• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Cells, tissues, organs and organ systems). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Which organ system includes this part: brain? (nervous system / digestive system / respiratory system / circulatory system) → nervous systemPrompt: What job does this part do?
2. Which list goes from largest to smallest? (tissue, organism, cell, organ, organ system / organ, cell, organism, tissue, organ system / cell, tissue, organ, organ system, organism / organism, organ system, organ, tissue, cell) → organism, organ system, organ, tissue, cellPrompt: Read carefully: largest first.
3. Which two systems work together to deliver oxygen to muscle cells? (nervous and skeletal / respiratory and circulatory / digestive and nervous / digestive and skeletal) → respiratory and circulatoryPrompt: One takes oxygen in, the other carries it.

• Ask everyone to find their pulse, then jump for 30 seconds and find it again.
• Share the objective: Nervous system, reflexes and hormones. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Why are reflexes useful?
• Step 1: Reflexes skip conscious thought, so we react quickly to danger.
• Step 2: So the answer is: They are fast and automatic, protecting the body from harm
• Answer: They are fast and automatic, protecting the body from harm
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Why are reflexes useful? (They only happen when we sleep / They let us think carefully first / They are fast and automatic, protecting the body from harm / They are slow and careful) → They are fast and automatic, protecting the body from harmPrompt: The message does not have to go to the conscious brain.
2. Coordination and control: which statement is true? (Insulin raises blood glucose. / Hormones travel along nerves. / Homeostasis keeps conditions inside the body steady. / Reflex actions are controlled by conscious thought.) → Homeostasis keeps conditions inside the body steady.Prompt: Nerves carry electrical impulses; hormones are chemicals.

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 4 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Coordination and control: which statement is true? (Reflex actions are controlled by conscious thought. / Insulin raises blood glucose. / Hormones travel along nerves. / Type 1 diabetes happens when the pancreas makes too little insulin.) → Type 1 diabetes happens when the pancreas makes too little insulin.Prompt: Nerves carry electrical impulses; hormones are chemicals.
2. Compared with nerves, hormones usually act… (more slowly but for longer / exactly the same way / only in the brain / faster and for a shorter time) → more slowly but for longerPrompt: Blood travels more slowly than an electrical impulse.

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-10.