Health Science

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NOVA

RESOURCE	GRADE LEVEL	MEDIA TYPE
Amazing Heart Facts This feature from the NOVA "Cut to the Heart" Web site highlights facts about the heart -- including its size and placement -- and will help you to understand the importance of this wondrous organ in our bodies.	6-8	Document
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	Video
Beavers This video segment explores the world of the beaver, including the biology of the species and, more importantly, its ability to transform an ecosystem for its own benefit.	K-5	Video
Bee Navigation This video segment from NOVA: "The Mystery of Animal Pathfinders" explores honeybee communication and navigation.	6-8	Video
Beneath the Waters of Cocos Island The nutrient-rich waters surrounding Cocos Island set the stage for astounding predator-prey interactions, as seen in this video segment from NOVA: "Island of Sharks."	6-8	Video
Body Needs This interactive feature from the NOVA "Dying to Be Thin" Web site describes the nutritional needs of the body and how to meet them.	3-8	Interactive
Bt Corn This video segment from FRONTLINE/NOVA: "Harvest of Fear" looks at corn that has been genetically modified to resist one insect pest, and the multiple concerns it raises.	9-12	Video
Classical vs. Transgenic Breeding This video segment from FRONTLINE/NOVA: "Harvest of Fear" explains that genetic engineering and classical breeding both alter the genetic makeup of crop plants.	9-12	Video
Creepy Crawlies This interactive feature from the NOVA: "Odyssey of Life" Web site explores the often unwitting relationship we share with the billions of organisms that reside in our bodies and in our homes.	K-8	Interactive
Crocodiles! Clickable Croc This interactive feature from the NOVA "Crocodiles!" Web site details some of the characteristics that have enabled crocodiles to thrive for 200 million years.	6-8	Interactive
Dances with Bees This interactive feature from the NOVA "Tales from the Hive" Web site explores the methods honeybees use to communicate to their hivemates the location, quantity, and quality of nearby food sources.	6-8	Interactive
Decomposers Without the work of decomposers, living organisms would eventually use up all the raw materials in the environment, and dead organisms and wastes would pile up. This video segment from Interactive NOVA: "Earth" describes the role of decomposers as the Earth's great recyclers.	K-5	Video
Deep-Sea Bestiary This interactive from NOVA describes the physical and behavioral traits of some of the least-known and most unlikely creatures on Earth.	6-8	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	Video
Desert Biome This video segment from NOVA: "A Desert Place" describes the physical characteristics and organisms that define the desert biome.	3-12	Video
Embryo to Duckling This video segment from NOVA: "The Shape of Things" follows the growth of a duck embryo, from a single fertilized egg cell to a complex, hatching duckling.	K-5	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	Video
From Seed to Flower Watching plants grow is like watching paint dry: It happens so slowly that the changes are imperceptible from one moment to the next -- and yet the end results are dramatic. This video segment shows just how amazing plant development can be by depicting various phases of the process using time-lapse photography. Footage from NOVA: "The Shape of Things."	K-5	Video
Guess What's Coming to Dinner? Browse through a table full of genetically modified (GM) foods to see what's available now and what's to come. From the FRONTLINE/NOVA: "Harvest of Fear" Web site.	9-12	Interactive
The Science Behind Appetite This video segment, adapted from NOVA, tells the story of a ballerina battling anorexia. It explains how serotonin regulates appetite, and presents some of the health risks that accompany the eating disorder.	5-12	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	Video
Igloo 101 Learn what it takes to build an igloo—from the best kind of snow to the most effective tools—and other little-known facts about these traditional Canadian Inuit structures in this interactive activity from NOVA.	3-8	Interactive
Illuminating Photosynthesis This interactive feature from the NOVA: "Methuselah Tree" Web site details the process of photosynthesis and its role in the oxygen/carbon dioxide cycle.	3-12	Interactive
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	Video
Journey into DNA Travel deep into the human body to see exactly where your DNA resides. From the NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" Web site.	6-12	Interactive
Map of the Human Heart See how the human heart moves blood through the body in this animated feature from the NOVA: "Cut to the Heart" Web site.	K-8	Interactive
Marathon Migrators This video segment from NOVA: "The Mystery of Animal Pathfinders" explores how the migratory patterns of shorebirds have evolved to coincide with the spawning of horseshoe crabs.	6-8	Video
Masters of Disguise In the face of danger, what's a spineless animal to do? This video segment introduces the concept of camouflage -- how animals achieve it and how this form of disguise benefits both predators and prey. Footage from NOVA: "Animal Impostors."	K-12	Video
Metamorphosis: Change of Plans All animals develop and grow over time. The animals in this video segment, however, undergo very dramatic changes on their way to adulthood -- a developmental process known as metamorphosis.	K-5	Video
Migration of the Monarch This video segment from NOVA: "The Mystery of Animal Pathfinders" explores the migratorial exploits of monarch butterflies.	3-8	Video
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.	3-12	Video
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.	6-12	Video
Scent of an Alewife This video segment from NOVA: "Sea Behind the Dunes" tracks the return of spawning alewife fish from the open ocean back to the freshwater streams and ponds where they were born.	3-8	Video
Seahorse Basics This diagram from the NOVA: "Kingdom of the Seahorse" Web site reveals some of the more remarkable traits of this enigmatic creature.	3-8	Document
The Sense of Taste This video segment explores the sense of taste in humans -- why we have it, and what happens when we lose it. Footage from NOVA: "Mystery of the Senses: Taste."	3-8	Video
Shape of Things: Trees This video segment from NOVA: "The Shape of Things" describes the pervasiveness of branching systems, which are found in all multicellular organisms.	6-8	Video
Shark Attack! The Hunt This interactive feature from the NOVA "Shark Attack!" Web site details the six senses sharks use to find and capture their prey.	6-8	Interactive
Should We Grow GM Crops? Learn the pros and cons of genetically modified (GM) crops, and cast your vote on whether they should be grown. From the FRONTLINE/NOVA: "Harvest of Fear" Web site.	9-12	Interactive
Super Salmon This video segment from FRONTLINE/NOVA: "Harvest of Fear" explores genetic modification of salmon and possible consequences.	9-12	Video
Viewpoints: Harvest of Fear What do the experts say about genetically modified (GM) foods? Read these interview excerpts from the FRONTLINE/NOVA: "Harvest of Fear" Web site to find out.	9-12	Document