The Science of Life (Pack)

The Science of Life is a comprehensive teaching and learning package for the NEW specification for Leaving Certificate Biology. It is suitable for both Higher Level and Ordinary level students. Inquiry-based in its approach, research and investigation are treated as key components of student learning.

This exciting and engaging textbook aims to provide Biology students with all the resources and learning opportunities they need to:

• Understand the core biological concepts, explained in clear concise language.
• Apply their knowledge and skills to solve problems.
• Develop models to represent structures, function and interactions in biology.
• Learn an evidence-based habit of mind through scientific inquiry.
• Safely use the materials and equipment of modern practical biology.
• Practise the skills they need to plan and carry out investigations in the laboratory and in the field.
• Research the important ways in which biological knowledge is applied in health, industrial processes andagriculture.
• Appreciate and evaluate the impact of technological advances in biology on society.
• Develop a critical awareness of the impact of human activity on biodiversity and ecosystems.
• Explore ways in which biology can provide sustainable solutions to the climate and biodiversity crisis.

Click here to view Sample Chapters

Textbook

The Science of Life chapters are closely aligned to the new specification’s structure as Strands of study.

• Organisation of Life
• Structure and Processes of Life
• Interactions of Life

Learning Outcomes and Prior Learning checks are clearly indicated at the start of each chapter.   Cross-cutting themes of Health, Technology and Sustainability are explicitly presented in all relevant areas, as intended by the new specification. Experiments and other investigations and activities in the Research and Investigations Book are flagged at the appropriate points with banners that point to the relevant page in the Student Textbook.

Definition boxes are easily identified and carefully worded to be clear and accurate.A comprehensive glossary of key terms is also included for quick reference. Key terms are highlighted and hyperlinked throughout the eBook so that students can quickly and easily remind themselves of a concept or definition by clicking on the word.

Each chapter has been carefully sequenced as a comprehensive but concise treatment with clear explanations of the Learning Outcomes, providing just the right amount of detail to allow students to develop a concrete understanding of biological concepts and processes. 

The Nature of Science Unifying Strand Learning Outcomes are introduced in Chapter 1. Here students begin to explore the investigative process and are provided with the support needed to develop their own research questions and carry out well-designed experiments. Students continue this process by engaging with the variety of activities in the Research and Investigations Book

End-of-chapter summaries offer students a useful revision tool and learning checklist.

Assessment includes differentiated end-of-chapter revision questions, while data analysis, extended answers, research tasks, modelling activities and other formative assessment activities are presented in The Science of Life Research and Investigations Book.

Customised artwork – illustrations, infographics, diagrams and photos – helps students to visualise and develop a clear understanding of the various models in LC Biology.

Video animations are presented throughout the Student Textbook to support students in forming clear representations of the ideas they are learning about. They include 3D computer models of processes that are new to the LC Biology course such as:

• Phylogenetic trees
• ATP Synthase and the Electron Transport Chain
• Genetic Engineering
• Agarose gel electrophoresis
• The Polymerase Chain Reaction
• DNA sequencing

QR codes bring students to various extra online resources and activities including interactive laboratories and podcasts, as well as opportunities for interested students to extend their knowledge

Audio recordings of biological terms and their pronunciations are also available for students to listen to.

Expert reviewers and consultants ensures up-do-date content that reflects current and emerging understanding of biological processes.

The Research and
Investigations Book

The Science of Life Research and Investigations Book is a carefully scaffolded guide to help students to develop their skills in the lab and in their learning. Students do this through various kinds of activities in each chapter, with the Nature of Science Unifying Strand threaded throughout, and the specific NOS Learning Outcomes highlighted in the relevant activities.   The Science of Life Research and Investigations Book is a carefully scaffolded guide to help students to develop their skills in the lab and in their learning. Students do this through various kinds of activities in each chapter, with the Nature of Science Unifying Strand threaded throughout, and the specific NOS Learning Outcomes highlighted in the relevant activities.

Laboratory and Field Investigations
Specified Investigations

The Science of Life Research and Investigations Book provides detailed, step-by-step, illustrated guides for students to enable them to confidently navigate the specified laboratory and field investigations, in an inquiry-based, student-centred way. Students are explicitly guided to develop their investigative skills in:

• Formulating hypotheses
• Planning controlled experiments
• Making predictions
• Identifying variables
• Gathering primary data
• Analysing and presenting data
• Drawing conclusions
• Critical evaluation

Further Laboratory Investigations

In the case of many of the Specified Investigations, a choice of lab protocols are provided for teachers and students. Teachers may prefer one over another depending on the time and equipment available, and the skills they would like their students to learn while carrying out a particular Specified Investigation.

There are also supplementary lab activities, some in the book, with many more online, intended to provide students further opportunities to develop their laboratory and investigative skills.

