Be Smart
Tuatara All the Way Down: Face to Face with a Living Fossil!
Change is good ... unless you're a tuatara! Meet Earth's oldest surviving reptile species in a fun video from an extensive science playlist. Content includes why the tuatara did not evolve and its unique anatomy.
Be Smart
Why Are There as Many Males as Females?
From anteaters to zebras, why are both sexes equally represented in number? Explore a quirk in evolution with a video from a thought-provoking science playlist. The narrator shows examples of species that might only need a few males,...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Anole Lizards: An Example of Speciation
What happens to a species when members become separated by changes in their environment? Present young biologists with the ultimate example species—the anole lizard. A brief video describes the origins of the multitude of anole species...
PBS
DNA Spells Evolution
In humans, the rate of mutation from one generation to the next is between 100 and 200 mutations. Discover the role of DNA mutation in evolution with an enriching lab activity.
TED-Ed
The Surprising Reasons Animals Play Dead
Many animals have methods of surviving. But did you know that opossums are not the only animals known for "playing opossum"? Watch a video that explains the unique survival techniques and behaviors of animals, including tonic immobility...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Natural Selection and Adaptation
It's not every day that you end up rooting for a mouse. A breathtaking video takes scholars to the American Southwest to learn about the rock pocket mouse. It describes how mice with black fur had an evolutionary advantage in the dark...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
The Birth and Death of Genes
Notothenioids are not your average fish—they contain antifreeze! An interesting video introduces the icefish, a scaleless fish with colorless blood that lives in the oceans around Antarctica. It explains how gene duplication and...
PBS
How Sex Became a Thing
Birds, bees, flowers, trees ... and Funisia dorothea? Biology scholars journey back in time to discover more about the history of sexual reproduction. The video, one of many in a biology playlist, covers our earliest eukaryotic ancestor,...
PBS
The Whole Saga of the Supercontinents
See the world as it was—and also how it will be! A riveting video from a vast biology and earth science playlist takes viewers back in time to see how supercontinents formed, broke apart, and formed again. The resource includes a sneak...
Be Smart
Do Plants Think?
Plants react to many different stimuli, but do they think? After many years, scientists now have a definite answer. A video shares the theories and facts as part of a larger biology playlist. From plants listening to music to plants...
FuseSchool
Extinction of Species
Extinction: i's not just for dinosaurs! Young ecologists examine the alarming facts about the causes of mass extinctions by watching this engaging Fuse School Evolution video. Topics include previous extinction events, living fossils,...
Crash Course
The Evolutionary Epic: Crash Course Big History #5
In the timeline of history, Stegosaurus and Tyrannosaurus rex lived further apart from each other than Tyrannosaurus rex and humans. The fifth Crash Course-Big History video in a series of 16 introduces the concept of evolution. It...
Bozeman Science
LS3B - Variation of Traits
Make sure your unit on trait variation causes a sensation! Take an in-depth look at standard LS3B, an important component of the Next Generation Science Standards. The narrator discusses methods of delivering the standard to younger...
Bozeman Science
LS4C - Adaptation
Learn how the study of adaptation progresses through grade levels. The narrator provides a curricular view of teaching adaptation complete with examples. Concepts range from simple trait adaptations to speciation and natural selection.
Teacher's Pet
Allele Frequencies
One way scientists describe diversity in a population is through allele frequencies. The video explains how to perform these simple calculations. Then it presents the Hardy-Weinberg assumptions and the difference between acclimation and...
Deep Look
The Fantastic Fur of Sea Otters
Surviving in the harshest climates takes some strategic planning. Sea otters' planning requires an adaptation of their fur to withstand freezing ocean temperatures. Learners explore the ingenious makeup of their fur.
Deep Look
How Electric Light Changed the Night
Explore the changes in sleep patterns over time. Pupils learn how the changes in lighting have triggered adaptations in sleep patterns. Modern lighting mimics the light waves of the sun, which suppresses melatonin production and makes...
MinuteEarth
Why Did T Rex Have Such Tiny Arms?
Explore explanations for the shockingly small size of the T-rex arms. A video lesson considers reasons why a T-rex has small arms through a process of elimination. Maybe the arms provide an advantage to the animal or maybe larger arms...
MinuteEarth
This Is Not A Bee
Is it a bee or not a bee? That seems to be the question of a video lesson that explains how insects such as flies and moths mimic the coloring of bees. The narrator discusses the purpose of the coloring in association to predators.
MinuteEarth
Why Do Some Species Thrive in Cities?
How do wild animals adapt to our urban expansion? An interesting video lesson describes different adaptation strategies of common species. The narrator includes a discussion of the changes in DNA.
TED-Ed
Why Do Animals Have Such Different Lifespans?
Is it true that larger animals have longer lifespans than smaller animals? Does an animal's habitat help shape the length of its life? And does the ability to adapt and evolve allow living things to expand their lifespans? Watch a...
SciShow
How Is That Not Killing You?
Humans lose consciousness at under 5 Gs, but woodpeckers experience deceleration forces of 1200 Gs without losing consciousness. How do woodpeckers survive? Video highlights three different animal adaptations that help them to survive in...
Be Smart
What If There Were No Sharks?
Humans kill 3.17 sharks per second. Sharks kill, on average, six humans per year. The video offers many facts based on real science and proven numbers. Not sensationalized or click bait, a refreshing change from a lot of what we see on...
Crash Course
Community Ecology: Feel the Love
Warblers are small birds that have been known to get caught in spider webs. The video covers community ecology, focusing on the Competitive Exclusion Principle using the example of warblers. It also includes fundamental versus realized...