World History 1500 A.D. to Present
RESOURCE | GRADE LEVEL | MEDIA TYPE |
---|---|---|
1900 Air PollutionExamine this graph from FRONTLINE/NOVA: "What's Up with the Weather?" Web site to see dramatic increases in three greenhouse gases over the last two hundred years. |
9-12 |
Document |
Antarctica: Sea IceThis video segment adapted from NOVA uses microwave images to reveal how sea ice doubles the size of Antarctica each winter. Rare footage shows how sea ice crushed the famous ship Endurance in 1914. |
K-12 |
Video |
The Beginnings of the TelescopeThis animated essay from the NOVA Web site examines the design of Galileo's refracting telescope and Sir Isaac Newton's reflecting telescope. |
6-12 |
Document |
Build a BridgeSurvey potential bridge sites, research bridge design, and select the right bridge for the right location in this interactive activity from the NOVA Web site. |
6-12 |
Interactive |
Build a Family TreeBoth sexes can use this interactive feature that lets you use DNA information from the Y chromosome to complete a male family tree. From the NOVA: "Lost Tribes of Israel" Web site. |
9-12 |
Interactive |
Discovering AirOur understanding about the air we breathe has changed dramatically through time. This illustrated timeline from the NOVA Web site tracks the changing thought on air and the creation of the Periodic Table of the Elements. |
6-12 |
Document |
Earthquake PredictionThis video segment adapted from NOVA tells the tragic story of two Japanese seismologists who disagreed about the threat of earthquakes in the early twentieth century. Today, seismologists in California offer residents a probability of risk that an earthquake might occur. |
6-12 |
Video |
Earthquakes: The Prehistoric RecordIn this video segment adapted from NOVA, a geologist digs a trench along the San Andreas Fault to reveal three thousand years of earthquake history. Information from the layers of sediment may help geologists to predict earthquakes. |
3-12 |
Video |
Earthquakes: The SeismographThis video segment adapted from NOVA uses historical illustrations, photographs, and animations to explain how seismographs work, the difference between P and S waves, and the Richter scale. |
6-12 |
Video |
Einstein: A Timeline of His LifeThis illustrated timeline from the NOVA Web site follows Albert Einstein's life, including 1905, his "Miracle Year," during which he developed his Special Theory of Relativity and the equation, E=mc2. |
6-12 |
Document |
Fireworks! Lifting ChargeIn this video segment adapted from NOVA, learn how pyrotechnicians use common compounds to blast fireworks into the sky and give them shape. |
6-12 |
Video |
Fireworks! Making ColorWhat gives a fireworks display its brilliant blue, green, and red colors? Learn how pyrotechnicians give fireworks color in this video segment adapted from NOVA. |
6-12 |
Video |
Galileo: Discovering Jupiter's MoonsThis video segment adapted from NOVA shows how Galileo, using his newly developed refracting telescope, observed four of Jupiter's moons, the first astronomical bodies to be discovered since ancient times. |
3-12 |
Video |
Galileo: His ExperimentsThis interactive activity from the NOVA Web site samples Galileo's experiments with falling objects, projectiles, inclined planes, and pendulums. |
6-12 |
Interactive |
Galileo: His Place in ScienceEinstein called Galileo the "father of modern physics." This media-rich essay from the NOVA Web site looks at Galileo's quest to understand the mathematics of motion. |
6-12 |
Document |
Galileo's Big MistakeScientists don't always get it right. This video segment adapted from NOVA looks at Galileo's failed theory for the motion of the tides. |
6-12 |
Video |
Galileo's Inclined PlaneHow did Galileo figure out the mathematics of falling bodies? This video segment adapted from NOVA examines Galileo's work on motion. |
6-12 |
Video |
Galileo's TelescopeThe invention of the telescope helped change our understanding of the universe. This video segment adapted from NOVA looks at Galileo's contribution to this technology. |
6-12 |
Video |
Galileo's Thought ExperimentHow can Earth move through space without our feeling its motion? This video segment adapted from NOVA answers this question by dramatizing one of Galileo's thought experiments. |
6-12 |
Video |
Galileo: Sun-Centered SystemIn the early 1600s, most people believed that the Sun revolved around a stationary Earth. This video segment adapted from NOVA tells how Galileo proved that the Sun, not Earth, is at the center of our universe. |
3-12 |
Video |
