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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What is Biodiversity?

This excerpt from the KET Kentucky Life Biodiversity series, offers a brief overview of what we mean when we refer to the biodiversity of a particular area or region.

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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1900 Air Pollution

Examine this graph from FRONTLINE/NOVA: "What's Up with the Weather?" Web site to see dramatic increases in three greenhouse gases over the last two hundred years.

Adopting Sustainable Food Practices

Hear about how respect for Earth can help us attain a more sustainable lifestyle in the face of climate change in this video segment adapted from United Tribes Technical College.

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Agricultural Runoff and the Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone

This video segment adapted from Big River: A King Corn Companion shows how agricultural chemicals from the Midwest that travel downstream in water runoff create a vast marine "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico.

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Air Quality Index

In this interactive activity adapted from "Air Quality Index: A Guide to Air Quality and Your Health" by the U.S. EPA, learn about common pollutants in the air we breathe, their health effects, and how their levels are reported.

Alaska Native Teens Help Researchers

In this video adapted from KUAC-TV and the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska Native students contribute to research on how their environment is changing as a result of global warming.

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American Chestnut Tree

This annotated slideshow adapted from KET's Electronic Field Trip to the Forest illustrates how blight decimated the American chestnut tree and the methods scientists use to identify and pollinate the remaining trees to create blight-resistant trees.

Amphibian Research

This short video segment from IdahoPTV's D4K explains how frogs help biologists study problems in the environment.

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An Alaska Native Community Helps Seals

This video from First Alaskans Institute spotlights the Alaska Native community of St. Paul and its hands-on commitment to care for the land and animals on which it depends.

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An Ancient Legend Teaches Climate Change Adaptation

Today’s unsustainable use of natural resources is compared to the legend of the giant Uab, in this video adapted from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.

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Arctic Atlas

In this interactive atlas adapted from UNEP/GRID-Arendal, explore different environmental features of the Arctic. Select from a list of themes to customize your map, then zoom in to take a closer look at one of six featured regions.

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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Atrazine Affects the Water Supply

In this video segment featuring live-action animation, adapted from Big River: A King Corn Companion, see how the agricultural pesticide atrazine impacts both crops and human health.

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Bear Necessities

This Nature video segment focuses on the four foods most important to the grizzly bears' survival, and it describes the threats to the supply of each of them.

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Bears' Lunch Counter

This Nature video segment explores how the relationship between humans and grizzly bears has changed over the course of American History, and it describes the closing of the Yellowstone National Park garbage dumps in the 1970s.

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Bears in the Schoolyard

Learn about the precautions humans must take in the face of a growing grizzly bear population in this video from Nature.

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Bhopal, 25 Years Later

This audio segment from PRI's The World Science Podcast revisits a pesticide factory in Bhopal, India, where a 1984 gas leak caused as many as 8,000 deaths.

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Bhopal’s Unlikely Legacy

This audio segment from PRI's The World Science Podcast explores how the 1984 gas leak in a pesticide factory in Bhopal, India has increased public awareness about toxic threats, and has been a catalyst for new legislation here in the United States.

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Biodegradation

In this media-rich lesson featuring LOOP SCOOPS videos, students learn about the biodegradation timeline for various biotic and abiotic materials in products, and consider the disposal options that would help reduce waste and pollution.

Biological Invaders

This video segment from Evolution: "Extinction!" shows the impact of invasive species on native ecosystems.

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Biomes

Students collect information about different biomes. They learn how to read a climograph. Teams research different biomes and present to the class.

Bowhead Whaling and Its Impact

This interactive activity, adapted from material provided by the ECHO partners, explores the history of whaling in the Arctic and introduces a landmark study of whale populations.

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: Where Do We Put It?

In this interactive activity from NOVA scienceNOW, explore options for storing carbon dioxide in order to prevent further global warming.

Carbon Cycle Diagram

This diagram from NASA's Earth Science Enterprise illustrates the Earth's carbon cycle .

Careers in Environmental Health

This interactive activity produced for Teachers’ Domain examines some of the career opportunities available in the environmental public health field and describes how the work of professionals in this field directly impacts human health.

Changing Arctic Landscape

In this video adapted from the Arctic Athabaskan Council, learn how warmer temperatures in the Arctic are transforming the landscape, triggering a host of effects such as permafrost thawing and insect infestations.

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Chemical Risks to a Fetus

Learn about the risks environmental contaminants pose for a developing fetus, in this video adapted from Contaminated Without Consent.

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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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Chicken Waste and Water Pollution

In this video segment adapted from FRONTLINE: “Poisoned Waters,” learn how unregulated waste from large-scale chicken farms contributes to water pollution.