Students may also look to these alternative and supplementary lab investigations and protocols to support them with, and provide some ideas for, their Biology in Practice Investigations. 

Laboratory Skill Development

All investigations have been carefully chosen and designed to be accessible to students in a way that helps them to develop the technical lab skills they will need for their Biology in Practice Investigation.

• Preparing solutions and reagents, making extracts, serial dilutions etc.
• Using a range of laboratory equipment.
• Precision and accuracy in measurements.
• Recording data.
• Applying mathematical skills (calculating concentrations, graphing, inverse relationships, rates of change).
• Keeping a detailed laboratory journal.
• Using technology for measurement (sensors) and data analysis (IT).

Research Tasks

• Activities that guide students to carrying out independent research, learning how to evaluate reliable sources, critically analyse secondary data, and communicate their findings.
• Students are given structured tasks, including a guide, often with a list of resources to begin their research. Students use the TRAAP tool to evaluate the authenticity and reliability of the sources they use.

Modelling Activities

• Students learn the central importance of modelling in Biology, through tasks that introduce them to different ways of representing key biological concepts in areas like Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Genetics, Human Physiology and Ecology. Through carefully chosen and scaffolded modelling activities, students appreciate the usefulness of, the limitations and the changing nature of models.

Milestones in Biology

There are lots of activities in which students are presented with an account of, or carry out some research on, the historically important work of a famous scientist whose contribution to our understanding of a biological process or concept was pivotal.

These Nature of Science (NOS) activities are valuable in various ways. 

• Students appreciate how scientists work and how scientific ideas are modified over time (NOS U1)
• They provide a deeper understanding of the model or process that these scientists developed. (NOS U4)
• They are often excellent examples of how robust scientific investigations are conducted, key experiments that illustrate the importance of fair testing, controlled experiments, and critically analysing data to identify patterns. (NOS U2)
• The Milestones in Biology activities give students the opportunity to identify these skills, reflect on them through answering the carefully choses formative assessment questions that follow. (NOS U2, U3)
• They see how models change over time, dependent on the available evidence. They also see how ethics and science are intertwined, and how the work of scientists impacts society. (NOS U3, U4)

Evaluating media sources

There are various news media type articles contained in the Research and Investigations Book, as well as many other activities in which students are asked to go and find some media-based content in the context of a research task. Students then apply the TRAAP tool outlined in Chapter 1 to evaluate the authenticity, accuracy, reliability, fairness and integrity of these sources.

Analysing Secondary Data and Problem-solving

The Curriculum Specification for Leaving Cert Biology emphasises the importance of students being able to effectively and routinely apply their understanding of biological processes to analysing secondary data. In each chapter of The Science of Life Research and Investigations Book, students are presented with various forms of secondary data with which they practise their skills in data analysis, problem-solving and critical thinking.

There are many problem-solving activities in The Science of Life Research and Investigations Book, opportunities for students to apply their knowledge to genetic crosses, pedigrees, DNA sequence analysis, classifying organisms using molecular data, identifying anomalies and critical evaluation of experimental methods.

The Science of Life also provides students and teachers with many more online resources to ensure that students are comfortable and proficient in tackling problems and analysing data in unfamiliar contexts.

Applications of Biology

There are various sections in the Student Textbook, and activities in the Research and Investigations Book, that provide students with the opportunity to learn about how Biology is applied in various industries and processes in the modern world. Examples of the use of Biotechnology and other biological strategies are detailed in the relevant chapters, with comprehensive treatment and a solid base for further research if students or teachers wish to do so. Students are also asked to evaluate the societal and ethical aspects of developments in the applications of Biology.

Teacher Resources

The Teacher’s Resource Book, together with a suite of online resources for teachers, provide all the support and materials that teachers need to tackle the new specification for LC Biology. Included are:

• Suggested schemes of work for the two-year Senior Cycle.
• A Biology in Practice guide for teachers on integrating the Additional Assessment Component (AAC) into the teaching schedule.
• Answers to the end-of-chapter revision questions.
• Animated PowerPoints for each topic.
• Student revision worksheets.
• End-of-chapter class tests.
• Laboratory Guidelines and notes for each of the Specified Investigations with detailed instructions and tips for preparation and planning.
• Lab recipes and instructions for:
  • Solutions and reagents, extracting enzymes, etc.
  • Microbiology – making up agar, sterilising solutions, pouring agar plates, disposing of waste.
  • DNA technology – preparing agarose gels, DNA profiling, PCR.
  • Choosing equipment, how to set it up, using digital tools and devices.
  • Trouble-shooting frequently encountered issues with experiments.
  • Safety.
  • IT for recording and analysing data in Biology investigations.
• Modelling activities (e.g. Carbon and Nitrogen Cycle, Steps in Evolution, Photosynthesis and Respiration Pathways, Transcription and Translation, Genetic crosses, Pedigree charts, etc.)
• Crosswords and Quizzes.
• Groupwork activities (research tasks, debates, case-studies).

