Building Blocks:

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Building Blocks

RESOURCE	GRADE LEVEL	MEDIA TYPE
Birds Surround Washington Monument This Building Block video shows birds flying by the Washington Monument under gray skies, as shot through tree branches hung with lights.	Pre-K-12	Video
Brooklyn Bridge This Building Block video features an aerial shot from a helicopter circling over the Brooklyn Bridge and following the span across part of the river. Manhattan Bridge is visible in the background in New York City.	Pre-K-12	Video
U.S. Capitol Dome at Night This Building Block video begins on a long shot of the United States Capitol at night as seen from Pennsylvania Avenue. The camera then zooms in to a medium long shot of the brightly lit dome.	Pre-K-12	Video
Capitol Fountain In this Building Block video, an American flag flaps in a strong breeze next to the Capitol Dome. As framed by two plumes of water from the Senate Garage Fountain, this clip first focuses on the fountains, then switches focus to the building and the flag.	Pre-K-12	Video
Close-up of Smoke Stack In this Building Block video, the camera looks close-up at the top of a smokestack that is releasing exhaust into the clear blue sky.	Pre-K-12	Video
Coal Factory In this Building Block video, the camera follows a conveyor belt that carries a black line of coal across barren earth to a factory, which is furnished with cooling towers exhaling steam.	Pre-K-12	Video
Dam See an aerial wide shot of Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell in Page, Arizona, in this Building Block video.	Pre-K-12	Video
DNA Lab This Building Block video shows a close-up of a lab technician withdrawing a DNA sample from vial, then injecting it into a gel medium.	Pre-K-12	Video
Domes at Piazza del Popolo This Building Block video from the Building Big series features the twin domes of the churches at the Piazza del Popolo in Rome. In front of the churches is a lion fountain keeping guard, spewing water from its jaws.	Pre-K-12	Video
Dusky Coal In this Building Block video, a bridge and dark ironwork stand above a dusky pile of coal, starkly contrasting with a train rumbling across a grassy hill in the background.	Pre-K-12	Video
Cryobank Storage Unit This Building Block video shows a lab technician placing a test tube and canister in a cryobank storage unit, and then closing the cover.	Pre-K-12	Video
Machine in a Factory A close-up of a machine punching television circuits into a board can be seen in this Building Block video shot in Huizou, China.	Pre-K-12	Video
Steam Engine This Building Block video begins on a medium shot of a locomotive approaching through smoke in Promontory, Utah. The camera tilts down and the shot brightens to an extreme close-up of the train's wheels as it passes by.	Pre-K-12	Video
Gas Pump In this Building Block video, a woman's arm places a gas pump in the gas tank of a car.	Pre-K-12	Video
Human Egg is Artificially Inseminated This Building Block video shows a close-up of a monitor screen on which we see a human egg being successfully implanted with sperm.	Pre-K-12	Video
Insect DNA Lab This Building Block video shows an insect DNA test transparency. The camera zooms in to a hand moving a pen over the DNA sequences.	Pre-K-12	Video
Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge In this Building Block video, see the Zakim Bridge, the widest cable bridge in the world, soar atop a clear blue Boston sky. This static wide shot captures both of the bridge's pillars.	Pre-K-12	Video
Lincoln Memorial In this Building Block video, tourists mill about the Lincoln Memorial and reflecting pool during a hazy day of summer.	Pre-K-12	Video
London's Tower Bridge This Building Block video from the Building Big series shows London's Tower Bridge framing the city skyline. Cars travel over the bridge while boats travel beneath it along the Thames River.	Pre-K-12	Video
Mars Rover This Building Block video features a 2004 animation of the Mars rover "Opportunity" approaching the rim of Endurance Crater.	Pre-K-12	Video
Washington Monument This Building Block video features a long shot of the Washington Monument on a hazy day.	Pre-K-12	Video
Observatory This Building Block video features the silhouette of the tent at Chajnantor Observatory in Northern Chile that houses the Cosmic Backgrounder Imager.	Pre-K-12	Video
Piles of Coal Drop In this Building Block video, a train drives over a bridge and dumps coal to the ground below, causing a haze of dust and blocking out the azure sky beyond.	Pre-K-12	Video
Oil Refineries This Building Block video features an aerial shot of multiple oil storage tanks and active smokestacks at oil refineries.	Pre-K-12	Video
Oil Rig Pumping A grasshopper oil rig pumps oil as a white SUV pulls up next to it in this Building Block video.	Pre-K-12	Video
