Crash Course Kids
Character Traits Explained (King and the Dragonflies): Crash Course Kids Literature #2
New ReviewHow do characters make a story? In this episode of Crash Course Kids Literature, we’ll investigate the traits of characters from “King and the Dragonflies” by Kacen Callender and uncover the ways they relate to each other. Topic:...
Crash Course Kids
Understanding nonfiction: Crash Course Kids Literature #4
New ReviewIf you want to learn about a new topic, where do you start? In this episode of Crash Course Kids Literature, we synthesize information from two nonfiction books about a woman with an eye for insects: Maria Merian. Topic: Synthesizing...
Crash Course Kids
What is an inference? (Charlotte’s Web): Crash Course Kids Literature #1
New ReviewReading books can be fun, but there’s so much more to discover beneath the surface. In this episode of Crash Course Kids Literature, we’ll use our background knowledge and story evidence to make inferences about E.B. White’s novel,...
Crash Course Kids
Character Traits Explained (King and the Dragonflies): Crash Course Kids Literature #2
New ReviewHow do characters make a story? In this episode of Crash Course Kids Literature, we’ll investigate the traits of characters from “King and the Dragonflies” by Kacen Callender and uncover the ways they relate to each other. Topic:...
Crash Course Kids
How to find themes (A Wrinkle in Time): Crash Course Kids Literature #3
New ReviewWhere do you find a theme? Deep in the characters, under the setting, entwined in the plot? In this episode of Crash Course Kids Literature, we travel through the universe with the characters in “A Wrinkle in Time” to discover its...
Crash Course Kids
Understanding nonfiction: Crash Course Kids Literature #4
New ReviewIf you want to learn about a new topic, where do you start? In this episode of Crash Course Kids Literature, we synthesize information from two nonfiction books about a woman with an eye for insects: Maria Merian. Topic: Synthesizing...
Crash Course Kids
Poetry explained (Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhhà Lại): Crash Course Kids Literature #5
New ReviewRoses are red, violets are blue… What on Earth CAN’T a poem do? In this episode of Crash Course Kids Literature, we dive into the poems that make up Thanhhà Lại’s verse novel, “Inside Out and Back Again” and the figurative language that...
Crash Course Kids
How to compare and contrast (Little Red Riding Hood): Crash Course Kids Literature #6
New ReviewFairy tales aren’t just “once upon a time…” and “happily ever after.” They can connect us to people across the world! In our final episode of Crash Course Kids Literature, we compare and contrast different versions of “Little Red Riding...
TED-Ed
Why don’t we get our drinking water from the ocean? | Manish Kumar
Humans have been transforming seawater into potable freshwater for millennia. Today, billions of people can’t access clean drinking water, and 87 different countries are projected to be “water-scarce” by 2050. So, how can we use seawater...
TED-Ed
The dark history of arsenic | Neil Bradbury
No substance has been as constant an ally to insidious scheming as arsenic, the so-called “king of poisons.” In its chemically pure form, it isn’t much of a threat because our bodies don’t absorb it well; it’s when arsenic combines with...
TED-Ed
How are microchips made? | George Zaidan and Sajan Saini
Globally, we produce more than a trillion computer chips every year. Which means about 20 trillion transistors are built every second— and this process is done in fewer than 500 fabrication plants. How do we build so many tiny,...
TED-Ed
The century-old technology that could change the world | Rachel Yang
Industrial manufacturers spend a huge amount of energy generating heat to make everyday materials and objects, like cement, steel, and paper. And since most companies use fossil fuels to reach these high temperatures, industrial heat...
TED-Ed
What would happen if the Amazon Rainforest disappeared? | Anna Rothschild
As of 2022, humans have deforested 17% of the Amazon, and scientists warn that we may be approaching a tipping point. It’s like removing bricks from a house: take a few and the house remains standing; remove too many and the whole thing...
TED-Ed
Rocks could save the world (Yes, rocks) | Elise Cutts
Mount Teide is one of the world’s largest active volcanoes, and there may be a way to use the basalt rock inside it to save humanity. Obviously, destroying an ancient volcano would cause catastrophic and unpredictable ecological fallout....
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How scientists are creating real-life invisibility cloaks | Max G. Levy
A spy presses a button on their suit and blinks out of sight. A wizard wraps himself in a cloak and disappears. A star pilot flicks a switch, and their ship vanishes into space. Invisibility is one of the most tantalizing powers in...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: This mushroom will kill you before you know what’s happening | Michael Beug
Humans have known about the toxicity of death cap mushrooms for millennia. Yet they continue to pose a significant threat to unsuspecting foragers and mushroom hunters throughout the world. Today, death caps are responsible for more than...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What are those colors you see when you rub your eyes? | Paul CJ Taylor
In the 1600s, Isaac Newton conducted a series of experiments to better understand the lights and colors that sometimes appear when your eyes are closed. If you’ve ever sat around an evening campfire or unintentionally glanced at the Sun,...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The world’s longest-burning fires | Emma Bryce
In 1997, a fire began in Indonesia that would rage for almost a year. Despite being one of the largest fires in recorded history, for months at a time it burned without a flame. This might sound like a uniquely freaky fire, but it’s...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How do heat waves affect your body? | Carolyn Beans
In many parts of the world heat waves are happening more often with greater intensity and for longer durations. By 2050, Earth’s mid-latitudes could be experiencing extreme heat between 90 and 180 days a year, with tropical regions...
Crash Course Kids
Weather vs. Climate
So we have Weather and Climate... but are they the same thing? No, no they are not. But they are both super important to how the geosphere is shaped. In this episode of Crash Course Kids, Sabrina chats with us about the differences...
Crash Course Kids
Severe Weather
So, what's the difference between 'weather' and 'severe weather'? Is it just how hard the wind is blowing? Is it just thunder and lighting? Well, it can be some or all of those things. In this episode of Crash Course Kids, Sabrina talks...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The tech that seems to break the laws of physics | Anna Rothschild
Typically, with any piece of technology, you pump one unit of energy in and you get about one out. That’s just the first law of thermodynamics: energy has to be conserved. But there’s a piece of technology called a heat pump, where for...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can you solve the basketball robot riddle? | Dan Katz
You’ve spent months creating a basketball-playing robot, the Dunk-O-Matic, and you’re excited to demonstrate its capabilities. Until you read an advertisement: “See the Dunk-O-Matic face human players and automatically adjust its skill...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Scientists are obsessed with this lake | Nicola Storelli and Daniele Zanzi
In the millions of years since oxygen began saturating Earth’s oceans and atmosphere, most organisms have evolved to rely on this gas. However, there are some places where oxygen-averse microorganisms like those from Earth’s earliest...