TED-Ed
Periodic Videos
From hydrogen to ununoctium, this collection of videos has everything you need to begin teaching about the periodic table. Offering descriptions of each element and interesting experiments...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
The Making of the Fittest: The Birth and Death of Genes
After watching an engaging 13-minute video about the colorless blood of icefish, future ichthyologists examine icefish blood and non-icefish blood (blood samples are simulated with Karo syrup mixtures) to determine advantages of...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
The Making of the Fittest: Got Lactase? The Co-evolution of Genes and Culture
Got milk? Only two cultures have had it long enough to develop the tolerance of lactose as an adult. Learn how the responsible genes evolved along with the cultures that have been consuming milk. This rich film is supplied with a few...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
The Day the Mesozoic Died
A dynamic, three-part feature explores what caused mass extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period. Computer animations, interviews, and on-site footage from around the world divulge evidence that it was the K-T...
TED-Ed
How Do Nerves Work?
This lesson won't get on your nerves! Find out how one kind of cell can cause comfort, terror, or pain in your brain. Comic strip and cartoon style animation is used to help explain the transmission of electrical nerve impulses and the...
TED-Ed
How Does Work...Work?
What makes a clock tick or a bulb light up? The concept of work is explained to a backdrop of clever animation. Physics fans learn that the amount of work equals the product of the force and distance, and that the rate equals the amount...
TED-Ed
How to Speed Up Chemical Reactions (and Get a Date)
How are chemical reactions like dating? A collision must first occur! In this hilarious approach to speeding up chemical reactions, viewers find out that five changes can increase the rate of reaction: smaller space, increased number of...
TED-Ed
How Polarity Makes Water Behave Strangely
Water is common? Not really! Learn how the polarity of the water molecule gives it tremendous properties that make is quite unique in the universe. Learners will understand surface tension, adhesion, and cohesion, as well as why these...
TED-Ed
The Motion of the Ocean
What drives the ocean's motion? Get your class moving toward understanding by using this video. Viewers find that thermohaline circulation is caused by the concentration gradients of temperature and salinity. Using adorable animation in...
TED-Ed
What Is Fat?
An animated fat molecule explains how some fats are beneficial and some are harmful. He describes triglyceride molecules and how the chemical bonding or overall shape determines the health value of each individual type of fat. This...
TED-Ed
If Molecules Were People...
By watching this droll and delightful animation, physical scientists consider what happens when molecules collide. In this film, however, parodic people bump into each other, exchanging limbs in the process, just as molecules might trade...
TED-Ed
What is a Fungus?
After watching a short film about the anatomy and physiology of fungi, discuss with your class the seven provided Think questions, or make up your own. The animation is in the style of colorful artistic drawings and text that appears in...
TED-Ed
The Terrors of Sleep Paralysis
Half of the population experiences sleep paralysis at least once in their lives, and it can be a truly unique and terrifying ordeal. Discover how cultures across the world have offered various paranormal explanations for this phenomenon,...
TED-Ed
How Sugar Affects the Brain
Attention, sugar addicts! Here's why you can't quit the habit. Sweet taste receptors send a signal to the brain, which activates a reward system that responds by telling you to eat again. Over activating this reward system results in a...
TED-Ed
The Difference Between Classical and Operant Conditioning
Learn about the difference between two central concepts in behavioral psychology: classical and operant conditioning. Viewers are presented with images and clear narration explaining the two processes that result in learning, and...
TED-Ed
The Science of Stage Fright (And How to Overcome It)
Why can speaking in public be so horrifying and have such strong effects on our bodies? Discover the science of stage fright! Your young learners will learn about the connection between stage fright and our natural fight or flight...
TED-Ed
How Breathing Works
The ins and outs of breathing are explained in this fresh film. Simple and straightforward narration accompanies colorful animation to show how breathing is controlled and how it can be altered. This would not only be useful during a...
TED-Ed
What on Earth is Spin?
If your head is spinning when you consider teaching the action of spinning, this video is sure to settle things. First, the motion is defined and described. The conservation of angular momentum, the Coriolis effect, and the air pressure...
TED-Ed
Conserving our Spectacular, Vulnerable Coral Reefs
A three-minute clip covers a new strategy for protecting the coral reefs of Fiji while still allowing fishermen to harvest the fish that people survive on. Connectivity is the name of the game. This colorfully animated resource is a...
TED-Ed
Dark Matter: The Matter We Can't See
It's looking like the dark side is bigger than we thought! Physicists speculate that perhaps 96% of the universe consists of invisible dark matter and dark energy, while only 4% is what we can view with the aided eye. This flabbergasting...
TED-Ed
What is an Aurora?
An impressive animation explains the earth's awe-inspiring auroras. The contributions of high-energy particles from the sun collide with our neutral atmospheric atoms. Explained are the roles of solar wind, plasma, the magnetosphere,...
TED-Ed
Is There a Center of the Universe?
The history of our understanding of the center of the universe is explored through this film. The ideas of Aristotle, Copernicus, Bruno, Descartes, and Herschel are included, as well as the new discoveries that have helped the theories...
TED-Ed
Cicadas: The Dormant Army Beneath Your Feet
What's the buzz that happens every 13 or 17 years? The emergence of the cicadas! This quick and flashy animation explains the lifecycle of these unusual insects and ponders the timing. On the host site, you will also find comprehension...
TED-Ed
Is Time Travel Possible?
What flies faster than the speed of light? A time traveler! This video explains the time-speed-distance relationship, time dilation, and the theoretical possibilities of time travel in a way that is super engaging. Along with the video,...