About the Authors

The Science of Life began in 2021 as a collaborative project between Declan Cathcart and Barbara Kelly. It was finalised following the release of the new specification in late 2024.

The authors are both highly qualified biologists and very experienced Biology teachers. Between them, they have over 20 years working in Biology research in university labs and industrial settings. They have a combined 35 years of experience teaching Biology at secondary school level, both in Ireland and in schools abroad. They are both also experienced authors. This combination of qualification and experience gives The Science of Life team a unique insight and perspective into the new Curriculum Specification for Leaving Certificate Biology.

Dr DECLAN CATHCART has been teaching Biology in secondary schools for 25 years. Before that, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher and university lecturer in industry labs and universities in the UK and Ireland for over 10 years before becoming a science teacher. During this time, he worked in various microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, and protein engineering laboratories, developing expertise in microbial fermentations, genetic engineering, PCR, bioinformatics, protein purification, DNA sequencing and more.

Declan has a deep knowledge and understanding of the Leaving Certificate Biology course. He has since 2020 been lecturing PME and MSc student science teachers in UCD in both years of the two-year programme. There he focuses on inquiry-based and investigative approaches to teaching and learning Science. For many years, Declan has run annual revision courses for Leaving Cert Biology students, originally in Trinity College Dublin, but more recently online.

Currently an Oide Biology associate, Declan started work with the PDST Biology team in 2016, when he developed and ran a joint PDST/Amgen Teach CPD programme for teachers, delivering workshops around Ireland. Declan has been a member of the Irish Science on Stage team since 2017, and on the National Steering Committee for SonS Ireland. He was on the international jury panel for the 2024 European SonS Festival in Finland. He is also a member of the ESAI Special Interest Group on Biology Education.

Since 2015, Declan has worked closely with Amgen Biotech Experience (ABE) Ireland and was a recipient of the first global ABE Master Teacher Fellowships in 2021. He has collaborated with ABE in recent years to develop teaching and learning labs in biotechnology for secondary schools and continues to run CPD workshops on these labs in Ireland and other European countries.

Declan is the author of CJ Fallon books Active Science (for Junior Cycle) and Biology Extra!

Dr BARBARA KELLY has a BSc in Science from University College Dublin, a PhD from Oxford Brookes University and a Graduate Diploma in Education from the University of Wollongong. She spent 13 years as a research scientist, with a focus on molecular biology and virology, before retraining as a teacher. For the first five years of her teaching career, she taught in New South Wales, Australia. At present, she teaches Science, Biology and Mathematics at Temple Carrig School, Greystones. Barbara is also the co-author of Inquiring Minds for Transition Year students, published by CJ Fallon.

The Science of Life (Pack)

The Science of Life is a comprehensive teaching and learning package for the NEW specification for Leaving Certificate Biology. It is suitable for both Higher Level and Ordinary level students. Inquiry-based in its approach, research and investigation are treated as key components of student learning.

This exciting and engaging textbook aims to provide Biology students with all the resources and learning opportunities they need to:

• Understand the core biological concepts, explained in clear concise language.
• Apply their knowledge and skills to solve problems.
• Develop models to represent structures, function and interactions in biology.
• Learn an evidence-based habit of mind through scientific inquiry.
• Safely use the materials and equipment of modern practical biology.
• Practise the skills they need to plan and carry out investigations in the laboratory and in the field.
• Research the important ways in which biological knowledge is applied in health, industrial processes andagriculture.
• Appreciate and evaluate the impact of technological advances in biology on society.
• Develop a critical awareness of the impact of human activity on biodiversity and ecosystems.
• Explore ways in which biology can provide sustainable solutions to the climate and biodiversity crisis.

Click here to view Sample Chapters

Textbook

The Science of Life chapters are closely aligned to the new specification’s structure as Strands of study.

• Organisation of Life
• Structure and Processes of Life
• Interactions of Life

Learning Outcomes and Prior Learning checks are clearly indicated at the start of each chapter.

Cross-cutting themes of Health, Technology and Sustainability are explicitly presented in all relevant areas, as intended by the new specification.

Experiments and other investigations and activities in the Research and Investigations Book are flagged at the appropriate points with banners that point to the relevant page in the Student Textbook.

Definition boxes are easily identified and carefully worded to be clear and accurate.

A comprehensive glossary of key terms is also included for quick reference.

Key terms are highlighted and hyperlinked throughout the eBook so that students can quickly and easily remind themselves of a concept or definition by clicking on the word. 

Each chapter has been carefully sequenced as a comprehensive but concise treatment with clear explanations of the Learning Outcomes, providing just the right amount of detail to allow students to develop a concrete understanding of biological concepts and processes. 

