Allopatric Speciation

These images from the Smithsonian Institution depict Nancy Knowlton's work with snapping shrimp in Panama. Knowlton found that the closing of the isthmus -- dividing the Pacific Ocean from the Caribbean -- resulted in new species of shrimp.

Build-a-Fish

In this interactive activity from Shedd Aquarium, build a fish and then release it into the reef to search for food and evade predators. Try different combinations and observe how each kind of fish has unique adaptations that help it survive in its habitat.

Compare the Poles

Explore the defining features of the Arctic and the Antarctic in this interactive activity adapted from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Contaminants in the Arctic Food Chain

The levels of contaminants found in particular animals vary widely depending on where they fit into the Arctic food chain, as described in this video segment adapted from LOKE Films and the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme.

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Contaminants in the Arctic Human Population

In this video segment adapted from LOKE Films and the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, learn how human populations in the Arctic are affected by industrial contaminants in the food chain.

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Deep Sea Vents and Life's Origins

Deep-sea vents are home to strange, luminescent life forms that thrive through chemosynthesis. This video segment from NOVA: "Volcanoes of the Deep" hypothesizes life's beginnings in this extreme environment.

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Energy Flow in the Coral Reef Ecosystem

This video segment, adapted from NOVA, describes the energy flow in a coral reef, including its food web.

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Evolving Ideas: How Do We Know Evolution Happens?

This video from Evolution focuses on one of the several lines of evidence for evolution -- fossils, highlighting the evolution of whales from land-dwelling mammals to the aquatic creatures we know today.

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Field Biology

This video segment from the teacher video series Learning That Works uses a case study to highlight the effectiveness of a project-based, real-world approach to teaching science.

How Did Life Emerge Here?

This video segment adapted from NOVA describes the emergence of life on the islands of Hawaiʻi from a barren volcanic platform under the ocean waves to the rich explosion of life that covers the many climate zones of the islands today.

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Intertidal Zone

This video segment from NOVA: "The Sea Behind the Dunes" explores the community of organisms that exists in the New England tidal marsh.

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The Kemps Ridley Sea Turtle

This video adapted from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department describes how humans are helping restore safe nesting grounds for the critically endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle to ensure its successful repopulation.

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Life Before Oxygen

This Interactive NOVA: "Earth" video segment looks at ancient organisms that lived anaerobically, the origins of photosynthesis, and the new forms of life this process made possible.

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A Night in the Coral Reef

Coral reefs are often portrayed as brightly lit, bustling underwater marvels full of colorful creatures. This video segment, adapted from NOVA, paints a different picture as it explores the nocturnal behavior of organisms in the reef.

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Oil Spill: Exxon Valdez, 1989

This video segment adapted from NOVA follows the clean-up effort after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska. Also featured is a marsh where an oil spill occurred 20 years earlier; analysis suggests that environmental damage may last for decades.

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Penguin Response to Climate Change

Find out how climate change is affecting Antarctic Adélie penguins and their ecosystem in this video segment adapted from Lloyd Fales and Sweetspot Pictures, Inc.

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Polar Bears and Climate Change

In this video from the World Wildlife Fund, learn how rising temperatures in the southern Arctic could lead to polar bear extinction.

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Super Salmon

This video segment from FRONTLINE/NOVA: "Harvest of Fear" explores genetic modification of salmon and possible consequences.

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Taking the Earth's Temperature

This video segment from FRONTLINE/NOVA: "What's Up with the Weather?" depicts research efforts to record Earth's past and present temperatures shifts.

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Whales in the Making

This graphic from Evolution, traces the evolution of whales from land-dwelling mammals to the aquatic creatures we know today.

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