Week of August 31-September 4 Learning Materials

Gorillas
In this video segment from Nature, discover how scientists have learned how to better raise and care for gorillas in captivity and learn about Colo, the first gorilla born in a zoo.

Analyzing and Comparing Perspectives on Issues- Gorillas
Students compare and contrast their perspectives on raising gorillas in captivity with their peers and with scientists. They then summarize their perspectives and the perspectives of others.

Bronx Zoo Gorilla Forest Nature:Snowflakes:The While Gorilla
The Congo Gorilla Forest at the Bronx Zoo in New York City replicates an African rainforest. As part of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's Gorilla Species Survival Plan, this program oversees the complex match-ups of gorillas around the nation in a collaborative effort to ensure the perpetuation and health of the population of gorillas living in North American zoos.

Insects, Spiders, and More Gorongosa Park
They creep and they crawl... but they also hold together the whole ecosystem! Take a really close look at some of the smaller and most amazing creatures from Gorongosa Park, as photographed by Piotr Naskrecki.

When Insects First Flew
Insects were the first animals to ever develop the ability to fly, and, arguably, they did it the best. But this development was so unusual that scientists are still working on, and arguing about, how and when insect wings first came about.

Crocodile Ancestors
Scientists are now discovering the earliest ancient crocodiles by tracing one branch of the vast tree of life 230 million years into the geologic period called the Triassic.

Gorongosa Crocodiles
Using a massive croc skull, scientist Sven Bourquin shows how crocodiles bite. See how the bone structure has evolved to make these crocodiles the expert hunters that rule Africa's waterways.

Interview: Crocodile Conservationist Rom Whitaker Nature: Supersize Crocs
Romulus Whitaker is a reptile conservationist who has spent the past 40 years conserving the most endangered crocs. Nature caught up with him to "talk crocs" in January 2007.

Supersize Crocs: Crocodile Secrets of Survival
Article
Though the crocodile’s ancestry dates back 200 million years, the crocodile, as we know it today, first evolved about 80 million years ago. According to the fossil record, their body plan has changed little since, enabling them to outlive the dinosaurs and become the most advanced of all reptiles and the most successful freshwater predator.

Amelia Earhart’s Birthplace Museum
See where Amelia grew up, read news clips about her various achievements, learn about Amelia’s childhood and more.

Amelia Earhart, Aviator, Record-breaker, and Activist
Through two primary source activities and a short video, students will learn about Earhart’s passion for flying and determination to succeed as a female aviator.

Amelia Earhart Letter Archive
Analyze and interpret the letters of Amelia Earhart to understand her role in shaping her own image, and the image of 20th-century aviation, in this video from ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.

Hot Shots and Hot Jobs: Pilots Enjoy Breathtaking View and Plentiful Job Options
The possibilities for trained pilots are varied—from piloting huge passenger jets across the ocean to guiding small aircraft for police, fire and medical operations.

Milestones of Flight: The Lindberghs
Charles Lindbergh is probably best known for making the first solo flight across the Atlantic in the Spirit of St. Louis. However, Lindbergh and his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, also reached other milestones in aviation.

Copters, Choppers and the Phrog
This episode of STEM in 30 will explore helicopters: their design, how they work, and the functions they play in our society.

Elements of Art
Explore the seven basic elements of art including Line, Shape, Form, Texture, Value, Space and Color. These are the building blocks of all art and are a good place to start when making, looking at or analyzing works of art.

Art School is a video series for people who want to learn about art. See interviews with contemporary artists working in performing, visual and media art, as well as how-to videos that demonstrate new ways to get creative and explain art-making techniques and concepts.

See how art became the great interface when distant cultures met for the first time. Interactive art experience for episode Encounters and The Second Moment of Creation.

Einstein: Genius Among Geniuses
Learn why Albert Einstein tops many people's lists of the greatest-ever scientific geniuses in this essay from the NOVA Website.

Einstein: A Timeline of His Life
This illustrated timeline from NOVA outlines some of the most important events of his life.

Motion and Relativity
Learn about the principle of relativity in this video from the American Museum of Natural History.

Gravity and the Expanding Universe
In this video segment adapted from NOVA, learn about the history of our understanding of the expansion of the universe.

Black Holes
Stellar mass black holes form when a very massive star dies, and its core collapses.

Black Holes
Learn how the life cycles of low-mass and high-mass stars differ, in this video from NOVA: Black Hole Apocalypse.

The Spread of Disease
Science journalist Sonia Shah explains the history of microbes that cause widespread disease outbreaks. Using cholera as an example, she explains how a microbial disease can become pandemic.

News Quiz
This episode features stories about the spread of coronavirus around the world, King Tut artifacts, Kobe Bryant, dog safety, wounded veterans and dolphins, leafy seadragons, a new fossil find, Charlotte Bronte's tiny books, the Puppy Bowl, and more. News Quiz is KET's weekly 15-minute current events program for students.

NOVA science NOW Genetically Engineering the Avian Flu
Examine the threat of a virus being spread from birds to humans, and then from humans to humans, in this video from NOVA scienceNOW.

Viruses Science Trek
This video segment from IdahoPTV's Science Trek explains how something so small as a virus can make you so sick. You'll see the process of a virus replicating in a cell.

NOVA Vaccines- Calling the Shots
Learn how vaccines help the immune system protect people against diseases in this video from NOVA: "Vaccines—Calling the Shots.”