The Nature of Science Unifying Strand Learning Outcomes are introduced in Chapter 1. Here students begin to explore the investigative process and are provided with the support needed to develop their own research questions and carry out well-designed experiments. Students continue this process by engaging with the variety of activities in the Research and Investigations Book

End-of-chapter summaries offer students a useful revision tool and learning checklist.

Assessment includes differentiated end-of-chapter revision questions, while data analysis, extended answers, research tasks, modelling activities and other formative assessment activities are presented in The Science of Life Research and Investigations Book.

Customised artwork – illustrations, infographics, diagrams and photos – helps students to visualise and develop a clear understanding of the various models in LC Biology.

Video animations are presented throughout the Student Textbook to support students in forming clear representations of the ideas they are learning about. They include 3D computer models of processes that are new to the LC Biology course such as:

• Phylogenetic trees
• ATP Synthase and the Electron Transport Chain
• Genetic Engineering
• Agarose gel electrophoresis
• The Polymerase Chain Reaction
• DNA sequencing

QR codes bring students to various extra online resources and activities including interactive laboratories and podcasts, as well as opportunities for interested students to extend their knowledge

Audio recordings of biological terms and their pronunciations are also available for students to listen to.

Expert reviewers and consultants ensures up-do-date content that reflects current and emerging understanding of biological processes.

The Research and
Investigations Book

The Science of Life Research and Investigations Book is a carefully scaffolded guide to help students to develop their skills in the lab and in their learning. Students do this through various kinds of activities in each chapter, with the Nature of Science Unifying Strand threaded throughout, and the specific NOS Learning Outcomes highlighted in the relevant activities.

Laboratory and Field Investigations
Specified Investigations

The Science of Life Research and Investigations Book provides detailed, step-by-step, illustrated guides for students to enable them to confidently navigate the specified laboratory and field investigations, in an inquiry-based, student-centred way. Students are explicitly guided to develop their investigative skills in:

• Formulating hypotheses
• Planning controlled experiments
• Making predictions
• Identifying variables
• Gathering primary data
• Analysing and presenting data
• Drawing conclusions
• Critical evaluation

Further Laboratory Investigations

In the case of many of the Specified Investigations, a choice of lab protocols are provided for teachers and students. Teachers may prefer one over another depending on the time and equipment available, and the skills they would like their students to learn while carrying out a particular Specified Investigation.

There are also supplementary lab activities, some in the book, with many more online, intended to provide students further opportunities to develop their laboratory and investigative skills.

Students may also look to these alternative and supplementary lab investigations and protocols to support them with, and provide some ideas for, their Biology in Practice Investigations. 

Laboratory Skill Development

All investigations have been carefully chosen and designed to be accessible to students in a way that helps them to develop the technical lab skills they will need for their Biology in Practice Investigation.

• Preparing solutions and reagents, making extracts, serial dilutions etc.
• Using a range of laboratory equipment.
• Precision and accuracy in measurements.
• Recording data.
• Applying mathematical skills (calculating concentrations, graphing, inverse relationships, rates of change).
• Keeping a detailed laboratory journal.
• Using technology for measurement (sensors) and data analysis (IT).

Research Tasks

• Activities that guide students to carrying out independent research, learning how to evaluate reliable sources, critically analyse secondary data, and communicate their findings.
• Students are given structured tasks, including a guide, often with a list of resources to begin their research. Students use the TRAAP tool to evaluate the authenticity and reliability of the sources they use.

Modelling Activities

• Students learn the central importance of modelling in Biology, through tasks that introduce them to different ways of representing key biological concepts in areas like Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Genetics, Human Physiology and Ecology. Through carefully chosen and scaffolded modelling activities, students appreciate the usefulness of, the limitations and the changing nature of models.

Milestones in Biology

There are lots of activities in which students are presented with an account of, or carry out some research on, the historically important work of a famous scientist whose contribution to our understanding of a biological process or concept was pivotal.

These Nature of Science (NOS) activities are valuable in various ways. 

• Students appreciate how scientists work and how scientific ideas are modified over time (NOS U1)
• They provide a deeper understanding of the model or process that these scientists developed. (NOS U4)
• They are often excellent examples of how robust scientific investigations are conducted, key experiments that illustrate the importance of fair testing, controlled experiments, and critically analysing data to identify patterns. (NOS U2)
• The Milestones in Biology activities give students the opportunity to identify these skills, reflect on them through answering the carefully choses formative assessment questions that follow. (NOS U2, U3)
• They see how models change over time, dependent on the available evidence. They also see how ethics and science are intertwined, and how the work of scientists impacts society. (NOS U3, U4)

Evaluating media sources

There are various news media type articles contained in the Research and Investigations Book, as well as many other activities in which students are asked to go and find some media-based content in the context of a research task. Students then apply the TRAAP tool outlined in Chapter 1 to evaluate the authenticity, accuracy, reliability, fairness and integrity of these sources.

