Topic: Ecology and Environmental Science

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Resource	Grade Level	Media Type
Antarctica: Sea Ice This video segment adapted from NOVA uses microwave images to reveal how sea ice doubles the size of Antarctica each winter. Rare footage shows how sea ice crushed the famous ship Endurance in 1914.	K-12	QuickTime Video
Antarctic Ecosystem In contrast with its largely lifeless interior, the Antarctic coastal marine environment supports a vibrant and diverse ecosystem. Explore the region's living bounty in this interactive activity adapted from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.	5-12	Flash Interactive
Antarctic Ice: Sea Level Change What would happen if a portion of the Antarctic Ice Sheet were to melt? This video segment adapted from NOVA uses animations to show the effect of a 6-meter sea-level rise on coastal cities across the world.	6-12	QuickTime Video
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.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Arctic Climate Perspectives This video, adapted from material provided by the ECHO partners, describes how global climate change is affecting Barrow, Alaska.	6-9	QuickTime Video
Arctic Ecosystem Despite seemingly inhospitable conditions, the Arctic environment has a vibrant and diverse ecosystem. Explore the life that thrives in this region in this interactive activity adapted from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.	5-12	Flash Interactive
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
Arctic Tundra This video segment from Wild Europe: "Wild Arctic" explores the struggle for survival in one of Earth's most extreme environments.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Biomes This interactive resource adapted from NASA describes the different temperature, precipitation, and vegetation patterns in seven biomes: coniferous forest, temperate deciduous forest, desert, grassland, rainforest, shrubland, and tundra.	3-12	Flash Interactive
Caves: Extreme Conditions for Life This video segment adapted from NOVA raises the provocative idea that if life can exist in the most extreme environments on Earth — such as in dark, toxic caves — then perhaps living things can also survive in harsh environments on other planets.	6-12	QuickTime Video
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
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
Compare the Poles Explore the defining features of the Arctic and the Antarctic in this interactive activity adapted from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.	3-12	Flash Interactive
Conserving Water at Home This video segment adapted from Last Oasis highlights the impact of a variety of water conservation efforts including installing low-flow toilets and planting grass that does not require a lot of water.	3-12	QuickTime Video
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.	5-12	QuickTime Video
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.	5-12	QuickTime Video
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.	3-12	Flash Interactive
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
Deforestation in Bolivia This visualization adapted from NASA features two satellite images from 1984 and 2000 that show the dramatic deforestation of the Bolivian rainforest.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Desert Biome This video segment from NOVA: "A Desert Place" describes the physical characteristics and organisms that define the desert biome.	3-12	QuickTime Video
The Disappearing Aral Sea This visualization adapted from NASA features satellite images showing how more than 60 percent of the Aral Sea has disappeared during the last 30 years.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Discovering Antarctica Take a guided tour of Antarctica by watching brief video segments of its landscape and wildlife in this interactive activity adapted from the British Antarctic Survey.	K-8	HTML 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
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 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: El Niño This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center describes El Niño, how it forms, and the chain reaction of consequences it triggers around the globe.	6-12	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
Earth System: Satellites This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center shows how integral satellites are to everyday life and describes the different types, including orbital and geostationary.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Energy Flow in the Coral Reef Ecosystem This video segment, adapted from NOVA, describes the energy flow in a coral reef, including its food web.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Energy Sources This video segment produced for Teachers' Domain illustrates a variety of energy sources used to generate electricity, some of which are in use and some of which are under exploration.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Everyday Radiation How much radiation are we exposed to every day? Find out in this video segment adapted from FRONTLINE.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Flood: Farming and Erosion In this video segment adapted from NOVA, scientists investigate how farming along the Mississippi River impacts floods and what can be done about it.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Global Trends Quiz In this interactive quiz from NOVA, take the Environmental Challenge and test your knowledge of human impact on the world's natural resources and climate.	3-12	Flash Interactive
Global View of the Seasons This interactive activity produced for Teachers' Domain features satellite data of Earth's seasonal cycles. Visualizations and comparative still images reveal how successfully plants are photosynthesizing at different times of the year.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Global Warming and The Greenhouse Effect This video excerpt from Race to Save the Planet discusses the greenhouse effect and global warming.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Global Warming: Carbon Dioxide and the Greenhouse Effect This video segment adapted from NOVA/FRONTLINE demonstrates the physical property of carbon dioxide that causes the greenhouse effect.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Global Warming: The Developing World This video segment adapted from NOVA/FRONTLINE looks at the future of global warming as developing nations, including India and China, increase their need for energy.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Global Warming: The Physics of the Greenhouse Effect This video segment adapted from NOVA/FRONTLINE examines the greenhouse effect, its role in keeping Earth habitable, and the industrial changes that have led to an increase in the planet's average temperature.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Global Water Distribution How much water on Earth is fresh water? How much of that fresh water is found in icecaps? Lakes? Rivers? This interactive resource uses bar graphs to illustrate the relative distribution of fresh and salt water on Earth. Adapted from Oxford University Press	3-12	Flash Interactive
