• 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. Compared with nerves, hormones usually act… (more slowly but for longer / only in the brain / exactly the same way / faster and for a shorter time) → more slowly but for longerPrompt: Blood travels more slowly than an electrical impulse.
2. Coordination and control: which statement is true? (Reflex actions are controlled by conscious thought. / Hormones travel along nerves. / Insulin raises blood glucose. / 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.
3. How do hormones travel around the body? (along nerves as electrical impulses / through the bones / in the blood / through the air) → in the bloodPrompt: Hormones are chemical messengers.

• 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? (ovaries / pituitary gland / pancreas / thyroid gland) → thyroid glandPrompt: One gland in the brain controls many others.
2. Does this describe the nervous system or the endocrine system: very fast but short-lived effects? (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. Does this describe the nervous system or the endocrine system: electrical impulses along neurones? (nervous system / endocrine (hormonal) system) → nervous systemPrompt: Think about speed and how the message travels.
2. Why is the pituitary gland called the "master gland"? (It controls the heart directly / It is the largest gland / It makes all the body's hormones / Its hormones control the activity of other glands) → Its hormones control the activity of other glandsPrompt: TSH from the pituitary acts on the thyroid.

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