Acid Mine Drainage and Precipitates

In this video, environmental scientists measure the pH of water to detect acid mine drainage from an abandoned coal mine and then demonstrate how metals present in acid drainage fall out of solution as precipitates when a basic substance is added to the water.

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Controlling Water Run-off

This video shows how the environmentally friendly design of the Visitor Center at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest near Louisville slows down water run-off and helps to control non-point-source water pollution, conserve water, and prevent soil erosion

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Environmental Impact of Acid Mine Drainage

This video shows how acid mine drainage from an abandoned coal mine has affected Wildcat Branch in Kentucky's Daniel Boone National Forest. Because the creek has a very acidic pH of 2.9, most organisms cannot survive there, and Wildcat Branch is essentially dead.

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Reusing Wastewater

This video demonstrates how peat filtration beds at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest near Louisville, Kentucky purify and conserve wastewater and eliminate one cause of non-point-source water pollution.

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The Geology of Coal

In this video, a geologist describes how coal, a sedimentary rock, was formed when organic materials piled up in swamps millions of years ago. Over time, heat and pressure transformed the buried materials into forms of coal that cause acid mine drainage when exposed to oxygen.

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Recycling and Restoration

This video explains how Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest near Louisville, Kentucky used recycled cypress from pickle vats to build its visitor center and then “paid back” nature by creating a cypress-tupelo swamp at one end of a lake on the park grounds.

High-Sulfur Coal and Acidic Water

In this video, a geologist measures the pH of water after high-sulfur coal from a Kentucky coal mine has been added to it. This test demonstrates that the sulfate salts found on the coal’s surface cause the water to become much more acidic.

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Rain Gardens

This video shows how a rain garden at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest near Louisville, Kentucky slows down the flow of water from the forest’s parking lot and helps prevent soil erosion.

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Mycoremediation

This video explores the process of mycoremediation: planting fungi such as oyster mushrooms to mitigate non-point-source water pollution caused by oil, gasoline, and other toxic substances.

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Restoring Lower Rock Creek

This brief video describes how Lower Rock Creek’s location between two National Wild and Scenic Rivers caused Kentucky environmentalists to choose the creek as a target for acid mine drainage remediation.

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Acid Mine Drainage Remediation

In this video, an environmental technologist visits an abandoned coal mine in Kentucky to talk about how a remediation system (a series of settling ponds and treatment cells) is neutralizing the acid drainage flowing from the mine and keeping it from damaging a creek downstream.

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Applying the Scientific Method

This video provides a real-life example of the scientific method: testing hypotheses about which plants will grow most successfully on a green roof in Kentucky.

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Results of Acid Mine Drainage Remediation

In this video, a biologist visits Rock Creek in Pulaski County, Kentucky to show how acid mine drainage remediation has increased the stream’s pH from acidic levels to almost neutral. Although the ecosystem has not been completely restored, many species have returned to Rock Creek.

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Stream Restoration

This video explores how Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest near Louisville, Kentucky has restored a channelized or straightened stream to its original meandering path, thereby improving the stream’s water quality and creating a better habitat for wildlife.

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Aquatic Insects

In this brief video, a biologist talks about the macroinvertebrates (typically aquatic insects) that form the basis of food webs in healthy Kentucky streams.

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Detached Wetlands

This video depicts a detached wetland, a small pool that forms beside a shallow meandering stream when it overflows its banks. These wetlands are important breeding grounds for the invertebrates that live in and beside streams

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Allison Bolinger: Spacewalk Flight Controller and Trainer

In this video from Design Squad Nation, NASA spacewalk flight controller and trainer Allison Bolinger teaches astronauts how to work outside their spacecraft.

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Ask an Engineer

Explore some of the wonders of modern engineering in this video from the Sciencenter in Ithaca, New York. Hear a diverse selection of engineers explain how things work.

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Automatic Door Opener

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, watch the design process in action as cast members create automatic door openers to open their bedroom doors while still lying down.

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Balloon Brain: Designing a Helmet

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, cast members are challenged to design protective headgear for a water balloon using what they know about the properties of the materials available.

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Bioengineering Body Parts

In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, scientists discuss their attempts to grow human body parts in a jar.

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Blacker Than Black

In this video adapted from NASA, two members of a NASA research team working to produce carbon nanotubes share some background behind this new technology, show examples of how it will be useful, and explain the various tests being performed to ensure readiness for spaceflight.

Brain Trauma

Find out how serious head concussions can be in this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW.