Analysing Secondary Data and Problem-solving

The Curriculum Specification for Leaving Cert Biology emphasises the importance of students being able to effectively and routinely apply their understanding of biological processes to analysing secondary data. In each chapter of The Science of Life Research and Investigations Book, students are presented with various forms of secondary data with which they practise their skills in data analysis, problem-solving and critical thinking.

There are many problem-solving activities in The Science of Life Research and Investigations Book, opportunities for students to apply their knowledge to genetic crosses, pedigrees, DNA sequence analysis, classifying organisms using molecular data, identifying anomalies and critical evaluation of experimental methods.

The Science of Life also provides students and teachers with many more online resources to ensure that students are comfortable and proficient in tackling problems and analysing data in unfamiliar contexts.

Applications of Biology

There are various sections in the Student Textbook, and activities in the Research and Investigations Book, that provide students with the opportunity to learn about how Biology is applied in various industries and processes in the modern world. Examples of the use of Biotechnology and other biological strategies are detailed in the relevant chapters, with comprehensive treatment and a solid base for further research if students or teachers wish to do so. Students are also asked to evaluate the societal and ethical aspects of developments in the applications of Biology.

Teacher Resources

The Teacher’s Resource Book, together with a suite of online resources for teachers, provide all the support and materials that teachers need to tackle the new specification for LC Biology. Included are:

• Suggested schemes of work for the two-year Senior Cycle.
• A Biology in Practice guide for teachers on integrating the Additional Assessment Component (AAC) into the teaching schedule.
• Answers to the end-of-chapter revision questions.
• Animated PowerPoints for each topic.
• Student revision worksheets.
• End-of-chapter class tests.
• Laboratory Guidelines and notes for each of the Specified Investigations with detailed instructions and tips for preparation and planning.
• Lab recipes and instructions for:
  • Solutions and reagents, extracting enzymes, etc.
  • Microbiology – making up agar, sterilising solutions, pouring agar plates, disposing of waste.
  • DNA technology – preparing agarose gels, DNA profiling, PCR.
  • Choosing equipment, how to set it up, using digital tools and devices.
  • Trouble-shooting frequently encountered issues with experiments.
  • Safety.
  • IT for recording and analysing data in Biology investigations.
• Modelling activities (e.g. Carbon and Nitrogen Cycle, Steps in Evolution, Photosynthesis and Respiration Pathways, Transcription and Translation, Genetic crosses, Pedigree charts, etc.)
• Crosswords and Quizzes.
• Groupwork activities (research tasks, debates, case-studies).

About the Authors

The Science of Life began in 2021 as a collaborative project between Declan Cathcart and Barbara Kelly. It was finalised following the release of the new specification in late 2024.

The authors are both highly qualified biologists and very experienced Biology teachers. Between them, they have over 20 years working in Biology research in university labs and industrial settings. They have a combined 35 years of experience teaching Biology at secondary school level, both in Ireland and in schools abroad. They are both also experienced authors. This combination of qualification and experience gives The Science of Life team a unique insight and perspective into the new Curriculum Specification for Leaving Certificate Biology.

Dr DECLAN CATHCART has been teaching Biology in secondary schools for 25 years. Before that, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher and university lecturer in industry labs and universities in the UK and Ireland for over 10 years before becoming a science teacher. During this time, he worked in various microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, and protein engineering laboratories, developing expertise in microbial fermentations, genetic engineering, PCR, bioinformatics, protein purification, DNA sequencing and more.

Declan has a deep knowledge and understanding of the Leaving Certificate Biology course. He has since 2020 been lecturing PME and MSc student science teachers in UCD in both years of the two-year programme. There he focuses on inquiry-based and investigative approaches to teaching and learning Science. For many years, Declan has run annual revision courses for Leaving Cert Biology students, originally in Trinity College Dublin, but more recently online.

Currently an Oide Biology associate, Declan started work with the PDST Biology team in 2016, when he developed and ran a joint PDST/Amgen Teach CPD programme for teachers, delivering workshops around Ireland. Declan has been a member of the Irish Science on Stage team since 2017, and on the National Steering Committee for SonS Ireland. He was on the international jury panel for the 2024 European SonS Festival in Finland. He is also a member of the ESAI Special Interest Group on Biology Education.

Since 2015, Declan has worked closely with Amgen Biotech Experience (ABE) Ireland and was a recipient of the first global ABE Master Teacher Fellowships in 2021. He has collaborated with ABE in recent years to develop teaching and learning labs in biotechnology for secondary schools and continues to run CPD workshops on these labs in Ireland and other European countries.

Declan is the author of CJ Fallon books Active Science (for Junior Cycle) and Biology Extra!