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Chris Schneider: Rethinking Conservation

In this interview filmed for Evolution: "Darwin's Dangerous Idea," biologist Chris Schneider discusses the relationship between conservation and speciation.

City Farm

In this interactive game from WGBH, players learn about sustainable practices by growing crops, protecting them against unforeseen problems, and determining how best to conserve resources.

Climate Change and Human Health

Learn how global climate change affects human health in this interactive activity adapted from "A Human Health Perspective: On Climate Change" by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Climate Change Threatens Pacific Paradise

Learn how climate change has impacted food and freshwater resources on the Carteret Islands of Papua New Guinea, in these two videos adapted from UNU-IAS Traditional Knowledge Initiative and Pacific Black Box, Inc.

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Collapse of Sharks

This video segment from Nature shows the destructiveness of the shark fin and shark cartilage industries.

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Compare the Poles

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

Conserving a Unique Ecosystem in Micronesia

Learn about the steps that the people of Kosrae, Micronesia, are taking to protect their natural resources, in this video adapted from the Micronesia Conservation Trust.

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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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Contaminating the Rockies

Learn how abandoned mines have been contaminating water supplies in the Rocky Mountains for decades in this video segment adapted from NOVA: "Poison in the Rockies."

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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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Coral Reef Connections

Dive in and explore what makes this beautiful world so fragile. In this Evolution Web feature, discover how coevolution has shaped the ecological relationships among reef creatures.

Dare to Care for a Grizzly Bear

Using the Nature episode “The Good, The Bad and the Grizzly,” students will be able to articulate the complex and competing perspectives on how to best handle the growing bear population, and they will investigate the factors contributing to the destabilization of the bear’s Yellowstone ecosystem.

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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Disappearing Plants

Plants can only respond to climate change over the course of multiple generations. Learn about the particular challenges that plants face in responding to global warming.

Drive by Extinction

The Bay checkerspot butterfly is now categorized as a federally threatened species whose decline has been called “drive-by extinction.” In this audio report from QUEST produced by KQED, learn what biologists are doing to prevent this butterfly from going extinct.

Duckweed

These images of duckweed (Lemna spp.) illustrate the basic anatomy and environment of these fast-growing plants.

Dustin Madden: Science Teacher

In this video profile produced for Teachers' Domain, meet teacher Dustin Madden, an Iñupiaq who hopes to inspire students to take an active role in protecting the natural environment by giving them a foundation in math and science.

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Earth Day TV Special: Where We've Been, Where We're Headed

In this video from QUEST produced by KQED, find out how environmental activists have shaped how we work, live, and play in a more environmentally responsible way.

Ecology

This video segment from IdahoPTV's D4K defines ecology and ecosystems and explains how all living and non-living things in an ecosystem interact and depend on the energy of the sun.

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The Effects of Global Warming in Alaska

In this media-rich lesson, students learn how global warming is changing the Alaskan environment and examine the consequences of climate change on the region's human and wildlife inhabitants.

The Effects of Pesticides on Children

Follow anthropologist Elizabeth Guillette as she studies the effects of pesticides on children in a farming community in Mexico, in this video segment adapted from Playing with Poison.

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Electronic Gadgets

Two kids learn some surprising facts about the parts in their computer game, in this animated video from LOOP SCOOPS.

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Endangered Relationships

This lesson uses videos from Nature’s "Crash: A Tale of Two Species" to explore the interrelationship between the horseshoe crab and a small migratory bird called the red knot.

Endangered Species

This video segment from IdahoPTV's D4K explores the many reasons why animals become endangered or become extinct.

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Endocrine Disruptor Hypothesis

Scientists discuss whether or not endocrine disrupting chemicals, which may cause birth defects and other health concerns, should be controlled in the absence of conclusive proof, in this video segment adapted from FRONTLINE: "Fooling with Nature."

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Engineer a Crop: Transgenic Manipulation

You're the geneticist now. In this interactive feature from the NOVA/FRONTLINE "Harvest of Fear" Web site, use the latest in genetic technology to engineer your own "supercrop" of tomatoes.

Environmental Hazards on the Farm

This interactive activity adapted from the National Library of Medicine identifies health hazards found on farms.

Environmental Hazards at the Coast

This interactive activity adapted from the National Library of Medicine identifies environmental health hazards in coastal areas.

Environmental Hazards in the City

This interactive activity adapted from the National Library of Medicine identifies environmental health hazards in a typical urban or suburban community.