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Building a Dam Like a Beaver

In this video segment from PEEP and the Big Wide World, children make a dam with dirt, sticks, and stones to try to stop the flow of water.

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Building a Fence

In this Cyberchase video segment, Harry must build a rectangular fence in his grandmother's backyard using fencing of various sizes.

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Building Curiosity: Rover Rocks Rocker-Bogie

NASA engineers test Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory rover, and demonstrate its material properties, its handling and mobility, and its design features in this NASA video.

Building Simple Machines: A Glass of Milk, Please

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, the cast shows how the 34 steps in their Rube Goldberg invention use everything from gravity to carbon dioxide gas in order to accomplish one simple task: pouring a glass of milk.

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Building Simple Machines: Plant Quencher

In this video segment from ZOOM, Jillian explains how her simple machine uses marbles, levers, flowing sand, and a spinning wheel to water a plant.

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Building the Alaska Oil Pipeline

This video segment adapted from AMERICAN EXPERIENCE tells the story of how environmentalists, Alaska Native peoples, and engineers concerned about the effects of permafrost challenged plans for the Alaska oil pipeline.

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Capturing Carbon

In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, a scientist, inspired by his daughter's science fair project, develops a synthetic "tree" to remove excess carbon dioxide from the air.

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Carbon-Fiber Car of the Future

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, find out how cars made of a material stronger than steel and half the weight can help combat climate change.

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Columns: Experimenting with Paper Cups

In this video segment from ZOOM, the cast experiments to see if a bunch of paper cups covered by a piece of cardboard can support the weight of a cast member.

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Composite Materials for Space

Discover why engineers use composite materials to build spacecraft prototypes in this video segment adapted from NASA 360.

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Converting to Biodiesel

Meet a college student whose class project to turn cooking grease into diesel fuel resulted in converting bus fleets to biodiesel, in this video from Earth Island Institute's New Leaders Initiative.

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The Cumberland Gap Tunnel

This KET video chronicles the incredible engineering effort that built the tunnel through Cumberland Mountain as well as the challenges posed by the geological composition of the area.

The Deployable Energy Absorber

Watch how engineers stage a crash to test a new helicopter safety design technology in this video from NASA.

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Design for Function

In this video segment from Cyberchase, the CyberSquad designs an invention that will help them cross a swamp and also reach the top of a tall cliff.

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Designing a Paper Bridge

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, cast members make a bridge from a single piece of paper. Will it be strong enough to hold a hundred pennies?

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Designing a Puff Mobile

The air you exhale can power a puff mobile. Watch as the ZOOM cast races their air-powered designs to see which design features are the most successful.

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Designing a Roller Coaster

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, the cast is challenged to design and test a roller coaster with loops, hills, and U-turns.

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Designing Balloon Cars

Can the air in a balloon power a car? Watch students from Weston, Massachusetts, demonstrate their balloon car designs in this video adapted from ZOOM.

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Designing Future Cities: Alternative Energy

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, visit a class as they design a city of the future that will use solar, wind, and water power to fuel its economy.

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Down to the Core Challenge

In this video from Design Squad Nation, kids design and build devices that can extract a core sample from a potato “asteroid.” They also learn how samples give NASA scientists insight into solar system objects.

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Drafting and Graphics Engineering

In this video adapted from ATETV, hear firsthand from an engineering technology graphics student about her plans to work with an architect after she completes her community college program.

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Drilling to Antarctica’s Rock Core

In this video adapted from ANDRILL, find out how geoscientists get through more than a dozen football fields of ice and water in order to study the rock and sediment beneath Antarctica.

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Eduardo Torres-Jara

In this video from Science City, meet Eduardo Torres-Jara, a postdoctoral associate in electrical engineering and computer science at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab. He describes his work on innovative robots that use tactile feedback to locate and grasp objects.

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Dust-Proofing a Mars Rover

Enter the lab of NASA scientist Dr. Carlos Calle to see how systems are being developed to keep planetary rover solar panels dust-free, in this video from NASA EDGE.

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Eco Electronics

In this video adapted from DESIGN SQUAD, meet engineers who help protect the environment by recycling and using biodegradable materials.

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Electric Girl

Anna loves electricity. Watch her construct a homemade flashlight and show off her new, electrifying hairdo in this video segment from ZOOM.

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Engineering Biofuels

In this video segment adapted from KQED's QUEST, find out how synthetic biologists use the techniques of metabolic engineering and directed evolution to make more effective biofuels.

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