Dr BARBARA KELLY has a BSc in Science from University College Dublin, a PhD from Oxford Brookes University and a Graduate Diploma in Education from the University of Wollongong. She spent 13 years as a research scientist, with a focus on molecular biology and virology, before retraining as a teacher. For the first five years of her teaching career, she taught in New South Wales, Australia. At present, she teaches Science, Biology and Mathematics at Temple Carrig School, Greystones. Barbara is also the co-author of Inquiring Minds for Transition Year students, published by CJ Fallon.

A History of Change (Pack)

A History of Change is a brand new, innovative package for the Junior Cycle history course.

This textbook follows a rigorous and consistent approach to the presentation of each topic to ensure the student develops a deep understanding of its importance and relevance in history.

Taking recent exams into consideration, A History of Change will prepare students thoroughly for their assessment, while also giving them an appreciation of how historical consciousness shapes society.

The A History of Change package includes:

• A comprehensive textbook.
• A skills’ book.
• A teacher’s resource book.
• A suite of online resources to further and deepen understanding.

Click here to view Sample Chapters

Student Textbook

A History of Change takes a chronological and thematic approach to the history of Ireland and the history of Europe and the wider world.

The key Nature of History element (Strand 1) is addressed in every chapter by using an evidential approach to develop historical consciousness and help the student to acquire the ‘big picture’.

The main features of the textbook are:

Consistent, developmental chapter structure
Each topic is constructed to build mastery of concepts and support planning by including six characteristics of high-leverage teaching practices: 1. Links to prior learning through retrieval practice; 2. Teacher-modelled explanations of historical concepts; 3. Opportunities for students to check for understanding; 4. Opportunities for guided student practice with scaffolds; 5. Opportunities for increasingly difficult independent student practice; 6. Summative progress checks linked to exam-style questions.

Differentiated tiered questioning
At the end of every topic, ‘Check Your Understanding’ tiered questions provide students with an opportunity to test their knowledge of the key historical concepts of the topic at three different levels: bronze, silver and gold. These questions are constructed to build student-understanding slowly and enable students to apply their knowledge to a wide variety of questions by engaging with action verbs used on the Junior Cycle paper. This creates an inclusive book to allow students of all learning levels, including Level Two Learning Programmes, to access bronze level questioning.

Retrieval practice 
Every topic provides opportunities to complete retrieval practice and consolidate pre-requisite knowledge in the form of ‘Knowledge Retrieval’ features.

Think like a historian
The ‘Think like a Historian’ features provide students with the opportunity to engage with a wide variety of primary and secondary sources to equip them with the historical skills necessary to perform well in the Junior Cycle history exam. The questions that accompany these features enable students to make judgements about the usefulness and limitations of different types of historical evidence and apply those skills to a diverse range of historical sources.

Write like a historian
These writing exercises are longer questions directly linked to the JC exam. They include a set of explicit success criteria to break the questions into manageable steps and help students maximise their marks in the exam, further developing the student’s ability to write in a historical style.

Exam question practice
Each chapter ends with a source-based exam question, featuring historical documents, images, and accounts to build critical thinking and exam skills.

Student Skills’ Book

The main features of the Skills’ Book are:

• Consistent chapter structure with exercises developing in difficulty from knowledge recall to in-depth source work on every topic.
• ‘Examiner Insight’ features provide students with a wide range of sample answers from previous JC history questions, giving feedback on each answer from an examiner’s perspective under the headings of ‘What Went Well’ and ‘Even Better If’. Additionally, an extension task asks students to improve the answer or create success criteria to help their classmate write an answer of similar quality.

Teacher’s Resource Book

The Teacher’s Resource Book includes:
A full Unit of Work for each chapter of the textbook incorporating:
1. Contextual learning outcomes;
2. Nature of history learning outcomes;
3. Key historical concepts;
4. Learning intentions;
5. Teaching and learning methodologies;
6. Differentiation;
7. Learning experience;
8. Assessment checkpoints; and
9. CBA links.

Additional sources (print, audio and video links) for each topic with further scaffolded questions on each. Detailed learning outcomes provided for each chapter of the textbook.

Online Resources

The main features of the online resources are:

• Detailed PPT presentations designed to deepen understanding of all topics covered and provide additional information on all learning outcomes. These PPTs are designed with an explicit lesson structure and are ready to be used by teachers and students in the classroom.
• Sample answers to all questions in the textbook.
• End of chapter podcast providing students with an engaging, convenient way to interact with historical content. Each podcast provides a detailed breakdown of a particular topic in the relevant chapter, before explaining how that topic links to the exam.

About the authors

Niall Lenehan is a teacher of history and geography at Dunshaughlin Community College in Meath and is the author of Revise Wise Junior Cycle History. He frequently delivers CPD seminars to teachers around the country through various education centres. He is vastly experienced in the area of online learning having designed and delivered Junior Cycle history and geography courses for digital learning platforms such as Homeschool.ie and Exam Revision.

