Curated Video
Parts of the Plant: Leaves
Why are leaves commonly flat, spongy and strikingly green? Discover the different parts of a leaf and their function. Biology - Plants - Learning Points. A leaf is made of many layers sandwiched between tough outer layers. Gases enter...
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Carbon Capture: Artificial Trees
Artificial trees: what are they? How do they work? And how could they help to prevent climate change in the future? Human Geography - A Changing World - Learning Points. The rate of climate change is increasing because of the increasing...
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What Plants Need to Grow
Plants produce oxygen and provide our food, but what do they need to live? Learn why nitrates, phosphates, potassium and magnesium are vital for plant health. Biology - Plants - Learning Points. Understanding how plants grow ensures we...
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Parasitic Plants
Different species of parasitic plants steal nutrients from host species in order to survive. Sometimes this ends in the death of the host. Biology - Plants - Learning Points. Parasitic plants derive some or all of their nutrients from...
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Plants in Extreme Environments
To survive, plants have developed adaptations to regulate temperature and water, and maximise the capture of sunlight. Some plants have even evolved to survive in extreme environments of hot deserts and Polar regions. Biology - Plants -...
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Lichen: Indicator Species
Lichens exist in extreme environments where other life struggles to survive. But these tough species cannot tolerate pollution, and reflect the health of ecosystems. Biology - Ecosystems - Learning Points. Lichens are organisms that can...
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Why Do Leaves Change Colour?
Throughout the year, some leaves change colour from green, to yellow, to red. Discover the role chlorophyll, carotene and anthocynanin pigments play in making this happen. Chemistry - Reactions - Learning Points. Leaf colour depends on...
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What is a Food Chain?
How energy is passed through living things can be described as a food chain. Journey through a food chain, from primary producers at the bottom to tertiary consumers at the top. Biology - Ecosystems - Learning Points. A 'food chain'...
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Photosynthesis: How Plants Convert Sunlight into Energy
Journey into the chloroplast, where photosynthesis takes place, to learn how plants convert sunlight into usable chemical energy - one of the most vital processes on Earth. Biology - Plants - Learning Points. Leaves are small...
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The Taiga Forest
The Taiga forest is the largest land ecosystem on Earth, stretching from Alaska to Japan. Explore the Taiga and discover the plant and animal life that survives these freezing conditions. Biology - Ecosystems - Learning Points. The Taiga...
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The Greenhouse Effect
Without the greenhouse effect, our planet would be too cold to inhabit, but it's currently a major cause of global warming. What is the greenhouse effect, and why is it such a conundrum? Earth Science - Human Impacts - Learning Points....
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Algae: Diverse and Vital Organisms of Our Ecosystems
Discover the amazingly diverse world of algae. These species come in all shapes and sizes, and are one of the most important groups of organisms on our planet. Biology - Ecosystems - Learning Points. Algae produce more oxygen than all...
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The Carbon Cycle
Through organic matter, rocks and the oceans, the element central to all life on Earth is constantly on the move. Earth Science - Earth's Resources - Learning Points. The carbon cycle is a transfer of carbon between living matter and the...
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Photosynthesis and Starch
We put three different plants under different conditions to demonstrate that both light and carbon dioxide are needed for photosynthesis to occur. A leaf from each plant is taken and heated in ethanol to remove the pigment. These are...
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Water Uptake in Plants
We place two privet hedge shoots under different conditions to see how the amount of water they draw up will change. They are both placed in measuring cylinders with the same amount of water and a layer of oil is added to the top to...
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Fossil Fuels: Formation
Where does our natural gas, coal and oil actually come from? Discover the processes that created our modern fossil-fuel reserves, which began millions of years ago. Earth Science - Earth's Resources - Learning Points. Fossil fuels are...
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Energy Transformation
Discover how energy from the Sun is converted into different forms, and what happens to energy that is 'lost' from a system. Physics - Energy And Radioactivity - Learning Points. The Sun provides almost all the energy on Earth. Energy...
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Oceans: Sunlight Zone
The ocean's surface is teeming with creatures that live in water but need sunlight to survive. Biology - Ecosystems - Learning Points. The sunlight zone is the area between 0m and 200m beneath the surface of the sea and is home to...
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Transpiration
The loss of water vapour from plants to the atmosphere. A Twig Science Glossary Film. Key scientific terms defined in just 60 seconds using stunning images and concise textual definitions. Twig Science Glossary Films reinforce abstract...
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What do plants eat?
Find out how plants make their own food using sunlight, water and air. This is called photosynthesis. Living things - Amazing plants - What do plants need? Learning Points What do plants need to grow? Sunlight, water, air and soil....
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Parts of a plant – Did you know?
Did you know that most (but not all) plants need leaves to obtain food? Life processes - Green plants - Parts of a plant Learning Points Not all plants make their own food through photosynthesis. A Twig Tidbit Film - Did you know? A...
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Fuels
Learn all about fossil fuels and how the energy they contain came from the Sun. Physical processes - Energy and energy transfer - The Sun as our main source of energy Learning Points Oil and gas are formed from remains of marine plants...
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Pancakes
We all love eating pancakes, but did you know they contain a secret ingredient – sunshine! Physical processes -Energy and energy transfer - The Sun as our main source of energy Learning Points Energy from the Sun is passed on through the...
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Parts of a Plant - Plant Anatomy
Learn all about the parts of a plant. Life processes - Green plants - Parts of a plant Learning Points Leaves use water, carbon dioxide and sunlight to carry out photosynthesis. Root hairs absorb water and nutrients from the soil. The...