California Academy of Science
Desalination
Desalination requires around two gallons of sea water to make one gallon of fresh water—that's quite a ratio! Viewers consider the pros and cons of desalination as one option to providing fresh water. They learn about two different...
California Academy of Science
How Do We Meet the Growing Need for Water?
Some aquifers took thousands of years to collect water, yet they have been depleted in only a hundred years. Viewers learn about where humans use water and the serious concerns for the future of the water supply in the second of 10...
TED-Ed
What Would Happen If Every Human Suddenly Disappeared?
Humans constantly change the earth by building things, using natural resources, and relocating plants and animals. The lesson considers would happen to the planet if humans were gone. The narrator discusses the changes in buildings and...
California Academy of Science
How to Measure a Changing Climate
Young scientists explore climate change by taking a look at many different disciplines. They hear from scientists who study soil, clouds, ice cores, ocean temperatures, and more. Then, they search public databases to draw their own...
California Academy of Science
The Climate is Changing but How's the Weather?
Do meteorologists and climate scientists use the same tools? The final lesson in a 13-part series on Exploring Energy compares and contrasts climate and weather. It describes the scientists who study each, the tools they use, their...
California Academy of Science
The Chemistry of Clothes
Synthetic materials increase in popularity every year. Exploring Energy takes on the chemistry behind synthetic materials, including polyester. The resource opens with a video explaining the difference between natural and synthetic...
California Academy of Science
Your Digital Footprint: Data and Energy Use
Understanding energy usage requires knowing more than how much energy it takes to charge your cell phone. Scholars learn each text sent uses energy as does each video, game, and phone call. They observe the larger grid of data transfers...
California Academy of Science
Renewable Energy: Powered by Poop
A single cow produces more than 100 pounds of manure every day. Meet a farmer using cow manure to provide energy to his farm, electric car, and the larger electric grid. He explains the process and benefits of the renewable energy source.
California Academy of Science
Renewable Energy: Clean Tech Solutions
Renewable energy originally found application more than 790,000 years ago. A relevant and engaging lesson explains some of the current options for renewable energy. Technology changes quickly and many different options provide hope for...
California Academy of Science
What's the Deal With Fossil Fuels?
Plastic bags, laptops, and even toothpaste all contain petroleum. A lesson explains how to define fossil fuels, including petroleum, and the many uses for fossil fuels in our everyday lives. It also details why new sources need to...
PBS
When Fish Wore Armor
Today very few animals exist with both an endoskeleton and exoskeleton. Yet, in the Devonian period, a large number of fish species lived with both. Scientists debate if they were for protection or mineral storage, because none of them...
Nature League
Is That Ostrich Flirting With Me? - From A to B
What prompts an ostrich to perform its courtship dance ... for humans? The fourth and final installment in a Reproduction video series examines the importance of animal courtship behaviors, as well as the research that revolves around...
Nature League
Sex Safari - Field Trip
A field trip to study reproductive behavior of big game is a great set up for big-time learning! Part two of a four-part Reproduction video series takes viewers up close and personal with the animal residents of a wildlife preserve in...
Nature League
What is Reproduction? - Lesson Plan
What force drives a species' will to survive and thrive? Explore reproduction through the first of a four-part video series. The narrator discusses both sexual and asexual reproduction and cites examples of each.
PBS
What Is the Solar System?
How do scientists classify whether an object lies within our solar system or not? Examine the boundaries of the space neighborhood using a lesson from PBS's Space series for middle schoolers. After viewing a model of the solar system,...
PBS
Eclipse Over America — Predicting Eclipses
It's easy to find out in today's world when the next eclipse will be, but what about thousands of years ago? Junior astronomers discover how the Babylonians used lunar observations to accurately predict future eclipses through an...
Nature League
Why Are Millipedes Cuter Than Centipedes? - From A to B
In an invertebrate beauty pageant, why do millipedes always scuttle away with the crown? Part four of a five-part series of Invertebrate videos compares and contrasts the millipede with the centipede in terms of diet, behavior, and body...
Nature League
Invertebrates and Ocean Mixing - De-Natured
It's time to mix things up! Introduce biology scholars to the latest topic in marine research—invertebrates! The third installment in a five-part series of Invertebrates lessons explains the hypothesis that tiny, migrating shrimp are...
Nature League
Searching for Mysis Shrimp - Field Trip
Surely, the biggest fish in the lake will benefit from a meal of big, tasty shrimp! Take biology scholars on a trip to Flathead Lake in the second of a five-part Invertebrates series. Scientists currently studying the lake take the...
PBS
Making North America | The Cascadia Subduction Zone
Scientists discovered a rain forest covered in sand and saltwater residue. This led to a collection of core samples and a rather intense prediction for the future of the American Pacific Northwest. Part of a larger series on the story of...
PBS
Lava Lake Tectonics
Do you enjoy spending the day at the lake? Maybe not an active lava lake! Viewers watch the fascinating movement of crust on top of molten magma as part of a larger series exploring the story of Earth. Comparisons to tectonic plates...
PBS
The Rise and Fall of the Bone-Crushing Dogs
Fun fact: giant, bear-sized dogs with teeth that crush bones existed in North America. Learn about the three species of dogs and their ultimate fates as cats moved into the area. An informative video describes the rise of all three...
PBS
How a Supervolcano Made the Cenozoic’s Coolest Fossils
Volcanoes cause mass extinctions, climate change, and physical alterations of our planet. They also create great fossil records, time markers in layers of Earth, and an interesting way to study geology. A video describes how one...
PBS
When Birds Had Teeth
Scientists believe confuciusornis developed a beak and lost teeth as a key step in the evolutionary process. Learn more about confuciusornis and other birds, dinosaurs, and animals that evolved into the birds of today. PBS Eons walks...