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The harsh environment of Antarctica offers numerous opportunities for science. This program depicts the challenges biologists, meteorologists, and geologists face as they study the continent's wildlife, climate, and formation. The video features analysis of fossils and ancient magma, shows how past weather patterns are examined in ice layers, and illustrates fish and bird population studies. Describing housing, clothing, waste removal, and other human...
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Many students do not realize how hazardous the lab can be. Safety awareness in the laboratory is essential. This engaging and entertaining program teaches students how to recognize hazards, prevent accidents, and cope with emergencies. The proper way to extinguish a fire is demonstrated, along with first aid for acid burns and electric shock. Correlates to the National Science Education Standards developed by the National Academies of Science and...
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The aim of this program is to excite students about geographic information systems and encourage the use of GIS in the classroom. Spotlighted applications of GIS include ways that urban planners in India are using it to map traffic flows; how it's being applied in London to plans for projected mass transit use during the 2012 Olympics; how it's being used by disaster response teams to prepare for possible nuclear reactor leaks; and ways that police...
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Put the viewer in the passenger seat for a twelve-day field trip throughout the American Southwest. Zigzagging through five states, the host visits people and places in search of the true meaning of geography. Dispels the myth that geography is limited to the study of maps, mountain ranges, and capitals. It reveals geography as a broad and diverse field and traces its connections to science, history, politics, economics, religion, urban development,...
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A dream may be the most difficult human experience to quantify-but dreaming is an excellent topic for building qualitative research skills. This program illustrates experiments, designed and conducted by students, that revolve around sleep and dreams. In the process, it provides thorough insight into the issues relevant to collecting and utilizing qualitative data. Viewers are shown how to create effective questionnaires, prepare participant interviews,...
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This program examines the basic elements of the scientific method: defining and researching the problem, forming a hypothesis, gathering information through experimentation and observation, analyzing the data, forming a conclusion, and communicating the results. Practical applications of the scientific method, such as testing new medicines and analyzing the performance of sporting goods, are included as well. Correlates to the National Science Education...
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Who said statistics were boring? Using magic and circus motifs, this program demonstrates the significance of probability theory and the importance of using the correct test to analyze research data. Host Amy and her friend Matt the Magician guide viewers through the need to make probability statements, and along with a team of students, use juggling skills to explore choice of test. Setting significance levels, tests of difference, the sign test,...
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Adam suspects that most hairy dogs have balding owners. Testing his "pet" theory at a local park, he quickly finds flaws in his own experiment. This video demonstrates Adam's second test, involving better preparation, more rigorous analysis, and an exciting pasta cook-off. Showing how Adam can effectively determine the best spaghetti recipe, the program illustrates concepts that are central to the scientific method-including null, alternative, and...
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Sparking awareness of distant lands, maps have likewise tempted the ambitious to pillage and conquer through the centuries. This program examines cartography's role in a disturbing dynamic-that which spans the urge to discover for discovery's sake and the relentless drive to extend power, reap faraway resources, and satisfy greed. Profiling the father of geography, Claudius Ptolemy, and his ideas for transferring spherical configurations to a flat...
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Maps aren't simply about getting from A to B. As this program shows, they are often condensations of a particular culture's worldview, and, as such, a map forms a revealing snapshot of a moment in history. Visiting one of humanity's earliest maps, scratched into the rocks of an alpine hillside 3,000 years ago, the film goes on to illustrate how each culture develops its own unique and surprising way of mapping. Examples include Henry VIII's stunning...
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This video focuses on effective ways to understand and organize data using descriptive statistics. Analyzing data collected from studies of young music students, the video helps viewers sort through basic data-interpretation concepts: measures of central tendency, levels of measurement, measures of dispersion, and graphs. A wide range of organization principles are covered, including mode, median, and mean; discrete and continuous data; nominal, ordinal,...
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Cartography may have a basis in science, but even in the hands of experts and authorities, it hasn't always resulted in balanced representations of the world. This program focuses on the map as a product of the fears, dogmas, or prejudices of its age. In one segment, an antiquated map designed to help Jewish immigrants in London ironically conveys anti-Semitism. Medieval maps created out of spiritual passion show the way to heaven, the route to Jerusalem,...