Galileo: SunspotsThis video segment adapted from NOVA shows how Galileo used his telescope to carefully observe and study sunspots. |
3-12 |
Video |
Galileo: Timeline of His LifeThis illustrated timeline from the NOVA Web site turns back the clock to the late 1500's to relive the dramatic life of one of the world's most renowned scientists. |
6-12 |
Document |
Genetic VariationThis video segment from NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" explores the genetic similarities and differences among organisms. |
9-12 |
Video |
Global Warming: Beyond Fossil FuelsMartin Hoffert, professor of physics at New York University, discusses global warming and alternative energies in this interview from the NOVA/FRONTLINE Web site. |
6-12 |
Document |
Global Warming: Graphs Tell the StoryExamine these graphs from the NOVA/ FRONTLINE Web site to see dramatic increases in the temperature of Earth's surface and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. |
6-12 |
Document |
Global Warming: Graphs Tell the StoryExamine graphs from the NOVA/FRONTLINE Web site to see dramatic changes in the temperature of Earth's surface and in the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. |
9-12 |
Document |
Grass BridgeIn this video segment adapted from NOVA, watch residents of the Peruvian Andes build a suspension bridge made entirely of grass. |
3-12 |
Video |
Levers: Raising the Moai on Easter IslandIn this video segment adapted from NOVA, a team of archaeologists and engineers explores different uses of the lever by recreating the engineering feats of the ancient Easter Island peoples. |
3-12 |
Video |
Lightning!This video segment adapted from NOVA explains the mysterious force of lightning. |
3-12 |
Video |
More on Galileo's Big MistakeEven great scientists make mistakes! This illustrated essay from the NOVA Web site looks at Galileo's theory of the tides, which, while well thought out, was wrong. |
6-12 |
Document |
Nature's PharmacyIn this interactive activity from NOVA, learn about chemicals in nature that are used in medicine. |
3-12 |
Interactive |
Oil Spill: Exxon Valdez, 1989This video segment adapted from NOVA follows the clean-up effort after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska. Also featured is a marsh where an oil spill occurred 20 years earlier; analysis suggests that environmental damage may last for decades. |
6-12 |
Video |
Pilotless Flight: Timeline of Unmanned Aerial VehiclesExplore this NOVA interactive timeline and discover the many technological innovations in the history of unmanned flight, from hot-air balloons to miniature flying robots. |
6-12 |
Interactive |
Shipwrecks Reveal Ocean CurrentsIn this video segment adapted from NOVA, a detailed map showing the trajectories of abandoned ships from the late 1800's is used to reveal the routes of surface currents in the Atlantic Ocean. Animations illustrate the role played by ocean currents in the colonization of North America. |
6-12 |
Video |
Solar MagnetismThis video segment adapted from NOVA describes how the Sun's magnetism can have an effect here on Earth, from dramatic auroras to a mini-Ice Age in the 1600s. |
6-12 |
Video |
Steam MachineExplore NOVA Online's interactive steam engine and discover how this machine can convert heat to mechanical energy. |
3-12 |
Interactive |
String Theory: A New Picture of GravityThis video segment from NOVA describes the general theory of relativity and the theory of electromagnetism. |
6-12 |
Video |
String Theory: Strings to the RescueThis video segment from NOVA discusses the challenge of unifying the force of gravity and the forces described by quantum mechanics into a single theory of unification. |
9-12 |
Video |
String Theory: The Quantum CaféThis video segment from NOVA relates the rise of subatomic physics in the 1920s and the development of the radical theory of quantum mechanics. |
9-12 |
Video |
Taking the Earth's TemperatureThis video segment from FRONTLINE/NOVA: "What's Up with the Weather?" depicts research efforts to record Earth's past and present temperatures shifts. |
9-12 |
Video |
What Causes the Gulf Stream?This video segment adapted from NOVA visualizes how Earth's rotation and uneven heating from the Sun cause prevailing winds and influence ocean surface currents. An animation and infrared satellite image illustrate the shape and direction of the Gulf Stream System in the Atlantic Ocean. |
6-12 |
Video |
When Did the First Americans Arrive?In this video segment adapted from NOVA, recent archeological evidence leads scientists to revise existing theories about human migrations into the Americas around the time of the last ice age. |
6-12 |
Video |