• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Nervous system, reflexes and hormones). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Why are reflexes useful? (They are fast and automatic, protecting the body from harm / They only happen when we sleep / They are slow and careful / They let us think carefully first) → 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? (Hormones travel along nerves. / Type 1 diabetes happens when the pancreas makes too little insulin. / Reflex actions are controlled by conscious thought. / Insulin raises blood glucose.) → Type 1 diabetes happens when the pancreas makes too little insulin.Prompt: Nerves carry electrical impulses; hormones are chemicals.
3. Compared with nerves, hormones usually act… (more slowly but for longer / exactly the same way / faster and for a shorter time / only in the brain) → more slowly but for longerPrompt: Blood travels more slowly than an electrical impulse.

• Ask everyone to find their pulse, then jump for 30 seconds and find it again.
• Share the objective: Endocrine glands and the hormones they release. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Which gland releases testosterone?
• Step 1: The testes release testosterone.
• Step 2: So the answer is: testes
• Answer: testes
• 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. Which gland releases thyroxine? (pituitary gland / testes / thyroid gland / ovaries) → thyroid glandPrompt: One gland in the brain controls many others.
2. Does this describe the nervous system or the endocrine system: acts on one precise place? (nervous system / endocrine (hormonal) system) → nervous systemPrompt: Think about speed and how the message travels.

• 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 8 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. Which gland releases progesterone? (testes / pituitary gland / ovaries / pancreas) → ovariesPrompt: One gland in the brain controls many others.
2. Which hormone controls the body's basal metabolic rate? (insulin / thyroxine / testosterone / adrenaline) → thyroxinePrompt: It needs iodine to be made.

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