Teachers TV: Biology Experiments: 8 Video Demos

The following programme contains biology experiments using animal organs and requires viewing prior to showing to students.

Dr Mark Loughlin, a molecular biologist, looks at some great biology demonstrations that relate to the human body and can provide the wow factor for pupils, without the need for expensive equipment. The first section of the programme on the digestive system starts at the Science Museum with Alexis Gilbert doing an explosive experiment to show how much energy is stored in icing sugar. He then uses a range of everyday household products to demonstrate the digestive process, all the way from 'gums to bums'. In the second section, on the circulatory system, Cathy Deakin at King Charles I School in Kidderminster performs a tracheotomy on a pig's entrails to inflate the lungs. Another less daunting experiment uses a trolley full of balloons, a leaf blower and a net, to simulate what would happen if blood did not clot. The third section, on the human brain, demonstrates some amazing illusions with experiments on reaction times and eye dominance.