To decode the science of crude oil formation we first need to go back in time. Waaaay back! We have to set our geologic clocks back tens and even hundreds of millions of years to a time when ancient seas covered much of North America. Small lifeforms, mostly algae, and tiny creatures known as zooplankton lived in these ancient seas. They produced their life energy by using CO2, water, and sunlight. Like all living things, these plants and animals eventually died. Their remains fell to the bottom and mixed with and were buried by sediment. Their remains and seafloor sediment piled up for millions of years.
Eventually, the pressure from the piled sediment and heat caused changes in the plant and animal, or organic, materials into a wax-like material called kerogen. Another by-product of this pressure is a tar-like substance known as bitumen, which we will learn more about later.
Catagenesis happens next. Big word. Essentially, catagenesis is the cracking of kerogen into smaller, hydrocarbon molecules that make up crude oil. Hydrocarbons are carbon atoms that have their “outer shell” filled only with hydrogen atoms. The minerals contained in the plant and animal remains mentioned earlier have an important role in catagenesis. They function as catalysts, materials that speed up or change the outcome of a reaction without being used up in the reaction itself. The catalyst helps catagenesis continue and, if the levels of pressure and temperature are just right, it forms crude oil – ta-da!
When you're ready to drill even deeper into the science of crude, click on the "Learn More" tab below to discover more about the mysteries of crude oil formation and exploration. Filling up your gas tank will never be the same again.
Plus, take a moment and check out the jazzed petroleum industry careers video on the right. Then, click the link of our educational partner here to dig even deeper into the science of refining and transporting crude oil.
So how does this water cycle thing work? Discover the answers by watching this Serious Science video and reading the information below. And to take this learning adventure into your classroom, have your teacher download the free Lesson Activity at the bottom of this page so everyone can share in the fun of this inquiry based learning.
Like many things on our planet, water is constantly changing. As it goes through its cycle, water can change from a solid, to a liquid, or even into a gas. This constant change helps our rivers to run, lakes to stay full, and supplies our homes with water. Without this cycle, our water supplies would be in trouble. The water cycle, or “hydrologic cycle” as our scientist friends call it, can be broken up into three major stages.
The first stage in the water cycle is “evaporation”. As the sun’s energy heats the surface of our lakes, rivers, plants and soil, the water begins to turn to “water vapor”. Steam coming off hot liquid is one way we can see water vapor. This water vapor is a gas that can rise up into the sky. Winds and air currents push the water vapor through the atmosphere until it forms into the next stage – clouds. Have you looked at the sky and wondered “where do all those clouds come from?” Well, they are an important part of the water cycle.
To discover the rest of this story that affects every aspect of life here on the "blue planet", watch this video. Or, to really dive into the depths of understanding the water cycle, try the companion Lesson Guide below in your classroom.
To really get your feet wet in understanding the water cycle, students and educators can learn all about the various roles of water in our lives by exploring Project WET's Discover Water. Just follow the link and dive into all the wet learning there.
Oh yeah, there's also lots more info below in "Learn More" expanded section. Enjoy the water.
Plus, the educational partner noted below supported the video and lesson content here for all of us to learn from. They also offer other learning opportunities on their website. So click on their logo to discover more!
Did you know that trees are actually plants? Or that we would be unable to survive on this planet without plants? These are just a few of the facts presented in this Serious Science video. Josh and Caroline start things off with a debate about whether plants are best as an economic product or as a living home to wildlife. Where do you stand?
So...what is a plant exactly? Josh and Caroline will help you out with that one, before handing things off to mission control. There, Amelia defines the different values related to forests.
First, it's important to understand the difference between abiotic and biotic factors. Biotic factors are living things that contribute to healthy ecosystems. Trees fall into this category, as they take in carbon dioxide, expel oxygen, and feed other species. Abiotic factors include non-living, but essential, parts of an ecosystem. Water, air, soil, and structure fall into this category. Again, trees provide, or help to provide, a multitude of abiotic factors.
Watch the video to learn about the variety of values related to plants. Ecological, economic, social, recreational, cultural, and traditional values all tie in to how humans perceive the environment. What do you value about plants, trees, and the natural world?
