In this practical activity, students explore how the technique of re-infection (using infected material to infect healthy plant tissue) can help to identify the cause of a plant disease.

 Ideas about communicable diseases in plants are included in the updated programmes of study for Key Stage 4 science...

In this practical activity, students use magnification to examine leaves showing symptoms of a common plant disease, and produce labelled drawings of the fungal spores.

Ideas about communicable diseases in plants are included in the updated programmes of study for Key Stage 4 science published in December...

In this practical and data analysis activity students collect samples of leaves showing samples of infection with powdery mildew; the samples can be sent for analysis as part of the Powdery Mildew Survey citizen science project.

Students analyse data from the survey at the end of this activity.

The poster ‘Plant Pathogens – Identification’ illustrates diagnostic tests that are commonly used to identify plant pathogens in the lab and in the field.

The poster is accompanied by a presentation, which can be used as a step-by-step walkthrough of the ideas in the poster.

The poster ‘Plant Pathogens: Control’ illustrates the many ways that we control plant pathogens, from polyculture farming to controlling the import of plants.The poster is accompanied by a presentation, which can be used as a step-by-step walk-through of the ideas in the poster. Full teaching notes are given,...

Can understanding photosynthesis help save thousands of lives a year?

This poster and accompanying article introduce C3 and C4 photosynthesis in the context of food security and genetic modification.

Rice biologists have a problem. Rice is a staple food for more than half the world’s...

GM, genome editing and CRISPR are all in the news, with hot debate over how new techniques should be regulated. Over the past 50 years, our ability to make specific changes to DNA in plants and animals has been revolutionised.
New techniques of genome editing allow us to make precise changes to individual...

This Catalyst article explains how scientists came to understand plants' sensitivity to external stimuli and their ability to move. Mimosa pudica...

This collection of posters are available to download and print out for your classroom. The posters are accompanied either by articles exploring the science (for post-16 students) or with teaching notes and presentations to explore the ideas behind the poster (for 14-16 students)

Invite pupils to explore how plants are adapted for different biomes with this card sorting activity. There are some unusual plant examples of adaptation to discuss including snowdrops and night blooming cereus. Use the teacher’s answer sheet for more information.

This activity is part of...

In this practical activity, students explore how the technique of re-infection (using infected material to infect healthy plant tissue) can help to identify the cause of a plant disease.

The activity will help students to demonstrate the following learning outcome at KS4:

• describe ways to...

In this practical activity, students use magnification to examine leaves showing symptoms of a common plant disease and produce labelled drawings of the fungal spores.

The activity will help students to demonstrate the following learning outcomes at KS4:

• describe a common plant disease...

In this practical and data analysis activity, students collect samples of leaves showing samples of infection with powdery mildew; the samples can be sent for analysis as part of the ...

The activities in this resource relate to communicable plant diseases, the use of monoclonal antibody diagnostic tests (ELISA), and the use of genome sequencing in identifying plant pathogens. The activities are based around tasks carried out in the ‘real...