Lee O’Donnell is a teacher of history and geography at Woodbrook College in Wicklow. He is the author of The Natural World for LC Geography. Lee also works in the University College, Dublin, School of Education as a geography/history methodology lecturer, PME supervisor and dissertation supervisor. Lee’s work in UCD focuses on evidence-based teaching practices and student attainment with a particular focus on retrieval practice and digital technologies. Lee also works with an exam revision company as the Leaving Certificate history content creator creating digital resources to support students. He runs a successful Leaving Certificate revision podcast called ‘Skin in the Game’ for geography and history students.

Poetry Speaks 2027

Poetry Speaks is a new, exciting and accessible poetry anthology, written and designed specifically for the Ordinary Level Leaving Certificate English course.

• Filled with activities that promote classroom communication, Poetry Speaks aims to create a learning space that encourages students to explore and understand poems and poets from a variety of perspectives.
• The textbook includes all prescribed poems and poets for the 2027 Leaving Certificate examination at Ordinary Level.
• Visually attractive, with an appealing design, the images are carefully selected to stimulate curiosity and interest. 
• Packed with active learning tasks to encourage students to think and talk about the content, theme and style in poetry.
• Designed to promote engagement and make poetry meaningful and relevant to students’ lives.
• Poetry Speaks is accompanied by author podcasts that are available in the resources area on the CJ Fallon website.

Some Key Features… 

Poetry Speaks has been carefully designed with the Ordinary Level student in mind. Ease of use, clarity and student engagement are central to this textbook. Each poem is supported by a variety of resources:

• Concise biographies, with relevant information and images to enhance students’ knowledge of each poet.
• Talk About activities that introduce the topics and themes explored in the poems, while encouraging students to actively collaborate.
• Write About activities that create a space for students to record their thoughts and feelings on issues that emerge from their study of poetry. These activities help students to develop understanding through writing personal responses.
• Each poem is accompanied by a helpful glossary that enables student understanding in order to successfully navigate the world of the poem.
• A concise series of questions on content, theme and style consolidate further understanding of each poem’s key features.
• A unique feature of Poetry Speaks is the Zoom in! study cards, where poetic techniques (e.g. alliteration, form, personification) are explained in clear, unambiguous language.
• The Practice Activity, linked to the study cards, provides an effective formative assessment task, which tests the students’ understanding of poetic techniques, reinforces learning and builds their confidence in writing about the style and techniques of each poem.
• A series of concise Revision Cards include helpful notes and tips on the content of each poem, analysing the poem’s theme and key features of the poet’s style.

Formative and Summative Assessment

Formative and Summative assessment tasks accompany each poem.

Formative Assessment

• Unique and innovative features of Poetry Speaks include the PoetryPod podcasts and Revision Worksheet. Students are invited to complete a Revision Worksheet on their favourite poems and this activity is directly supported by the helpful PoetryPod podcasts available on my.cjfallon.ie.
• The PoetryPod podcasts further explore the poem to develop understanding and provide useful tips to help students complete the Revision Worksheet.
• Students can self- and peer-assess this activity in order to discover their strengths and highlight areas which require improvement.

Summative Assessment

• The final exercise at the end of every poem is a summative assessment task where students answer exam-type questions, which are based on the style and format of previous Leaving Certificate examination questions.

Other features…

Glossary of Key Poetic Terms

• A unique feature of Poetry Speaks is that students are actively encouraged to apply definitions of poetic terms in order to complete activities such as the Quick Test and demonstrate their knowledge of each poetic term.

Unseen Poetry Section

• The guidelines and tips on approaching the unseen poem are expertly judged and tailored specifically for the Ordinary Level examination.
• Two exam-type questions follow each unseen poem.
• Additionally, there are colour-coded Question Cards containing further questions that can be applied to each poem, giving teachers the option to explore the unseen poems in more detail to build confidence and develop interpretation skills.

The Author

Edmond Behan is a highly regarded English teacher and the author of several successful textbooks. An English Methods Lecturer for PME student teachers at Maynooth University, he is also a Professional Placement Supervisor of PME student teachers at UCD School of Education.

Master Your English 6

Master your English is a new and innovative English programme for primary schools. Its unique approach focuses on building comprehension and vocabulary skills. Each Master your English book contains 30 units. Each unit has daily work broken down in the following way. 

