Adaptation

Students examine some of the behaviors and physical characteristics that enable organisms to live successfully in their environment.

Animal Hearing

This video segment discusses the physical adaptations that give several nocturnal animals a heightened sense of hearing. Footage from NOVA: "Mystery of the Senses: Hearing."

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Animal Hearing

Students explore how sound is created, the importance of hearing in certain environments and some environmental causes of hearing loss.

Arctic Tundra

This video segment from Wild Europe: "Wild Arctic" explores the struggle for survival in one of Earth's most extreme environments.

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Backyard Turtles

In this video from the WPSU’s series Outside, learn about backyard turtle habitats, their favorite foods, and why they don’t make good pets.

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Bee Navigation

This video segment from NOVA: "The Mystery of Animal Pathfinders" explores honeybee communication and navigation.

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Bird Brained

Using selected segments from the Nature episode “Ravens,” this lesson will explore some of the more commonly accepted indicators of animal intelligence as demonstrated by the raven, the most brainy of all birds.

Birds of Kundha Kulam

In this Nature video, learn about the extraordinary impact that birds have on the agriculture of a small Indian community.

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Carnivorous Plants of Cartwheel Bay

In this video segment from NatureScene, explore Cartwheel Bay, a wetland in South Carolina, and learn about the variety of carnivorous plants native to this unique landform.

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Climate and Human Evolution

In this video segment adapted from NOVA: "Becoming Human," learn how the analysis of rock layers and ocean sediments supports the theory that rapid climate change may have jump-started human evolution two million years ago.

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The Coral Reef Ecosystem

Students examine a coral reef ecosystem to learn about its living and non-living parts and how they interact. They apply what they have learned to explore the world's biomes, including how the animals in each are adapted to their environment.

Dating Lava Flows on Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawaiʻi

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, scientists search for carbonized remains of plants preserved in lava flows to find out how long it has taken rain forests on Hawaiʻi to regenerate after a volcanic eruption.

Accessibility features: Audio Description, Caption

Desert Biome

This video segment from NOVA: "A Desert Place" describes the physical characteristics and organisms that define the desert biome.

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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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Flood Plain and Higher Ground Habitats

This video segment from NatureScene features the area of the Congaree Swamp where the high ground and the flood plain meet. Learn how a few feet of difference in elevation on a floodplain can yield drastic changes in what you’ll find living there.

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Floral Arrangements

Explore a few of the ways plants pollinate each other in this video segment from Sexual Encounters of a Floral Kind.

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Frozen Frogs

This video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW shows how the common wood frog freezes solid every winter, an adaptation that allows the organism to survive the cold winter.

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Gila Monster

This video segment from Outdoor Nevada looks at the Gila monster's behavior, habitat, and unique adaptive characteristics.

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Horned Lizard

In this video from Outdoor Nevada, learn about the habitat, diet, and defense mechanisms of horned lizards.

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How the Woodpecker Avoids a Headache

This diagram from Rainbird Publishing describes the specialized physical characteristics that allow woodpeckers to create some of the most secure nests in the bird world.

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