Build a Steroid

In this interactive activity from NOVA, learn about the molecular structure of steroids. See the intermediate molecules that are part of the pathway for synthesizing cortisone from diosgenin.

Chemist and Biologist Catherine Drennan

In this video produced for Teachers' Domain, learn about MIT professor Cathy Drennan's research into microorganisms that remove carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere.

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Ethanol Biofuel

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, learn about one scientist's idea for using biotechnology to make ethanol a more efficient alternative to gasoline.

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The Impact of Technology: Nylon

This video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey looks at the invention of nylon.

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Introduction to Plastics

Learn about the basic process of plastics production, and observe how monomers combine to form polymer chains, in this video segment adapted from Pennsylvania College of Technology and WVIA.

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Making Cortisone From Plants

This video segment adapted from NOVA is a dramatized story of chemist Percy Julian’s work to synthesize cortisone. Find out how a biological process, not a chemical one, proved the key to producing cortisone in bulk.

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Molecular Shapes

In this interactive activity from ChemThink, learn about covalent molecules and how the VSEPR theory predicts the shapes of covalently-bonded molecules.

Nature's Pharmacy

In this interactive activity from NOVA, learn about chemicals in nature that are used in medicine.

Revealing the Origins of Life

Learn how scientists explore the chemistry behind the first life on Earth and discover one way it may have arisen from simple chemicals and natural pathways, in this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW.

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Ringed-Carbon Compounds

In this interactive activity adapted from NOVA, learn about alkaloids and steroids, both examples of compounds with carbon rings. Short videos with interviews, animations, and photographs are featured.

Scientific Processes

In this interactive activity adapted from NOVA, expand your understanding of the scientific process. Watch two videos featuring animations and interviews with scientists, and notice how the processes unfold and vary from one investigation to the other.

Synthesizing an Alkaloid

In this video segment, adapted from NOVA, learn how chemist Percy Julian revolutionized chemistry by synthesizing the alkaloid physostigmine from scratch—the first total synthesis of a chemical compound.

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Synthesizing a Steroid

This video segment, adapted from NOVA, tells the story of chemist Percy Julian's quest to make progesterone from a plant steroid, an important medical advancement of the 1940s.

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