Topic: Dynamic Earth

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Resource	Grade Level	Media Type
Anatomy of a Tsunami Using visual models and other graphics, this interactive activity from NOVA Online reveals details of the December 26, 2004 tsunami that collided with coasts around the Indian Ocean.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Anatomy of a Volcano In this interactive activity from NOVA Online, explore the main features of the Nyiragongo volcano, located in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and learn what risks it poses to the 500,000 people who live in its shadow.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Antarctica: A Challenging Work Day What happens when the ground under your feet is ice and it's moving? This video segment adapted from NOVA features some of the dangers faced by scientists conducting research in Antarctica.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Antarctic Ice Movement: Part I This video segment adapted from NOVA explains why ice sheets move. To find out how fast they move, scientists carve a tunnel through a glacier.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Antarctic Ice Movement: Part II Within Antarctic ice sheets are fast-moving streams of ice. This video segment adapted from NOVA hypothesizes about how ice streams are the result of warming at the end of the last ice age.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Arctic Sea Ice Satellite Observations In this interactive activity produced for Teachers' Domain, learn how Arctic sea ice has changed over the past 25 years in terms of maximum winter extent, concentration, and the timing of breakup each spring.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Avalanche Town The impact of natural disasters is made vivid in this video segment adapted from NOVA. A small town in Iceland, prepared for recurrent avalanches, is devastated when one takes a new and damaging path.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Build an Island This interactive resource from NOVA Online shows how an atoll is formed from a volcanic island and describes the role coral reefs play in this process.	6-12	Flash Interactive
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.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Cave Formation: Kane Cave This video segment adapted from NOVA describes a simple experiment that confirmed the idea that microbes can accelerate the biogeochemical process of cave formation.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Caves and Karst This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service presents the key concepts of cave and karst systems, including how and where they form, different types, and various cave environments.	3-12	HTML Interactive
Changing Arctic Landscape In this video adapted from the Artic 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.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Chasing Tornadoes In this video segment adapted from NOVA, scientists are on the hunt for tornadoes. Using Doppler radar, they gather data in the hopes of solving the mystery of how tornadoes form.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Climate Change This video segment adapted from NOVA explains the difference between weather and climate and features groundbreaking analysis revealing that Earth's climate has changed much faster than previously believed.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Coastal Geological Materials This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service describes the different kinds of sediments that make up coastlines, with a focus on the variety in color, size, and sorting.	6-12	HTML Interactive
Coastal Geological Processes This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service describes the many forces that affect shorelines, including tides, weathering, erosion, and deposition.	6-12	HTML Interactive
Collecting Data Below the Earth's Surface This video segment adapted from Discovering Women demonstrates how scientists use sound waves to collect data about the structure of Earth's crust.	6-12	QuickTime Video
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.	6-12	Flash Interactive
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.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Deep-Sea Vents and Life's Origins Deep-sea vents are home to life forms that do not rely on the Sun's energy. They depend instead on energy from volcanoes on the ocean floor. This video segment adapted from NOVA hypothesizes that life on Earth may have begun in this extreme environment.	3-12	QuickTime Video
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.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Documenting Glacial Change This collection of comparative glacier images adapted from the National Snow and Ice Data Center shows substantial changes in five Alaskan glacier positions over periods of 60 to 100 years.	3-12	Flash Interactive
Earth as a System This visualization adapted from NASA maps progressive global changes onto a rotating globe. Earth's atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere are shown to be dynamic and interconnected.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Earthquake Prediction This video segment adapted from NOVA tells the tragic story of two Japanese seismologists who disagreed about the threat of earthquakes in the early twentieth century. Today, seismologists in California offer residents a probability of risk that an earthquake might occur.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Earthquakes: Los Angeles In this video segment adapted from NOVA, animations are used to show how the hills around Los Angeles were formed by earthquakes at small thrust faults that extend outward from the larger San Andreas fault.