Wide Shot of Oil Rig Pumping This Building Block video features a wide-shot of a working pumpjack, or grasshopper oil rig, caught between the beige earth and bright blue sky.	Pre-K-12	Video
Geodesic Domed Rainforest In this Building Block video, the camera tilts up from a shot of huge green leaves on banana trees to the roof inside a geodesic dome.	Pre-K-12	Video
Reims Cathedral This Building Block video from Building Big: "Skyscrapers" shows how the Reims, France skyline gives way to a behemoth cathedral, soaring above the low-lying buildings of the city.	Pre-K-12	Video
Remote Controller In this Building Block video, batteries are inserted into a remote controller and the cover is replaced. A thumb then moves the joystick on the controller as something out-of-focus moves in the background.	Pre-K-12	Video
Saturn Rocket This Building Block video shows retired Saturn rockets on the grounds of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.	Pre-K-12	Video
Rome's Colosseum This Building Block video from the Building Big series shows a wide shot of the ancient Colosseum in modern-day Rome as cars and joggers pass by this marvel of engineering and construction.	Pre-K-12	Video
Satellite Dishes In this Building Block video, the camera pans over multiple satellite dishes on a roof in San Francisco, California. Apartment buildings and Coit Tower stand in the background.	Pre-K-12	Video
Smokestacks In this Building Block, the Sun dazzles in the sky as exhaust wisps lazily from two smokestacks.	Pre-K-12	Video
Chemical Plants with Smokestacks In this Building Block video, the camera pans across smokestacks spewing smoke from oil refineries and chemical plants along River Road in Convent, Louisiana.	Pre-K-12	Video
Capitol Building in Snow In this Building Block video, the American flag flies over the Capitol building's portico as snow falls on the building and lawn. The scene is shown from two slightly different angles.	Pre-K-12	Video
Statue of Liberty This Building Block video shows a silhouette of the Statue of Liberty at sunset standing above shimmering gold water in the harbor.	Pre-K-12	Video
Storm Over Rome In this Building Block video from the Building Big series, an ominous storm cloud hangs over a vast Roman skyline dotted with ancient domes and structures.	Pre-K-12	Video
Capitol Building in Summer This Building Block video shows trees and buildings lining the edge of a reflecting pool. The camera pans right to reveal the Capitol Building and the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial around which distant tourists wander under dark skies.	Pre-K-12	Video
Three Mile Island Cooling Towers In this Building Block video from Frontline: "Nuclear Reaction", the four cooling towers at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant dot the horizon at sunrise. Smoke billows from the two towers on the left. The Susquehanna River lies in the foreground.	Pre-K-12	Video
Three Pyramids In this Building Block video from the Building Big series, the camera focuses on a purple horizon in the dessert. It then pans left and stops on a wide shot of three majestic pyramids in the distance through the haze of desert heat.	Pre-K-12	Video
Toaster Oven A slice of bread is tossed into a toaster oven, which is then switched on in this Building Block video.	Pre-K-12	Video
Traffic Automobiles and trucks drive along a busy road in the late afternoon Sun in this Building Block video.	Pre-K-12	Video
Coal Tramway In this Building Block video, coal carts move along an elevated tramway as smokestacks spew smoke in the background.	Pre-K-12	Video
Tunnels of the Great Pyramids In this Building Block video from the Building Big series, the camera provides a P.O.V. shot as it winds through a dark tunnel below Egypt's Great Pyramids towards the light.	Pre-K-12	Video
Two Pyramids This Building Block video from the Building Big series shows two of the pyramids at Giza standing against the horizon. Amidst rubble and under a clear sky, one pyramid has a stepped surface while the other is rough.	Pre-K-12	Video
Washington, D.C. at Night In this Building Block video, the camera pans from right to left as it follows cars driving past the Department of Justice towards the Capitol.	Pre-K-12	Video
Welding in a Tunnel This Building Block video shot at the Big Dig project in Boston, Massachusetts, features two men in hardhats in a darkened tunnel. One of the men is welding some pipes, and red sparks fly everywhere.	Pre-K-12	Video
Wind Farm Energy producing windmills on a wind farm are shown in this Building Block video.	Pre-K-12	Video
Close-up of Oil Rig Pumping In this Building Block video, the Sun beams down from a cobalt sky containing wispy clouds and flashes through the horse head of a pump jack.	Pre-K-12	Video