Phainopepla Bird

In this video segment from Outdoor Nevada, learn about the eating and migration habits of the Phainopepla, an unusual bird associated with the mistletoe plant.

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Phases of the Moon

When we look up at the night sky, why do we see the Moon's appearance changing over time from a full sphere to a crescent to nothing at all? Find the answers in this interactive resource adapted from the National Air and Space Museum.

Photodetector and Receiver Characteristics

Learn about fiber optic receivers in this video from the ICT Center.

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Physics of Arches

In this interactive activity from NOVA, try your hand at constructing a stone arch and learn about the physics that affect the arch.

The Physics of Baseball

In this video adapted from QUEST, discover that some of the rules of physics and baseball are one and the same.

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The Physics of Sailing

The act of sailing a sailboat may not be as clear-cut as you might think. In fact, sailing entails a very complex process. In this video from QUEST, find out what is behind the sail of a boat.

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Picking a Colony From a Plate

This video produced by WGBH illustrates how to prepare an overnight culture of transformed E. coli cells.

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A Piece of the Pie

This video from the series Faces of America covers what DNA can tell us about our ethnic identities that regular genealogy might not.

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The Pigeon Express

This video segment from Nature profiles a small business in which homing pigeons play a central role.

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Pitch: Making Guitars

Watch the rubber bands vibrate on homemade guitars in this video segment adapted from ZOOM as cast members talk about pitch and demonstrate how to make a cereal box instrument.

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Pitch: Straw Kazoo

This video segment, adapted from ZOOM, explores the different sounds that a simple drinking straw can produce when you cut the straw and blow into it.

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Pitch: Super Sounding Drums

This video segment, adapted from ZOOM, explores sounds made by homemade drums of different sizes, shapes, and materials.

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Pitch: Water Trombone

This video segment, adapted from ZOOM, demonstrates how to use a drinking straw and a bottle full of water to make low- and high-pitched sounds.

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Pixels and Pigments

This original animation from KET illustrates the mathematics of creating color in individual pixels in a television or computer screen. Adjusting the values of red, green, and blue forms different colors.

Planet-Hunting

Learn about NASA’s Kepler mission and how scientists search for planets orbiting stars outside our solar system in this video segment adapted from NOVA.

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Planetary Moves

This video segment from Nature offers an introduction to four species’ migratory patterns.

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Planets

This video segment from IdahoPTV's D4K reviews the characteristics of the sun and the planets that make up the solar system.

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Plants-in-Motion

While we tend to think of plants as stationary, they are in constant, though very slow motion, as they respond to environmental factors. Watch plants move in time-lapse videos in this interactive activity adapted from Indiana University.

Plastic Race Car Competition

High school students learn about plastics technologies as they design and build car bodies for a remote-control race car competition in this video segment adapted from Pennsylvania College of Technology and WVIA.

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Plate Tectonics: An Introduction

This video segment adapted from Discovering Women uses animations to introduce the theory of plate tectonics and to explain why earthquakes occur and how continents form.

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Plate Tectonics: Lake Mead, Nevada

Using animations to illustrate the theory of plate tectonics, this video segment adapted from Discovering Women takes you to Lake Mead, Nevada, to see visual evidence of how plate movement has been stretching the North American continent.

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Plating

This video produced by WGBH details the steps to plate transformed bacterial cells on an agar plate.

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Pneumatic Actuator Systems

This interactive activity adapted from MATEC highlights the key components of a typical pneumatic actuator system and shows how they work together to drive an automated process.

Pollution Along the Rhine River

This video segment adapted from Race to Save the Planet discusses the effects of water pollution along the Rhine River and its impact on local wildlife.

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Polymerase Chain Reaction

This interactive activity adapted from the University of Nebraska's Library of Crop Technologies depicts steps in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique and explains how it is used to efficiently copy sections of DNA for analysis.