The Grand Canyon: Conservation and Development This video segment adapted from NOVA explores the effects of the Glen Canyon Dam on the beaches, wildlife, and vegetation of the Colorado River.	3-12	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
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
Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2: A Record of Climate Change Using images and graphs, this interactive resource illustrates scientists' efforts to study Earth's climatic history for the last 250,000 years by drilling into the Greenland Ice Sheet and examining ice cores. Adapted from the Wright Center for Science Education, Tufts University.	9-12	Flash Interactive
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
Hoover Dam and Hydroelectric Power How does a dam generate electricity and what are the environmental impacts of operating these mammoth structures? Find out in this video segment adapted from Building Big.	3-12	QuickTime Video
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
Hurricane Katrina: Wetland Destruction Tour the wetlands south of New Orleans that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina in this video segment from NOVA scienceNOW.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Intertidal Zone This video segment from NOVA: "The Sea Behind the Dunes" explores the community of organisms that exists in the New England tidal marsh.	9-12	QuickTime Video
Inuit Observations of Climate Change In this video adapted from the International Institute for Sustainable Development, an Inuit community collaborates with Western scientists studying climate change. Inuit observations are recorded and included in the data collection process, expanding the scientists' understanding of changes in the area.	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 Weather In this interactive activity from NOVA Online you can move an air mass over a mountain and see how several distinct microclimates are created.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Mountain Weather: A Climber's Story In this video segment adapted from Interactive NOVA, a mountain climber's perilous journey reveals the extreme range of microclimates on Mount Kilimanjaro.	6-12	QuickTime Video
The Nitrogen Cycle Nitrogen, one of the most abundant elements in the universe, is essential to life. This interactive activity adapted from the University of Alberta provides an overview of the nitrogen cycle.	9-12	Flash Interactive
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
Observe Images of Different Climate Zones Interact with this world map from McDougal Littell/TERC to highlight different climate zones and see a photograph of each one. Ten climate zones are represented, including tundra, desert, humid subtropical, and others.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Ocean Temperatures and Climate Patterns This animation from The New Media Studio illustrates how the atmosphere and ocean together shape wind, current, and rainfall patterns in the tropical Pacific.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Oil Spill: Exxon Valdez, 1989 This video segment adapted from NOVA follows the clean-up effort after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska. Also featured is a marsh where an oil spill occurred 20 years earlier; analysis suggests that environmental damage may last for decades.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Organic Farming: Conserving Top Soil Against the backdrop of the devastating 1930's Dust Bowl, this video segment adapted from Interactive NOVA profiles an organic farmer and the techniques he uses to conserve topsoil.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Ozone Hole This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center gives a detailed explanation of the catalytic chemical process that has led to the creation of the ozone hole.	6-12	QuickTime Video
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
Polar Bears and Climate Change In this video from the World Wildlife Fund, learn how rising temperatures in the southern Arctic could lead to polar bear extinction.	6-12	QuickTime Video
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.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Radon Radiation The biggest source of environmental radiation might be in your home. Find out more in this video segment adapted from FRONTLINE.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Satellites Orbiting Earth This animation adapted from NASA shows the orbital paths of spacecraft in NASA's Earth Observing Fleet that are a source of wide-scale, primary research about Earth.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Shipwrecks Reveal Ocean Currents In this video segment adapted from NOVA, a detailed map showing the trajectories of abandoned ships from the late 1800's is used to reveal the routes of surface currents in the Atlantic Ocean. Animations illustrate the role played by ocean currents in the colonization of North America.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Snapshot of US Energy Use This video segment adapted from NOVA/FRONTLINE looks at American energy consumption and the resulting production of greenhouse gases.	3-12	QuickTime Video
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
Sources of Radiation This interactive activity from the NOVA Web site explores sources of radiation, both harmful and beneficial, natural and manmade.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Taking the Earth's Temperature This video segment from FRONTLINE/NOVA: "What's Up with the Weather?" depicts research efforts to record Earth's past and present temperatures shifts.	9-12	QuickTime Video
Tracking Polar Bears In this interactive activity adapted from the USGS Alaska Science Center, track the movements of a polar bear as it migrates across the changing Arctic sea ice and compare the paths of four different polar bears.	K-8	Flash Interactive
The Value of Wetlands This video segment adapted from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department explores the role of the wetlands in our environment, including providing habitats for wildlife, acting as natural water filters, and playing a part in the greater water cycle.	4-10	QuickTime Video
Water Conservation: Denver, CO This video segment adapted from Last Oasis explores the use of new dams as a way to provide or store water. In the 1990s, the city of Denver was looking for a new source of water for its growing population, and its plan to build a new dam suddenly became highly controversial.	3-12	QuickTime Video
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Topic: Ecology and Environmental Science