Animal Babies

This interactive slide show illustrates the variety of animal babies that exist on earth -- some completely independent and others deeply reliant on parental care.

Becoming a Mosquito

Join students as they observe mosquitoes in different stages of development and learn about the insect's life cycle in this video from Curious George.

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Birth, Growth, and Development

By examining the developmental stages of animals, students learn about the life cycles of living things.

Common Past, Different Paths

This time-lapse microphotography of developing embryos shows the common ancestry of all vertebrates. Footage from NOVA: "Odyssey of Life."

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Dolphin Reproductive Behavior

This video segment from the Science and Technology Chat series focuses on dolphin pregnancy, birth, and care of the young, and features Atlantic bottlenose dolphins living in captivity at the Mirage Resort Dolphin Habitat.

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Embryo to Duckling

This video segment from NOVA: "The Shape of Things" follows the growth of a duck embryo, from a single fertilized egg cell to a complex, hatching duckling.

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Exploring Plants

In this media-rich lesson, students observe plant growth by watching a time-lapse video and by growing their own seeds. They identify the conditions seeds need to germinate and consider the role that fruits play in seed dispersal.

From Seed to Flower

Watching plants grow is like watching paint dry: It happens so slowly that the changes are imperceptible from one moment to the next -- and yet the end results are dramatic. This video segment shows just how amazing plant development can be by depicting various phases of the process using time-lapse photography. Footage from NOVA: "The Shape of Things."

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Growing Up, Growing Old

This collection of six images captures the magnificence of human development -- the transformation from baby to woman.

Hatchlings and Newborns

It's a universal event that no one can remember: being born. This video segment shows that there are different ways to come into the world and suggests that some newborns and hatchlings are ready for independence far sooner than others.

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Life Cycles of Frogs, Dragonflies, and Butterflies

Students explore similarities and differences in the life cycle of organisms and are introduced to the process of metamorphosis.

Life Stages Cards

All animals develop and grow over time. The animals in this document undergo one of the most dramatic developmental processes known: metamorphosis. See if you can place the developmental stages in their proper order.

Metamorphosis: Change of Plans

All animals develop and grow over time. The animals in this video segment, however, undergo very dramatic changes on their way to adulthood -- a developmental process known as metamorphosis.

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Paper Towel Plants

In this video from Curious George, learn about how beans, a type of seed, can sprout into plants.

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Plant Life Cycles

Students explore the cycles of plant life and compare them with those of animals.

Possible Causes of Malformed Frogs

In this video from DragonflyTV, Katie and Susie investigate whether malformations in frogs in a nearby pond are being caused by ultraviolet light from the Sun, chemical pollutants, or parasites.

Switching Genes On and Off

This video segment adapted from NOVA reveals how "junk" DNA helped solve an evolutionary mystery: Why do certain species of fruit flies have wing spots while others don't?