LAUNCH · GCSE Biology · Week 6 · Introduce
Active Transport
🎯 Learning objective: I can explain active transport as movement against a concentration gradient using energy from respiration.
✅ Success criteria
- State low→high/against-gradient movement.
- Link energy requirement to respiration.
- Distinguish active transport from diffusion and osmosis.
ArrivalStarterI DoWe DoI Do 2We Do 2IndependentExit
🧬 Edexcel GCSE Biology 1BI0 Foundation · Paper 1 · Topic 1🧪 Against-the-Gradient Lab⏱ 40 minutes
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Introduce → Against-the-Gradient 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.
⏱ 4 min
🚪 Arrival · previous learningRetrieve the previous learning: W4–5 diffusion/osmosis down gradients without cell energy. Osmosis moves water only, through a partially permeable membrane.
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 zero line on the graph.
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 analysed osmosis data. What did the zero-change point tell you?
R2 Week 5
Say which way water moves across a membrane.
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, and say what the membrane must be.
R3 Week 4
Point to the side with more particles.
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can scribe your exact words. Next step up: Standard — Week 4: which way is the net movement in diffusion?
Lead-in Into today
Look at the root hair. Point to the soil side.
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can scribe your exact words. Next step up: Standard — A root takes in minerals even when the soil has fewer than the root does. How can that work?
▲ Standard — three retrieval questions and one lead-in
R1 Last lesson
Last lesson you analysed osmosis data. What did the zero-change point tell you?
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 one weakness in the method and how you would reduce it.
R2 Week 5
Week 5: define osmosis, and say what the membrane must be.
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 needs no energy from the cell.
R3 Week 4
Week 4: which way is the net movement in 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 what diffusion and osmosis have in common about direction.
Lead-in Into today
A root takes in minerals even when the soil has fewer than the root does. How can that work?
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can scribe your exact words. Next step up: Stretch — Moving something against its gradient cannot happen for free. Predict what the cell must supply.
★ Stretch — three retrieval questions and one lead-in
R1 Last lesson
Last lesson: explain one weakness in the method and how you would reduce it.
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 zero line on the graph.
R2 Week 5
Week 5: explain why osmosis needs no energy from the cell.
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 across a membrane.
R3 Week 4
Week 4: explain what diffusion and osmosis have in common about direction.
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 side with more particles.
Lead-in Into today
Moving something against its gradient cannot happen for free. Predict what the cell must supply.
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. Point to the soil side.
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 root hair cell already contains more mineral ions than the soil but still takes more in. Which previous process cannot explain this?
FRAME 1/4
COMPARE THREE PROCESSES
Pause for observation or prediction before advancing.
FRAME 2/4
SPOT AGAINST-GRADIENT MOVE
Pause for observation or prediction before advancing.
FRAME 3/4
ADD ENERGY
Pause for observation or prediction before advancing.
FRAME 4/4
APPLY TO REAL CELLS
Pause for observation or prediction before advancing.
🎯 Commit to a prediction
Before we look: what must a cell supply to move minerals against the gradient?
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.
⏱ 5 min
👩🏫 I Do · model the reasoning🧠 Teacher reasoning model — reveal only after the class has observed/predicted.
STEP Compare the three processes before naming the new one.
STEP Active transport moves lower→higher concentration.
STEP Carrier proteins move substances using energy released by respiration.
✔ What this model helps us seeIt shows the gradient and the direction of movement together, so it is clear the movement is running the wrong way up the gradient.
✘ What this model does not showIt leaves out the carrier proteins doing the actual work, and the respiration supplying them with energy — the arrow makes it look effortless.
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 · hinge & responseCommit before reveal: Mineral ions move low in soil → higher inside root hair. Which process?
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 Apply to root hair and gut cells.
STEP Cells doing lots of active transport often contain many mitochondria.
STEP Direction, not speed, is the defining contrast.
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 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?
🔋 Against the gradient lab
The model above reveals one explanation. This lab is button-only. It tests three real movements into cells, and freezes which of them need energy.
Step 1 · Predict, before you test
Soil water holds LESS nitrate than a root cell already has. Can the root still take more nitrate in?
Choose one. Say it, point to it, or press it. Nothing here is right or wrong yet.
Step 2 · Test each movement
Press one to test it.
Frozen results — these stay on the page
Nothing tested yet.
Step 3 · Explain
SCIENCE GLITCH: “Active transport is free, because cells never run out of energy.”
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.
⏱ 10 min
✏️ Independent · evidence & transfer✏️ Independent GCSE Biology
Compare the three processes. Fill in the table. Then use the model. Take each biological example. Classify it. Look at the direction. Look at the substance. Then look at the energy.
🧪 PRACTICAL / EVIDENCE READY
EquipmentComparison cards/table; root hair/gut diagrams; local model.
Safety / accessNo practical hazard; comparison table remains visible to reduce memory load.
Evidence targetComparison table + classified examples + one causal explanation.
10 minutes. Supported / Standard / Stretch are movable routes, not grade identities.
◆ Fill in the comparison table. Use the word bank. The words are there.
↓ diffusion · ↓ osmosis(water) · ↑ active transport(energy).
Fade: remove the first prompt that no longer changes success.
▲ Fill in the table. Do it alone. Then explain two examples.
Direction? what moves? energy?
Fade: remove the first prompt that no longer changes success.
★ Compare all three. Then find the link. Link mitochondria to energy demand.
Add carrier proteins. But keep the Foundation core. Do not lose it.
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
active transportmoving substances against the gradient, using energy
concentration gradientthe difference between a more crowded area and a less crowded one
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
With or against gradient?
▲ Standard
Why does active transport need energy?
★ Stretch
Why can these cells contain many mitochondria?
🔁 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.