The Nature of Reality blog can be a great real-world resource for teachers and students — where questions are taken as seriously as answers and where physics is about much more than inclined planes and levers and pulleys. Continue reading
NOVA
THINK WEDNESDAY for Nature, Technology, and Science
Join WGBY each Wednesday night at 9p — starting on April 9 — for THINK WEDNESDAY, a dynamic line-up of programs exploring the thrilling world of nature, technology, and science. This special night of science explores the animal mind, bionic pets, DNA, and human evolution. PBS LearningMedia is extending THINK WEDNESDAY into the classroom by offering a new resource collection for PreK-12 science teachers packed with videos, infographics, lesson plans, and interactive games. Watch a preview. Continue reading
Unlocking The Human Spark
What makes us uniquely human? In the three-part series The Human Spark, originally broadcast on PBS in January 2010, Alan Alda visits with dozens of scientists on three continents and participates directly in many experiments – including the detailed examination of his own brain. Through PBS LearningMedia’s The Human Spark collection of lesson plans and video resources for grades 5-12, students join Alda in searching for the answers to many of our most age-old questions. Continue reading
Black History Across the Curriculum
Many students and teachers return to classes next week — the last week of February, which is Black History Week. Black history is a vital subject that can extend to various content within the school curriculum. For example, the lesson plan Understanding Duke Ellington from WNET for grades 1-4 offers a chance to explore subjects like culture, music, people and their relationships. Continue reading Exploring the World of Science & Engineering
PBS Learning Media takes a behind-the-scenes look at the daily life of actual scientists and engineers for grades 4-8 and 6-12. As well as spending “A Day in the Life of a NASA Engineer,” you and students might be surprised to see some familiar faces, including television star turned neuroscientist Mayim Biyalik. There’s also a companion collection from NOVA. Continue reading
SuperBugs & More Benign Bacteria
The largest outbreak yet of the “nightmare bacteria” CRE is fueling alarm among public health officials across the country. This superbug is resistant to virtually all antibiotics on the market today. Get the backstory with Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria, FRONTLINE’S 2013 investigation into the rise of superbugs like CRE — and why there aren’t new antibiotics to stop them — as well as great related classroom resources from PBS LearningMedia. Continue reading
NOVA: Alien Planets Revealed Plus Space & Flight Resources
On Wednesday, January 8, at 9pm, WGBY airs NOVA: Alien Planets Revealed where viewers explore strange worlds and possible creatures in the thousands of exotic new worlds far beyond our solar system that NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler Telescope has discovered. You can see a preview and find classroom resources at NOVA’s website and at PBS LearningMedia. Continue reading
Genetically-Modified Food Crops
In “Harvest of Fear,” FRONTLINE and NOVA explore the intensifying debate over genetically-modified (gm) food crops, interviewing scientists, farmers, biotech and food industry representatives, government regulators, and critics of biotechnology. WGBH, producer of FRONTLINE and NOVA, and PBS LearningMedia offer a range of resources Continue reading
Luis von Ahn: Computer Scientist
Meet Louis von Ahn, computer scientist and professor at Carnegie Mellon who is already at the top of his field at age 30! In this video for grades 6-12 from NOVA scienceNOW, students can learn about one of his most successful ideas—CAPTCHA—a test that humans can pass but computers cannot, which has been used to improve the security of Internet sites. They’ll also discover how he comes up with his innovative ideas, and how CAPTCHAs have been reinvented to help digitize old books. Resources include background essay, discussion questions and National Standards/Benchmarks for Science Literacy.
PBS LearningMedia Theme: The Science of Winter
Snow is likely to become a part of our landscape before long. This week PBS LearningMedia features resources to dig into the science beneath the ice and snow to better appreciate the wonders of the winter season. You and students can explore hibernation, snowflake physics, and the ecosystems of Earth’s polar regions with:
Joy Learno: snowman (PreK-1) : Talk show host, Joy Learno, interviews a snowman who likes to crack jokes about snow and ice . Then the snowman starts to melt. This video segment from Between the Lions provides a resource for language and vocabulary development.
Why Do Snowflakes Come in So Many Shapes and Sizes? (Grades 6-8): In this lesson students build an apparatus that creates conditions similar to a winter cloud and produce their own snow crystals indoors. They learn about the molecular forces that shape ice crystals, and gain a deeper understanding of the states of matter.
Inspiration from Hibernation (Grades 6-12): From NOVA scienceNOW’s “Can We Live Forever?” this video teaches how research on animal hibernation may lead to the successful development of drug therapies for humans.
Life on the Ice (Grades 9-13+): In this video from the National Science Foundation and the Desert Research Institute, learn about WAIS Divide, an ice core project on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and hear from the people involved in the hard work and light-hearted fun that typifies day-to-day life in the WAIS Divide camp.