Check out the links below and the lesson activities to gain more knowledge about the role plants play in our lives.
Aquaculture is the production of fish, either in containment nets or in recirculating systems.
Aquaponics is the combination of fish culture and hydroponic vegetable production.
Aquaponics systems are more economically and environmentally feasible than typical recirculating aquaculture systems. By growing a secondary crop, such as vegetables or herbs, costs associated with construction, operation and maintenance can be distributed across both fish and vegetable production and make both more viable in cost return. Plants/vegetables via the nitrogen cycle help break down ammonia and nitrates and remove them from the culture water. This is mutually beneficial for both plant propagation and fish culture.
In aquaponics the fish effluent and the nutrients left by leftover decomposing fish food can be utilized by plants and other aquatic life as food. Rather than just throwing away these nutrients food can be produced. Creating a closed loop is not only economically more viable but is also more environmentally sustainable.
Even though traditional agriculture of farming the land is on the decline, aquaculture, also known as fish farming, is on the rise and offers new educational and occupational opportunities. And aquaponics is also a growing trend that has a strong sustainable side.
Aquaculture involves the breeding, rearing, and harvesting of water-raised plants and aquatic animals in various water environments; including tanks, ponds, rivers, lakes, and even the ocean. Aquaculture produces food fish, sport fish, bait fish, ornamental fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae, sea vegetables, and fish eggs. And some operations combine two or more products in the same operation. Watch our video here and you’ll see for yourself how they make ‘surf n turf” under the same roof.
Some aquaculture operations produce seafood from hatchery fish that are grown to market size in ponds, tanks, or raceways. Other operations grow the combination of fish and plant species used in a variety of food, pharmaceutical, nutritional, and biotechnology products.
Freshwater aquaculture produces species that are native to rivers, lakes, and streams. This aquaculture is dominated by catfish but also produces trout, tilapia, and bass. Freshwater aquaculture takes place primarily in ponds and on the land, inside man-made systems such as recirculating aquaculture systems.
Below you’ll find helpful links and lessons about aquaculture and aquaponics.
So what makes a forest ecosystem dynamic and sustainable? Discover the answers by watching the four parts of this science show and reading the information below. And to take this learning adventure into your classroom, have your teacher download the free Lesson Activity at the bottom of this page so everyone can share in the fun of this inquiry based learning.
Well, it's because a forest is constantly changing. Various processes take place in the forest that are crucial to life… such as getting clean air to breathe or clean water to drink. It starts when trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide from the air and then convert it into roots, shoots, wood, leaves, flowers, and fruits through the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is where plants use light energy, carbon dioxide, and water to make sugars and release oxygen, which is great for breathing. But as forests grow and regenerate, they also play crucial roles in the water cycle and carbon cycle. The four parts of this Into the Outdoors episode and the Serious Science video on Sustainable Forestry reveal the science behind our dynamic forests.
As bonus educational material for your classroom, below you'll find the high school activity from Project Learning Tree on Monitoring Forest Health. This activity is the first of nine found in PLT's Focus on Forests: Forest Ecology guide. Check it out on Focus on Forests from Project Learning Tree.
Share this forestry fun and education with your friends or classroom. Or, check out the "Sustainable Forestry" video on this site and its related classroom Lesson Guide. "Timber"
Plus, the educational partner noted below supported the video and lesson content here for all of us to learn from. They also offer other learning opportunities on their website. Educators are encouraged to evaluate and consider their science sources. Click on their logo to discover more.
Hey, teachers and educators!! Don't forget to check out the advanced overview for some quick-start birding lessons in your classroom plus the lesson plans below.
Did you know that more than 45 million people in the United States are birders? That means one out of seven people you meet enjoy searching for and identifying these important feathery animals.
