Curated Video
Expansion and Contraction
Discover how different materials react to heat, and why this can be both useful and dangerous. Physics - Energy And Radioactivity - Learning Points. Temperature affects the size and shape of an object due to the expansion and contraction...
Curated Video
The Satellite Story
What is a satellite, why are they important, and how have satellites changed our understanding of the Solar System? Physics - Universe - Learning Points. Any object orbiting a planet is called a satellite. Moons are examples of natural...
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Hot Air Balloons
Hot air balloons rely on heat alone to keep them in the sky. How does this work? Physics - Energy And Radioactivity - Learning Points. Hot air rises in cool air because it is less dense. The hot air within a hot air balloon creates the...
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Life Without the Moon
The Moon holds Earth in place and dictates our seasons. What happens to planets without a moon like ours? Physics - Our Solar System - Learning Points. The Moon formed after Earth collided with its twin, Theia. In proportion to the size...
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Scale of the Universe
How big is our Universe? Travel from Earth through the Solar System, past our Galaxy, to the Universe beyond. Physics - Universe - Learning Points. The Universe is constantly expanding. The Universe is already billions of light years...
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How Are Mirrors Made?
The process of manufacturing lumps of glass into sophisticated mirror systems in the world's largest telescopes. Physics - Universe - Learning Points. Mirrors are made from glass, which is melted and spread over a base. Telescopes use...
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Death of the Sun
The Sun is dying, getting hotter as it goes. Eventually it will shrink into a black dwarf, but life will have vanished long before. Physics - Our Solar System - Learning Points. The Sun is 5 billion years old and will begin to die in 5...
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Big Breathers
Marine mammals like dolphins, seals and whales can hold their breath far longer than humans. How do they do this? Biology - Human Body - Learning Points. Underwater mammals, such as humpback whales, can hold their breaths for up to...
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Freak Waves
Why scientists dispelled rumours of extreme waves at sea, based on flawed mathematics. Maths - Statistics And Probability A Twig Math Film. Reinforce and extend the learning required by the curriculum. Twig’s context films show abstract...
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Kidneys
Learn about how the kidneys function, regulate the salt levels in our bodies, filter our blood, and ultimately keep us alive. Biology - Human Body - Learning Points. The kidneys are located just below the ribs - one on each side of the...
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Echolocation: Dolphins
Dolphins use of sound as a navigational tool is essential to their survival. Discover how they produce these sounds and use them to learn about their environment. Physics - Waves - Learning Points. Dolphins, like most marine species, use...
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Beating the U-Boats
How Churchill used geometry to protect his supply convoys during World War Two, by identifying the best shape for convoys to travel in... a circle. Maths - Shape A Twig Math Film. Reinforce and extend the learning required by the...
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The Moon - Earth’s Natural Satellite
An introduction to the Earth's moon. What makes a moon a moon? Physics - Our Solar System - Learning Points. A moon is a natural satellite. Our Moon orbits the Earth roughly every 28 days. The Moon's glow is caused by the reflection of...
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Why is Fat So Hard to Shift?
Discover why fat is important to our bodies, how and why it is stored - and why getting rid of excess body fat is so much more difficult than gaining it in the first place. Biology - Healthy Living - Fat is stored by the body when you...
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Ratios: The Maths of Baking
How would you bake the world's biggest cake? The same way as a small one... in ratio, but with increased measures. Maths - Number A Twig Math Film. Reinforce and extend the learning required by the curriculum. Twig’s context films show...
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Heart
The heart powers everything you do. It pumps without you thinking about it, and beats over a billion times in an average lifetime. But how does it work? Biology - Human Body - Learning Points. The heart is the hardest working muscle in...
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Clever Thumbs
Our thumbs are complex instruments; we need big brains to control them. Are they the reason behind the evolution of superior human intelligence? Biology - Human Body - Learning Points. The evolution of our hands and our large brains are...
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Evolution of Man: The Evidence
Discover how fossils help scientists to piece together evolutionary changes in early man - and how one very special fossil in Africa led historians down an exciting new path. Biology - Adaptation And Evolution - Learning Points. Fossils...
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What Are Stars?
What are stars made of? How are they born, how do they live, and how do they die? Physics - Our Solar System - Learning Points. Our nearest star is the Sun. A star is formed from a cloud of dust and gas, which shrinks under gravity and...
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Jai Singh
How Maharaja Jai Singh used scale to build and enhance the accuracy of his giant astronomical sundials. Maths - History Of Maths A Twig Math Film. Reinforce and extend the learning required by the curriculum. Twig’s context films show...
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What Are Eclipses?
Solar and lunar eclipses are spectacular phenomena which captivate people around the world, but what causes them? Physics - Our Solar System - Learning Points. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth blocks sunlight from reaching the Moon....
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The Incredible Strength of Ants
Why are tiny ants considered the strongest creatures in the world? An introduction to the square-cube law and why muscle mass (length3) will always outstrip strength (length2). Maths - Number A Twig Math Film....
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Yellowstone: Supervolcano
The geothermal features of Yellowstone National Park are a clue to its deadly secret. It sits on a massive supervolcano. But why can't we see it and will it ever erupt? Earth Science - Geology - Learning Points. Yellowstone National Park...
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Life in the Freezer
From polar bears to emperor penguins, how animals and plants survive in some of the harshest habitats on Earth - the polar regions. Biology - Adaptation And Evolution - Learning Points. A host of different animals survive in the coldest...