growth pattern but do not directly measure mitosis, elongation or differentiation inside tissues.

MODEL STRENGTH

Use the chain process → cellular change → organ effect. For data, DESCRIBE the measured pattern before using cellular knowledge to EXPLAIN it.

MODEL LIMIT

Block and arrow models separate processes that overlap in living tissues. They omit signalling, nutrition, hormones and cell death, and a growth curve cannot show individual cells dividing or differentiating.

QUESTIONEVIDENCEPATTERNEXPLANATIONAPPLICATIONEVALUATION

LAUNCH rule: explanation is earned through prediction, observation, measurement, calculation or reasoning from evidence.

🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE

SPACE available · VOICE waiting · AUDIENCE waiting · INFLUENCE waiting

⏱ 4 min
🤝 We Do 2 · scientific model / data

Growth-process routing lab

Route each observation to cell division, cell elongation or differentiation, then build one complete animal or plant explanation.

Read one tissue observation.Commit it to the cellular process best supported by the evidence.Repair any claim that adds evidence the observation does not contain.Freeze a chain linking process, structural change and organism growth.

Cards to place

Matching groups

The organism has grown, but the cellular causes have not yet been separated.

🧩 Science glitch · find and repair it

Claim: Model glitch: specialised cells must have different DNA because they look and work differently.

QUESTIONEVIDENCEPATTERNEXPLANATIONAPPLICATIONEVALUATION

LAUNCH rule: explanation is earned through prediction, observation, measurement, calculation or reasoning from evidence.

🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE

SPACE available · VOICE waiting · AUDIENCE waiting · INFLUENCE waiting

⏱ 10 min
✏️ Independent · evidence & transfer

Create and apply a comparison model of animal and plant growth, including one growth-data calculation and one evidence-bounded explanation.

👐 Physical route

Process cards, fictional/anonymised growth table, calculator, comparison frame and optional root-zone or tissue images.

Same outcome: I can describe how animals and plants grow and explain how differentiation produces cells specialised for particular functions.

🖥 Offline digital / director route

Sort the process cards and enter supplied data locally to calculate change. Do not upload personal measurements or use the output as health advice.

Same evidence: A two-column animal/plant growth model, one shown calculation, a data description and an explanation that distinguishes direct evidence from cellular inference.

🧰 Equipment / setupProcess cards, fictional/anonymised growth table, calculator, comparison frame and optional root-zone or tissue images.
🛡 Safety / sensoryNo biological material is required. Use only fictional or anonymised growth records; do not ask pupils to disclose, compare or diagnose personal height, mass, puberty or health information.
🖥 Offline paritySort the process cards and enter supplied data locally to calculate change. Do not upload personal measurements or use the output as health advice.
No-equipment/access route: Use tactile process symbols, enlarged tables, calculator support and exact pupil-directed scribing. Preserve the same comparison, calculation and explanation.

◆ Supported

Complete an animal-versus-plant process table, calculate one simple change and use a because sentence to explain one observation.

Scaffold

Choose from division, elongation and differentiation; use final − initial with a pre-set calculator sequence.

▲ Standard

Compare animal and plant growth, calculate percentage change from a supplied dataset and explain one trend using cell processes.

Scaffold

Use COMPARE = similarity plus difference; show equation, substitution and unit for the calculation.

★ Stretch

Evaluate how far organism-level growth data support claims about division, elongation and differentiation, then propose one additional measurement.

Scaffold

Separate observation from inference and name the model/data limitation before extending the conclusion.

Evidence gate

1 · Pupil decisionPrediction, question, method or choice is visible.
2 · Observable evidenceA result, source note, model state or adult observation is preserved.
3 · Pupil meaningA two-column animal/plant growth model, one shown calculation, a data description and an explanation that distinguishes direct evidence from cellular inference.
QUESTIONEVIDENCEPATTERNEXPLANATIONAPPLICATIONEVALUATION

LAUNCH rule: explanation is earned through prediction, observation, measurement, calculation or reasoning from evidence.

🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE

SPACE available · VOICE waiting · AUDIENCE waiting · INFLUENCE waiting

⏱ 4 min
🎫 Exit · receive and use the response

Finish with an edit or re-attempt on the existing work

Supported

Complete: division makes more __; elongation makes plant cells __; differentiation makes cells __.

Standard

Compare animal and plant growth using one similarity and one difference.

Stretch

Explain how genetically identical daughter cells can become different specialised cell types.

Adult Audience

The familiar adult genuinely receives the pupil response, then says back the Science they heard or saw. The adult does not add a score or rewrite the pupil.

SPACE available · VOICE waiting · AUDIENCE waiting · INFLUENCE waiting

Session state is temporary. Reload clears responses; there is no account, upload or saved pupil identity.

⌂ Start
QUESTIONEVIDENCEPATTERNEXPLANATIONAPPLICATIONEVALUATION

LAUNCH rule: explanation is earned through prediction, observation, measurement, calculation or reasoning from evidence.

🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE

SPACE available · VOICE waiting · AUDIENCE waiting · INFLUENCE waiting

Staff route

TA Brief · Lesson overview

Priority

Settle, wait and protect the learning goal.

Least-prompt move

Use the least prompt needed, then fade it.

Prompt ladder

WAITSELF-PROMPTVISUAL CUEGENERAL VERBALSPECIFIC VERBALMODELDIRECT SUPPORT
Read-aloud availability: a familiar adult can read the exact current task while the text remains visible. Device speech is intentionally omitted so the deck asks for no media permission and stays dependable offline.

Guidance and access

Live Lundy loop

🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE

SPACE available · VOICE waiting · AUDIENCE waiting · INFLUENCE waiting

Audience is real only when a familiar adult receives the response. Influence is real only when one next teaching move visibly changes.