Virus Wars
Learn how cells protect against viruses using RNA interference in this video from NOVA’s RNA Lab. All cellular life is in an ancient and unending war with viruses.

Coronavirus Student Guide: Virus Explainer and News Updates
Watch theBrainpop video (Courtesy of BrainPOP) on the coronavirus and use the discussion questions to talk about the outbreak with your students. Then check the latest news on the virus via the PBS NewsHour.

Natural Resources of West Africa
Students will explore a physical map of West Africa that includes the location of natural resources, main transportation routes, and most populous cities.

Effective Use of Resources: Crossword Puzzle Activity
Review the activity on economic resources, and then try to complete this crossword puzzle.

Global Trends Quiz
This interactive quiz from NOVA tests users' knowledge of humanity's present-day consumption behavior and living conditions.

Women in Islam
Multiple part lesson plan and materials
Explore basic beliefs and practices of Islam and examine the different views of women's roles in Islam and modern American society in this lesson.

The Five Pillars of Islam
In this lesson, students explore and understand the basic beliefs of Islam as well as the Five Pillars that guide Muslims in their daily life: belief, worship, fasting, almsgiving, and pilgrimage.

The Berlin Conference of 1884-1885
NO CC
Lessons plans to be used in tandem with hour six of Africa's Great Civilizations.

The Three Questions of Economics
Students will read and take notes on the three main questions of economics. These are what to produce, how to produce it, and who to produce it for. Students will then apply what they've learned to three scenarios.

Africa: Teacher Tools: Exploring African Culture
Students will explore the role of oral tradition in African cultures. They will read articles about the daily lives of people in several African countries, and create a mock interview based on the information.

Wonders of the African World
Every culture has its own special identity, demonstrated through its music, clothing, religion, food and social customs. Throughout our African journey, take a closer look at the rich and unique traditions of the people.

Religion: Three Religions, One God
Three of the world's major religions -- the monotheist traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam -- were all born in the Middle East and are all inextricably linked to one another.

African Masks
Artist Maude Alexander shows some of the African masks in her collection and talks about how African masks are more than aesthetic artifacts.

Manjani: West African Dance
The Imani Dance and Drum Company perform the Manjani, a West African dance that celebrates an important event such as the harvest (as in this performance), a wedding, or a naming ceremony.

Sandy and Climate Change
In this video excerpt from NOVA: “Inside the Megastorm,” learn how Earth's warming climate may have contributed to Hurricane Sandy's devastating impact.

Hurricanes: New Tools for Predicting
Hurricane Katrina, which struck New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities on August 29, 2005, provided the worst kind of reminder of the importance of accurate hurricane prediction — and of heeding those predictions.

The Effect of Sea Surface Temperature on Hurricanes
This video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW highlights research that supports the idea that warmer oceans generate and sustain more intense hurricanes.

Earth System: El Nino’s Influence on Hurricane Formation
Warm water fuels the tropical storms that ultimately form hurricanes. In this video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, learn how El Niño events—climatic anomalies that occur periodically in the Pacific Ocean—alter the course of atmospheric circulation and lessen hurricane formation in the Atlantic Ocean.

Does Climate Change Cause Extreme Weather?
Fluctuations in weather happen all the time. But sometimes, those fluctuations can get extreme, making disasters like hurricanes and heatwaves more intense.

Drought: Identifying Impacts and Evaluating Solutions
Students learn about the impacts of water shortages due to drought, make connections to climate patterns, and explore solutions that increase communities’ capacities to respond to drought.

Isle de Jean Charles
Students watch a 9-minute film, Isle de Jean Charles by Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, about a tiny island community off the Louisiana coast. The film explores the changes taking place on the island through the lives of two residents whose families are facing a future where rising seas, coastal erosion, and storms are threatening to wash their home away.

The Great Flood of 1993
During a typical year, levees built along the banks of the Mississippi River keep the river in its channel and out of people's homes and fields. However, 1993 was anything but a typical summer.

Global Warming: Carbon Dioxide and the Greenhouse Effect
Human activities are causing increasing amounts of carbon dioxide to be pumped into the atmosphere. Is this increase resulting in global warming?

Collection: Climate Literacy
Impacts of Climate Change
Causes of Climate Change
Human Responses to Climate Change

Asteroids & Comets Science Talk
4 Streaming Video Resources
Learn what asteroids and comets are made of and how these small worlds help us learn what the early solar system was like.

Mission to Comets: Stardust and Deep Impact
Explore the exciting discoveries from two NASA missions to study comets, Stardust and Deep Impact, which collected valuable data about the nature of comets.

NOVA: Finding Life Beyond Earth
In this video segment adapted from NOVA, learn how comets could have delivered important building blocks for life—amino acids—to Earth billions of years ago.

Home of Franklin D Roosevelt National Historic Site
Discover the Roosevelts, the family home, the Presidential library, Val-Kill, once a family picnic site it became Eleanor Roosevelt’s cottage and then primary residence.

The Roosevelts Ken Burns in the Classroom
Ken Burns in the Classroom- The Roosevelts
NO CC

Theodore Roosevelt and the Western Experience examines the 26th president of the United States. TR or Teddy as he has come to be known, balanced his identity of an intellectual from the East with the frontiersman of the West. His love of nature as a boy carried on throughout his life, influencing policy decisions as president that we still see today. “