Possible Ice Volcano on Titan

In this video from NASA, learn how features derived from Cassini radar data indicate a possible ice volcano on Saturn's moon Titan.

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Potential and Kinetic Energy: Spool Racer

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, learn how the potential energy in a wound-up rubber band powers a spool racer.

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The Potential Health Hazards of Vinyl Siding

Follow one family's investigation into the toxins generated through the production and disposal of vinyl siding, in this video segment adapted from Blue Vinyl.

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Pouring an Agarose Gel

This video produced by WGBH demonstrates the step-by-step process of pouring an agarose gel into a casting tray.

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The Powerhouse of the Cell

This video segment describes the critical role that mitochondria play in nearly every cellular process in your body.

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Prairie Dogs

In this video adapted from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, learn about the prairie dog, the importance of its role in its ecosystem, and how it is affected by an ever-growing human population.

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Predicting Earthquakes

This video segment, adapted from QUEST, describes the extraordinary research that scientists are doing to help demystify and possibly better predict earthquakes.

Predicting the Angle of a Bouncing Ball

In this Cyberchase video segment, the CyberSquad is trapped in an icy cave. In order to escape, they must use the principles of a bouncing ball to transport a key from one side of the icy cave to the other.

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Preparing a Column

This video produced by WGBH shows a properly prepared column and demonstrates how to apply and run a solution.

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Primitive Insects of the Congaree Swamp

In this video segment from NatureScene, observe dragonflies and mayflies near Cedar Creek at Congaree Swamp National Park.

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Processing Wheat for Food

This interactive activity adapted from Montana State University shows the processes and technologies involved in turning harvested wheat into flour and other by-products.

Process Technology

In this video adapted from ATETV, learn about the field of process technology and what it takes to work in the field from the perspectives of a student, a community college professor, and an industry specialist.

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Process Technology: Process Maintenance Engineer

Learn how a community college degree in electronic engineering helps a process maintenance engineer manufacture Tupperware, in this video adapted from Pathways to Technology.

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Process Technology Student: Chemical & Refinery Process Technician

Learn about the field of process technology and how it can lead to a career in chemical plants and refineries, in this video adapted from Pathways to Technology.

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Process Technology: Training & Careers

Learn about the field of process technology in this video excerpted from Pathways to Technology.

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Producing Penicillin

In this video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey, follow two scientists and their Nobel Prize-winning efforts to cure bacterial infections using penicillin.

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Producing Salmon

In this video from Nature learn about the different ways humans are trying to help salmon populations.

Profile: Ethiopian Anthropologist

In this video adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, meet Ethiopian anthropologist Zeresenay Alemseged and find out why his work has made him a national hero and the leader of a new generation of African-born anthropologists.

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Programming a Robot

In this video segment from Cyberchase, the CyberSquad breaks down an action into a series of steps in order to program a robot to do what they need it to do.

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Projectile Motion

In this interactive simulation adapted from University of Colorado’s Physics Education Technology project, learn about projectile motion by firing various objects from a virtual cannon into the air. Experiment with the settings and try to hit a target.

Protecting the Horseshoe Crab

Learn about the measures taken to protect the horseshoe crab in this video from Nature.

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Protein Purification

This animation produced by WGBH and Digizyme, Inc. demonstrates how a protein of interest is isolated from other contents in a transformed bacterial cell—a process called purification—using a lab technique called hydrophobic interaction chromatography.

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Protein Purification Lab in the Classroom and in Real-World Research

This video produced by WGBH features students in the Amgen-Bruce Wallace Biotechnology Lab Program purifying a protein, and also examines the motivations people have for choosing a career in science.

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Protesting a Natural Gas Facility

Meet a high school student who mobilized her community to stop construction of a liquefied natural gas facility, in this video adapted from Earth Island Institute.

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Quantus

This original animation from KET introduces Pythagoras’ belief that “all is number.” The virtual world of computer animation shows how the movement and shape of computer characters can be described with numbers, or “quantified.”