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Earthquakes: San Francisco The history of earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay area is plotted on a digital map and analyzed in this video segment adapted from NOVA.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Earthquakes: The Prehistoric Record In this video segment adapted from NOVA, a geologist digs a trench along the San Andreas Fault to reveal three thousand years of earthquake history. Information from the layers of sediment may help geologists to predict earthquakes.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Earthquakes: The Seismograph This video segment adapted from NOVA uses historical illustrations, photographs, and animations to explain how seismographs work, the difference between P and S waves, and the Richter scale.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Earth’s Albedo and Global Warming In this interactive activity adapted from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, learn about Earth's albedo (the ratio of reflected vs. incident solar radiation), how pollution alters albedo, and how ice-albedo feedback may accelerate global warming.	6-12	HTML Interactive
Earth's Cryosphere: Antarctica Learn about the different features of snow and ice in Antarctica using satellite imagery in this video segment adapted from NASA.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Earth's Cryosphere: The Arctic In this video segment adapted from NASA, take a tour of the cryosphere in North America and the Arctic using satellite imagery.	6-12	QuickTime Video
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.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Earth System: Ice and Global Warming This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center explains ice's role in the Earth system, highlighting the delicate balance that could be upset with a continued rise in temperature due to climate change.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Examine Global Surface Currents This visualization from McDougal Littell/TERC visualizes the relationship between global wind directions and the direction of ocean surface currents.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Fastest Glacier In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, scientists in western Greenland explain how a glacier there is shrinking and moving faster due to increased melting.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Gallery of Auroras View this stunning collection of auroral displays from NOVA Online to find out why auroras appear in different colors and shapes and whether they occur on other planets.	3-12	Flash Interactive
Glaciers Featuring images of glacier formations, this interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service explains what glaciers are, where they are found, how they form, and how they move.	6-12	HTML Interactive
The Grand Canyon: Ancient Mountains This video segment adapted from NOVA features the twisted and melted forms of the Grand Canyon's oldest rocks, the 1.7-billion-year-old Vishnu Schist.	6-12	QuickTime Video
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.	6-12	QuickTime Video
The Grand Canyon: How It Formed This video segment adapted from NOVA uses animation to present the theory of how the Grand Canyon was formed and features rare footage of a phenomenon known as debris flow.	3-12	QuickTime Video
The Grand Canyon: Its Youngest Rocks This video segment adapted from NOVA features the youngest rock formations in the Grand Canyon, lava dams, and how they are subject to the eroding power of water.	6-12	QuickTime Video
The Great Flood of 1993 In this video segment adapted from NOVA, a meteorologist explains how an unusual weather pattern led to one of the most devastating floods of this century.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Great Ocean Conveyor Belt: Part I This image from GRID-Arendal depicts the major circulation pattern of the ocean, illustrating interactions between temperature, salinity, and depth.	9-12	GIF Image
Great Ocean Conveyor Belt: Part II A substantial increase in freshwater running into the northern Atlantic Ocean could dramatically affect climate and global ocean currents. This audio segment from National Public Radio presents viewpoints from scientists studying changes in ocean circulation.	6-12	QuickTime Audio
A Hole in the Sky This video segment adapted from Interactive NOVA profiles two scientists who were surprised in 1984 to discover a hole in our atmosphere's ozone layer as big as the United States.	6-12	QuickTime Video
How Caves Form This interactive activity from NOVA Online shows four different ways in which caves are formed: by rainwater, waves, lava, and bacteria.	3-12	Flash Interactive
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.	3-12	QuickTime Video
How Do Avalanches Form? In this video segment adapted from NOVA, dramatic footage of avalanches and animations of ice crystals illustrate how a layer of weakly-bonded snow can contribute to a devastating avalanche.	6-12	QuickTime Video
How Do Tornadoes Form? In this video segment adapted from NOVA, scientists use computer simulations to explore the question of how supercell thunderstorms produce tornadoes.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Hurricanes: New Orleans Under Threat This video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW exposes how decades of development and geography combined to make the potential damage from a hurricane uniquely devastating in New Orleans, Louisiana.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Ice Shelf and Ice Sheet Simulation In this interactive activity adapted from Texas A&M University, a block of melting ice simulates ice shelves and ice sheets and their differing effects on global sea level.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Lava Sampling on Kilauea Volcano, Hawaiʻi In this video segment adapted from NOVA, scientist Mike Garcia draws lava samples at the foot of the active Kilauea volcano to see if it is related to its neighboring volcano, Mauna Loa.	6-12	QuickTime Video