Environmentalist Bill McKibben, 1990

In this 1990 archival news footage from Cambridge Community Television, environmentalist Bill McKibben speaks about the possible effects of climate change at an Earth Day celebration in Cambridge, MA.

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Environmental Justice: Opposing Industrial Hog Farming

Learn about the impact that large-scale hog farming has had on one minority community in North Carolina and how residents fought back to protect their water supply and property, in this video segment adapted from Earthkeeping: "Toxic Racism."

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Environmental Justice: Opposing a Toxic Waste Incinerator

In this video segment adapted from Earthkeeping: "Toxic Racism," learn how farm workers and farm owners formed a rare alliance in an effort to block the use of an incinerator in their Latino community by suing a major corporation for environmental discrimination.

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Environmental Justice: Opposing a Toxic Waste Landfill

This video segment adapted from Earthkeeping: “Toxic Racism” talks about the early days of the environmental justice movement and how the health of minority communities can be compromised by the disproportionate numbers of hazardous waste facilities located there.

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Environmental Justice in Dallas

Follow a Dallas community's fight to receive federal Superfund status to clean up the damage from a high-polluting lead smelter, in this video segment adapted from Earthkeeping: "Toxic Racism."

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E. O. Wilson: Ants and Ecosystems

This segment is from an interview with ant specialist and biologist E.O. Wilson, filmed for Evolution: "Evolutionary Arms Race."

Eradicating Malaria with DDT

Learn about the role of the controversial chemical DDT in the worldwide malaria eradication program, and hear from an expert who advocates bringing it back, in this video segment adapted from Rx for Survival.

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Exploring Environmental Change

Students explore the connections that can exist in a natural environment, and examine how changes to the environment, particularly those caused by human activity, can affect those connections.

Factory Farms and Organic Alternatives

In this video adapted from the series Race to Save the Planet, learn how agricultural pesticides can help increase the amount of food produced, but can also damage soil and wildlife in the process. See how organic farming addresses some of these challenges.

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Farm Nitrates in the Water Supply

Learn how nitrate runoff from farm fertilizers can negatively impact human health and how a water treatment plant is tackling the challenge, in this video excerpted from Big River.

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Farm Solutions to Water Pollution

In this KET video from Common Ground and Cleaner Water, Tribby Vice, a Kentucky farmer, talks about the changes he has made on his farm to protect the water quality of the stream running through his property and the watershed in which he lives.

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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.

Fishing for Safe Food

This interactive game adapted from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is a fun way to learn which types of fish contain low levels of mercury and are safe to eat and which contain high levels and should be avoided.

Fish Research

This video segment from IdahoPTV's D4K explains the Chinook salmon's life cycle in the Pacific Northwest and why it is an endangered species. A fisheries biologist takes students through some steps of fish research with explanations of the kinds of information biologists gather to perhaps help manage fish recovery.

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Frogs

A boy named Ben learns about the dangers of invasive species—in this case, frogs—in this animated video from LOOP SCOOPS.

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From Ridge to Reef: Adapting to a Changing Climate

Explore Pacific high island and atoll ecosystems, learn about the threats to island resources and residents, and discover how communities are preserving their future, in this interactive activity adapted from the Micronesia Conservation Trust.

From Salt Ponds to Wetlands

Biologists are working to restore the San Francisco Bay Area salt ponds to healthy wetlands for wildlife in one of the largest restoration projects on the West Coast. In this video from QUEST produced by KQED, students learn why wetlands are important to wildlife.

Garbage

A boy named Oliver learns how to reduce the amount of trash he discards, in this animated video from LOOP SCOOPS.

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Global Warming?

Students examine the issue of global warming. They calculate how much carbon dioxide all the machines they use produce in one day.

Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect

This video segment from Race to Save the Planet: "Only One Atmosphere" discusses the greenhouse effect and global warming.

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Global Warming Threatens Caribou

This video segment adapted from Arctic Mission presents the challenges faced by caribou herds unable to adapt to a warming climate.

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Global Warming Threatens Shishmaref

In this video segment adapted from Spanner Films, visit the Alaska Native village of Shishmaref, and learn how an entire town may be forced to relocate because of warmer temperatures, melting sea ice, and coastal erosion.

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Global Warming Threatens World Water Supply

Potentially half of the world's water supply may be at risk because of melting glaciers. Learn more about the consequences of global warming in this video segment adapted from FRONTLINE: "Heat."

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Groundbreaking Pesticide Ban

Learn how one child's willingness to share her experience of life-threatening exposure to lawn pesticides helped inspire a citywide ban of pesticides for lawn or garden use, in this video segment adapted from Playing with Poison.

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