Raccoons and the City

This video resource from Nature: "Raccoon Nation" explores the migration of raccoons to big cities and traits that help them thrive in urban environments.

Raccoons Gone Wild

This video resource from Nature: "Raccoon Nation" explores how thousands of raccoons ended up in Japan and the dangers they pose to sacred temples and shrines.

Rachel Carson's Silent Spring

In this video segment adapted from American Experience: "Rachel Carson's Silent Spring," learn how the lethal impact of the pesticide DDT on wildlife inspired biologist Rachel Carson to write Silent Spring.

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Radio Waves & Electromagnetic Fields

In this interactive simulation adapted from the University of Colorado's Physics Education Technology project, explore how a radio transmitter broadcasts electromagnetic radiation.

Radon Radiation

The biggest source of environmental radiation might be in your home. Find out more in this video segment adapted from FRONTLINE.

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Raising an Obelisk: An Engineering Puzzle

This video segment adapted from NOVA follows two teams as they each test a different engineering design in an effort to explain how ancient Egyptians raised a giant stone obelisk.

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Rapid Prototype Modeling

Students in the emerging field of rapid technologies describe how they quickly turn designs into 3-D models and discuss their career goals in this video adapted from ATETV.

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Rattlesnakes

This video segment from Wild Nevada answers questions about the rattlesnake, a reptile that is often misunderstood.

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Ratty Old Genes

This video from The Human Spark explores the extraction and interpretation of Neanderthal DNA.

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Raven Adaptability

This video segment from Nature features ravens, the most intelligent birds in the crow family.

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The Real C.S.I.

In this video segment from QUEST, learn about a specific area of forensics and how it is applied to areas of immigration.

Recombinant DNA Lab in the Classroom and in Real-World Research

This video produced by WGBH features students in the Amgen-Bruce Wallace Biotechnology Lab Program inserting a recombinant DNA molecule into bacterial cells, and illustrates how industry and academic scientists use the exact same techniques.

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Red Tide

Learn about red tide and the danger it poses to manatees in this video from Nature.

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Redwoods at Redwood National Park

This video segment from NatureScene describes the characteristics of redwood trees at Redwood National Park.

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Refraction of Light Demonstration

In this interactive activity featuring videos adapted from the Rutgers PAER Group, observe how light bends when it travels through a convex lens, a concave lens, and glass.

Remotely Operated Vehicles

In this video adapted from the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center, learn how some students are putting to work both technical skills as well as "soft" skills, such as teamwork and problem solving, in creating underwater remotely operated vehicles.

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The Reproductive Role of Flowers

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, learn about the critical role of flowers in seed plant reproductive biology.

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Reptiles of the Congaree Swamp

In this video segment from NatureScene, discover some reptiles in the swamp forest ecosystem at Congaree Swamp National Park.

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Reroofing Your Uncle's House

This interactive activity adapted from the Wisconsin Online Resource Center challenges you to plan, measure, and calculate the correct amount of roofing material needed to reroof a house.

Research Assistant Sandra Bustamante

In this video produced for Teachers' Domain, meet Sandra Bustamante, a university research assistant who started her career with a biotechnology certificate and is now using nanotechnology—rather than needles—to deliver vaccines.

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Restoration of the American Chestnut

This KET video segment from Kentucky Life describes how scientists control pollination of one of the few remaining American chestnut trees to develop blight resistant trees.

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Restoring Streams

In this video from Nature learn how removal of old dams and river restoration is occurring all over the northwestern United States in an attempt to restore the natural environment and make salmon populations viable once again.

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Restoring Wetlands in Hawai‘i

Learn how Hawai‘i’s wetlands help reduce the effects of climate change, in this video from the Hawai‘i Nature Center.

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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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Reverse Evolution Machine

In this video adapted from KQED's QUEST, learn how scientist David Haussler is using biotechnology to reconstruct ancient genomes in an effort to find out how animals have evolved over time.

