Life Science: Download, Share, and Remix

Acid Lake
Add acidity to a healthy lake and see what happens to the plants and animals in this interactive activity adapted from EcoKids.

Analyzing an Ecosystem
In this interactive activity adapted from the University of Alberta, identify the living and nonliving things in an ecosystem. Then look further at the living things to identify the producers, the consumers, and examples of mimicry.

Animal Coverings
It takes a thick skin to withstand the hardships that life has to offer. This collection of images shows a variety of animals, each with a slightly different type of protective covering.

Atmospheric Oxygen
In this feature, adapted from Interactive NOVA: "Earth," students explore the relationship between oxygen concentration and the well-being of various organisms by simulating a change in oxygen levels and observing what happens.

Blood Vessels Help Tumors Grow
In this video segment, adapted from NOVA, Dr. Judah Folkman uses the scientific method to discover how cancer cells induce the formation of new blood vessels, which in turn nourish those cancer cells.

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

Cell Division
In this interactive activity adapted from the Exploratorium, explore the step-by-step process by which an animal cell divides to make more cells.

Cell Membrane: Just Passing Through
This interactive feature describes some of the most important structures and functions of the cell membrane.

Cellular Service
The goal of this interactive game is to keep a group of target cells healthy by using blood to deliver and take away various substances to and from the cells.

Colorful Creatures
For animals, bright, flashy coloration can serve as a warning or as an invitation. Either way, colorful skin, feathers, and scales yell, "Notice me!" This collection of images shows examples of some of the world's most colorful creatures.

The Coral Reef Ecosystem
Students examine a coral reef ecosystem to learn about its living and non-living parts and how they interact. They apply what they have learned to explore the world's biomes, including how the animals in each are adapted to their environment.

Dance of Development
Watch the "dance" of development as a zebrafish egg divides and differentiates on its way to becoming an embryo in this interactive activity adapted from the Exploratorium.

DNA on the Witness Stand
In this article, Dr. Eric Lander of the Human Genome Project comments on the use of DNA as an identification tool -- the theoretical versus the practical results.

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.

Gallery of Cells
While all cells have a great deal in common, there is no end to the variation among them. These images provide a sense of the wondrous diversity found in the world of cells.

Homo Sapiens Versus Neanderthals
This video segment, adapted from NOVA, explores reasons why Homo sapiens had an advantage over Neanderthals in the pursuit of territory and natural resources.

The Kemps Ridley Sea Turtle
This video adapted from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department describes how humans are helping restore safe nesting grounds for the critically endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle to ensure its successful repopulation.

Laetoli Trackways Diagram
View a diagram of the hominid footprints that archaeologist Mary Leakey's team found at Laetoli in Tanzania.

Light Pollution
In this interactive activity adapted from the National Park Service, learn how light pollution affects the night sky, animals, and humans, and then explore several possible solutions.

Mitochondria
Often referred to as the powerhouses of the cell, mitochondria provide the energy that powers nearly every cellular process. This essay by John Ross describes in detail the structures and functions of these amazing organelles.

A Night in the Coral Reef
Coral reefs are often portrayed as brightly lit, bustling underwater marvels full of colorful creatures. This video segment, adapted from NOVA, paints a different picture as it explores the nocturnal behavior of organisms in the reef.

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.

The Process of Scientific Experimentation
Students expand their understanding of the "scientific method" of experimentation by watching video accounts of actual scientific research and exploring the factors involved in real scientific processes.

The Search for Another Earth
This NASA video provides an overview of technology under development to explore the planets and stars outside our solar system. These will be the most sensitive instruments built to date.

Seeing Stars
This video segment, adapted from QUEST, explores the modern techniques employed by astrophysicists to detect planets in orbit around stars in the universe other than our own.

Collection Developed by: KQED Public Television

Supermarket Botany
Can you eat the stem, root, or seed of a plant? In this interactive activity adapted from the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, test your knowledge of plant parts by identifying everyday foods as plant parts.

Where Do You Get Your Energy?
In this interactive activity adapted from the Exploratorium, explore how our cells harvest energy from food.