• Monday – pupils will work on their visual skills (visual memory, discrimination, comprehension, recall, sequencing, and association). Pupils will watch an online video or look at a digital poster and answer comprehension questions: a mix of think fast (multiple choice) and deeper thinking questions.
• Tuesday – pupils will work on their auditory skills (memory, discrimination, comprehension, recall, sequencing, and association). Pupils will listen to an online audio recording and answer comprehension questions: a mix of think fast (multiple choice) and deeper thinking questions.
• Wednesday – pupils will read a comprehension passage and answer a mix of comprehension questions. These include literal, inferential, and evaluative questions.
• Thursday – pupils will focus on working with words, vocabulary development, spelling, phonics and vocabulary usage.
• Friday – pupils will focus on grammar, phonics, dictionary skills and spelling.

Genres 

Master your English incorporates the genres noted in the Primary Language Curriculum and includes texts which narrate, report, persuade, explain, recount, instruct and justify opinions. 

Learning Outcomes

Master your English is designed to enable pupils to reach as many of the Learning Outcomes for Reading and Comprehension as possible across the Elements: Communicating, Understanding and Exploring and Using.

Master Your English 5

Master your English is a new and innovative English programme for primary schools. Its unique approach focuses on building comprehension and vocabulary skills. Each Master your English book contains 30 units. Each unit has daily work broken down in the following way. 

• Monday – pupils will work on their visual skills (visual memory, discrimination, comprehension, recall, sequencing, and association). Pupils will watch an online video or look at a digital poster and answer comprehension questions: a mix of think fast (multiple choice) and deeper thinking questions.
• Tuesday – pupils will work on their auditory skills (memory, discrimination, comprehension, recall, sequencing, and association). Pupils will listen to an online audio recording and answer comprehension questions: a mix of think fast (multiple choice) and deeper thinking questions.
• Wednesday – pupils will read a comprehension passage and answer a mix of comprehension questions. These include literal, inferential, and evaluative questions.
• Thursday – pupils will focus on working with words, vocabulary development, spelling, phonics and vocabulary usage.
• Friday – pupils will focus on grammar, phonics, dictionary skills and spelling.

Genres 

Master your English incorporates the genres noted in the Primary Language Curriculum and includes texts which narrate, report, persuade, explain, recount, instruct and justify opinions. 

Learning Outcomes

Master your English is designed to enable pupils to reach as many of the Learning Outcomes for Reading and Comprehension as possible across the Elements: Communicating, Understanding and Exploring and Using.

Leaving Certificate Oral Irish (Higher & Ordinary Level)

This unique Irish oral revision booklet is compact and specific. Designed with the oral exam specifically in mind, Essentials Unfolded Oral Irish is packed full of key phrases and advice. The useful exam structure overview allows the student to become acquainted with exam layout, and the pages-upon-pages of useful phrases allow students to further articulate opinions, prolong conversation and express disagreement. Apart from the essential topics of Me, My Family and Friends, the following specific topics are included: Current Affairs, The Environment, Discrimination, The Recession, Health and Wellbeing.   

Author: Seán Ó Maolagáin

Leaving Certificate Physics (Higher & Ordinary Level)

Displays all necessary material in a clear and compact way. Contains all essential definitions, derivations of formulae, demonstrations and all mandatory experiments. With quick-reference headings to help find topics quickly and easily, worked examples from past-papers with suggestions, questions and solutions, as well as clear labelled diagrams, Essentials Unfolded Physics will help students recall essential information at a glance.

Author: Mossey Crowe

Leaving Certificate Biology (Higher & Ordinary Level)

This unique exam revision booklet covers each topic in a single or double page spread for ease of use. Text is kept to a minimum in order to highlight key words and definitions, and well-labelled diagrams will help students recall essential information at a glance. The format and size of the booklet make it convenient – an essential exam companion. 

Author: Mona Murray

Leaving Certificate Maths (Higher Level)

This booklet presents all the essential Maths material for the Leaving Certificate Higher Level exam in a clear and concise manner. Essentials Unfolded Maths Higher Level offers a compact yet satisfactory overview of each of the following topics which appear on the course: 

• Algebra
• Trigonometry
• Co-ordinate Geometry 
• Area and Volume 
• Geometry and Enlargements 
• Complex Numbers
• Functions and Graphs
• Differentiation
• Integration
• Sequences and Series
• Financial Maths
• Prescribed and Unofficial Proofs 
• Statistics
• Permutations, Combinations and Probability

For the purposes of quick revision recall, Essentials Unfolded Maths Higher Level is compactly designed and text has been kept to a minimum in order to highlight key words and definitions. Clear, well-labelled diagrams and graphs are present throughout and these will help students to visualise and remember essential information. Extensively detailed revision notes are featured in each section, along with step‑by‑step examples of commonly tested questions. 

All theorems and proofs (both official and unofficial) are featured as well as a handy guide on how to work the CASIO calculator. Relevant pages from the official Maths Log Book Formulae and Tables are included. Essentials Unfolded Maths Higher Level contains invaluable last minute mathematical advice for students on the day of their examination.

Author: Maurice Crowe