Publisher The Open University
TESSA (Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa) aims to improve the classroom practices of
primary teachers and secondary science teachers in Africa through the provision of Open Educational
Resources (OERs) to support teachers in developing student-centred, participatory approaches. The
TESSA OERs offer activities for teachers to try out in their classrooms with their students, together
with case studies showing how other teachers have taught the topic, and linked resources to support
teachers in developing their lesson plans and subject knowledge. TESSA OERs have been
collaboratively written by African and international authors to address the curriculum and contexts.
They are available for online and print use (http://www.tessafrica.net). Secondary Science OER are
available in English and have been versioned for Zambia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. There are 15
units. Science teacher educators from Africa and the UK, identified five key pedagogical themes in
science learning: probing children’s understanding, making science practical, making science relevant
and real, creativity and problem solving, and teaching challenging ideas. Each theme is exemplified in
one topic in each of Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Teachers and teacher educators are encouraged
to adapt the activities for other topics within each subject area. We welcome feedback from those who
read and make use of these resources. The Creative Commons License enables users to adapt and
localise the OERs further to meet local needs and contexts.
Contents
Module 1 Biology
● Section 1 Classification and adaptation
● Section 2 Transport
● Section 3 Respiration
● Section 4 Nutrition, conservation and ecology
● Section 5 Cells
Module 2 Chemistry
● Section 1 Elements, compounds and mixtures
● Section 2 Acids, bases and salts
● Section 3 Combustion
● Section 4 Atomic structures, chemical families and the periodic table
● Section 5 States of matter
Module 3 Physics
● Section 1 Properties of matter
● Section 2 Measurement
● Section 3 Pressure and heat transfer
● Section 4 Forces
● Section 5 Electricity and magnetism
...