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Richard Glenn: Iñupiaq Geologist

In this interactive resource adapted from Raven Radio/KCAW, listen to Iñupiaq Eskimo and geologist Richard Glenn describe the complementary nature of Alaska Native ways of knowing and the methodology of Western science.

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.

Rivers

This video segment from IdahoPTV's D4K takes you on a trip down Idaho's Snake River near 1000 Springs and Blur Heart Springs while it explains how rivers are formed, their uses, and how they make valleys, canyons and even plains.

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RNAi Discovered

In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, learn how RNAi, a mechanism that has evolved in cells to prevent viral infection, was discovered and how it works.

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RNAi Therapy

In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, learn about RNAi's potential to treat a wide range of genetic and infectious diseases.

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Road Signs Gallery

This collection of still images depicts various types of road signs and represents one form of research an engineer might conduct to design a road sign effectively.

Robo Arm Challenge

In this video from Design Squad Nation, kids design and build controllable mechanical arms and use them to lift objects and play games. They also learn how NASA uses robotic arms on many of its missions.

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Robofly

Featuring slow-motion footage of insects in flight, this video adapted from NOVA explores the engineering challenge of designing a robotic aerial vehicle that flies like a bug.

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Robot Race

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, cars drive themselves. Teams of designers using different technologies compete for a two-million-dollar prize to see which unmanned vehicle will make it to the finish line first.

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Rocks and Minerals

This video segment from IdahoPTV's D4K presents the types of rocks, how they are formed, what they are made of and how they are classified.

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Rocky Coasts

This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service profiles rocky coast environments and describes how various geologic features form.

The Role of Genetics in Obesity

In this video segment from NOVA scienceNOW, meet researchers who are studying obesity and trying to understand the role that hormones and genetics can play in regulating appetite.

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The Role of Ocean Currents in Climate

This video produced by ThinkTV describes the overall functions of ocean surface currents, their movement across the planet, and their relationship to climate.

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Rolling Ball Incline

In this video adapted from the Encyclopedia of Physics Demonstrations, learn how plotting the changes in an object's position on a graph can provide information about the object's motion.

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The Roost

Learn how ravens benefit from sharing information and working together in this video segment from Nature.

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Root Systems of Trees at the Congaree Swamp

Learn about root systems of trees in the Congaree Swamp National Park in this video segment from NatureScene.

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Rotations in Space

Learn about rotational forces by watching astronaut Jeffrey Williams spin objects onboard the International Space Station in this interactive activity adapted from NASA.

Ruminants

Why do cows chew their cud? This video segment from Secret of Life: "Accidents of Creation" describes the physical adaptations that have made ruminants some of the most important, and certainly the most efficient, plant eaters on earth.

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Runnin' with the Devil

This video segment from Nature takes viewers to a road race in Death Valley.

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Running an Agarose Gel

This video adapted from the University of Leicester provides step-by-step instructions for loading samples into an agarose gel and then running the gel to separate DNA molecules according to their size.

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Safeguarding Alaska's Waters

In this interactive activity, learn about strategies used in Prince William Sound, Alaska, to help avoid oil spills and to identify and contain environmental contaminants. The activity features videos adapted from the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens' Advisory Council, KTOO, and NOVA: "The Big Spill".

Salmon

This video segment from IdahoPTV's D4K explains the life cycle of Idaho's salmon and how this life cycle is disrupted by river dams.

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Salmon's Journey

In this video from Nature, juvenile salmon face insurmountable odds to become adults and spawn.

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Salmon in the Ecosystem

This video adapted from Nature explores the critical role of salmon in an ecosystem, as well as efforts to reintroduce salmon nutrients into streams.

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Salmon Move into Deeper Waters

For generations, Native Americans have depended on their observations of nature for their survival. In this video segment adapted from Northwest Indian College, an Elder recalls how fishermen suspected the water was warming after observing salmon retreating to deeper waters.

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