Becoming a Fossil

This video segment describes how the Australopithecus afarensis skeleton known as Lucy could have been fossilized. Footage courtesy of NOVA: "In Search of Human Origins."

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Cave Formation: Biogeochemical Cycles

This video segment adapted from NOVA chronicles the discoveries that led to a radical new theory in which living organisms, not just geological processes, play an active role in cave formation.

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Continental Divide: The Breakup of Pangaea

Examine geological evidence found in fossils, rock deposits, and ancient mountains that supports the theory of continental drift in this interactive activity adapted from the Exploratorium.

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.

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Deep Time

This interactive timeline from Evolution offers a visual representation of the major geological changes, transformations, and extinction episodes in the 4.6-billion-year history of Earth.

Earth System: Drought and Air Quality

This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center discusses how a drought can have negative effects locally, for example by increasing the number of forest fires, and also globally, for example by impacting air quality thousands of miles away.

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Evolving Ideas: Did Humans Evolve?

This video from Evolution explores the evolution of humans from a common ancestor of humans, chimpanzees, and other apes.

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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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Finding Lucy

This Evolution video segment depicts the landmark hominid fossil finds by Don Johanson and his team in Ethiopia.

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Fish with Fingers

In this video segment from Evolution: "Great Transformations," paleontologist Jenny Clack explains that vertebrates evolved fingers before they invaded land.

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Fossils

Fossils are indicators of past life. This collection of still images produced for Teachers' Domain features examples of fossils from plants, animals, and insects.

The Grand Canyon: Evidence of Earth's Past

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, a fossil found among the Grand Canyon's rock layers reveals the existence of a shallow sea that once covered most of western North America.

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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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Ingredients for Life: Water

This video segment adapted from NOVA goes on a whimsical journey in search of life forms thriving in extreme conditions on Earth and in outer space. Animations show ice on Jupiter's moon, Europa, and signs that water once existed on Mars.

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Laetoli Footprints

This Evolution video segment describes how the famous track fossils known as the Laetoli footprints might have been formed and what they can reveal about the creatures who left them.

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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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Origins of Humankind

In this Evolution feature, examine a six-million-year-long fossil record to learn about the evolution of the human family.

Permian-Triassic Extinction

In this video segment from Evolution: "Extinction!", geologist Peter Ward discusses evidence for a Permian-Triassic mass extinction.

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Radiometric Dating

In this video segment from A Science Odyssey: "Origins," scientists explain how Earth's age was determined by radiometric dating.

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Riddle of the Bones

In this Evolution Web feature, piece together clues to how one of our early ancestors looked as you examine images from four significant fossil finds of Australopithecus afarensis.