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.	3-12	QuickTime Video
The Mississippi River Delta These images from NASA, the Lunar and Planetary Institute, and U.S. Geological Survey illustrate the effects of severe storms and decades of river management on the size and shape of the Louisiana coastline and the Mississippi River Delta.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Mountain Maker, Earth Shaker This interactive activity adapted from A Science Odyssey Web site helps you visualize different types of plate tectonic activity and shows the impact this activity has on Earth's surface.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Mount Pinatubo: Predicting a Volcanic Eruption This video segment adapted from NOVA relates the dramatic story of vulcanologists trying to predict the timing of the cataclysmic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Mount Pinatubo: The Aftermath of a Volcanic Eruption This video segment adapted from NOVA features footage of the aftermath of the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines, including falling ash and mud flows.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Mount St. Helens: Before and After This multimedia resource produced for Teachers' Domain chronicles the 1980 volcanic eruption of Mount St. Helens. Featured are still images of the devastation, video of the eruption plume, and before-and-after satellite images of the affected region.	3-12	Flash Interactive
Natural Climate Change in Djibouti, Africa In this video segment adapted from NOVA, animations are used to illustrate how change in the tilt of Earth's axis produces dramatic climate change over thousands of years.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Observations of Climate Change In this media-rich activity, students learn how data gathered through surveys with local residents and data collected by remote satellites are complementary tools that help deepen our understanding of the effects of climate change in the Arctic and elsewhere.	6-12	Student Activity
Once and Future Tsunamis In this interactive world map from NOVA Online explore nine key tsunamis dating from 3.5 billion years ago and discover what experts have learned from studying them.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Penguin Response to Climate Change Find out how climate change is affecting Antarctic Adélie penguins and their ecosystem in this video segment adapted from Lloyd Fales and Sweetspot Pictures, Inc.	6-12	QuickTime Video
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.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Plate Tectonics: Further Evidence This video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey uses animation and archival footage to provide an overview of the theory of plate tectonics.	6-12	QuickTime Video
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.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Plate Tectonics: The Hawaiian Archipelago This video segment adapted from NOVA uses animation to show the relationship between the movement of a tectonic plate and whether volcanoes on the Hawaiian Islands are active or dormant.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Plate Tectonics: The Scientist Behind the Theory This video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey profiles Alfred Wegener, the scientist who first proposed the theory of continental drift. Initially criticized, his theory was accepted after further evidence revealed the existence of tectonic plates and showed that these plates move.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Radiometric Dating In this video segment from A Science Odyssey: "Origins," scientists explain how Earth's age was determined by radiometric dating.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Rock Cycle Animation This visualization of the rock cycle from McDougal Littell/TERC illustrates common rock-forming processes such as crystallization, erosion, and metamorphism.	3-12	Flash Interactive
Rocky Coasts This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service profiles rocky coast environments and describes how various geologic features form.	6-12	HTML Interactive
Sandy Coasts This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service profiles sandy coast environments and describes various features of sandy beach environments.	6-12	HTML Interactive
See a Reversal View a computer model simulation from NOVA Online that illustrates what happens during a magnetic field reversal, an infrequent occurrence that may be currently underway.	6-12	QuickTime Interactive
Seismic Signals In this interactive activity from NOVA Online, you can see the four primary types of earthquakes produced by volcanoes and the signals each produces on a seismometer.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Solar Magnetism This video segment adapted from NOVA describes how the Sun's magnetism can have an effect here on Earth, from dramatic auroras to a mini-Ice Age in the 1600s.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Tectonic Plates and Plate Boundaries This interactive activity adapted from NASA features world maps that identify different sections of the Earth's crust called tectonic plates. The locations of different types of plate boundaries are also identified, including convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Tectonic Plates, Earthquakes, and Volcanoes This interactive activity produced for Teachers' Domain shows the relationship between tectonic boundaries and the locations of earthquake events and volcanoes around the world.

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Topic: Dynamic Earth