Why are birds so important you may ask? Well first of all, they help grow and protect many crops that you eat during your mealtimes. Two thousand bird species and other animals help pollinate 90% of plants and 75% of crops around the world. Birds also eat 20 quadrillion plant-eating insects each year that destroy crops like corn, apples, strawberries, and lettuce. Not only do birds help us eat and grow, but their ability to fly at incredible heights, speeds, and distances inspired us to build airplanes. It is no wonder since the peregrine falcon can dive up to 200 miles per hour while the Ruppel’s griffon vulture can fly 37,000 feet off the ground. That is higher than the world’s tallest mountains, the Himalayan Mountains. Lastly, since birds are sensitive to changes in temperature, moisture, and oxygen in their environmental surroundings, birds can be indicators of climate change. Counting the number of species and individual birds in an area assists scientists in gauging the health of the environment. The higher the variety and amount of birds, the better. (of course not in all cases? Could be overpopulation, crowding effects)(scientists may record shifts in nesting or migration behaviors too)
So what can we do to keep or regain habitat for birds? Organizations of people across the country aim to reduce the threat of habitat loss by building sanctuaries or conservancies. These sanctuaries and conservancies are refuges for birds because they protect, manage, and restore habitats that birds depend upon. Thinks of these places as hotels. When birds are in need of a new home, looking for places to find a partner and raise a family, or searching for a place to rest while traveling south for the winter, a bird will ‘check in’ to one of these hotels. Here, a bird may visit family and friends, eat lots of natural food, drink clean water, swim in the pool, and sleep in a safe space. Sounds fun, right?
Additionally, every bird species is unique and requires certain characteristics in their habitat. Therefore, a ‘hotel’ staff must work hard and long to create and maintain a sanctuary or conservancy that provides a vast array of habitats for as many bird and wildlife species as possible. For instance, you may find habitats ranging from tallgrass prairies and oak savannahs to mature hardwood forests and temperate rainforests to open wetlands and coastal beaches in a conservancy or sanctuary.
But sanctuaries and conservancies cannot build themselves. Watch these two videos and learn how avian stewards like you can help sanctuaries and conservancies reach to the skies and create quality habitat for birds.
Our educational partner, American Transmission Company (ATC), supported the video content above. To learn more about their pollinator program, check out the link below. Also, look out for ATC's new bird identification field guide! Book copies may be purchased at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary in Greenbay, Wisconsin.
Attention, teachers and educators!! Swoop down below to the "Learn More" tab to discover successful ways to build birdhouses with your students. Moreover, check out the elementary lesson plans at the bottom of the page in order to build nest boxes and watch live eagle nests on camera with your class!
When you hear birds singing outside your window, you are listening to the echoes of the past – dinosaurs! Paleontologists have unearthed and analyzed dinosaur fossils and bones for two centuries to understand where birds came from. Due to their hard work and research, scientists have found birds are the descendants of dinosaurs, meaning birds are dinosaurs’ great-great-great-great-great-great-great … grandchildren. Do you know why? Dinosaurs and birds have similar skeleton structures and light, hollow bones. Birds also lay eggs and build nests similar to how dinosaurs did 66 million years ago.
Why do birds even build nests? When your parents laid you down to sleep at night as baby, they might have put you in a crib. Bird nests are essentially like baby cribs. They are safe spaces for birds to protect their children from weather, predators, or falling from great heights. And it may take Mama and Papa Bird days or weeks to build the nest! The parents must first search for the perfect location that will provide shelter from wind, precipitation, and sun: perhaps high in a tree, under your house’s roof, or in bushes and shady grasses. Then they must build, build, build! In the springtime, you may see birds flying and carrying grass blades or twigs in their mouth. This means they are crafting and weaving a special “crib” for their eggs. Just like a crib, a nest must be sturdy, but also have cushioning – like a mattress. Birds will construct nests with branches while also using soft materials such as lichen, leaves, feathers, and fine grasses. These soft materials will provide insulation to keep the eggs warm as well as flexibility to adjust to growing baby birds. Some birds will even go to great lengths to blend in and hide (or in other words, camouflage) their nest into the surroundings. A tree swallow or Baltimore oriole may use two weeks to build a nest for his/her family! And bird nests vary in all shapes, colors, materials, and sizes – just like how every artist’s painting is uniquely different. Some bird species will weave ornate baskets that sit or hang from tree branches while other birds will nest in tree cavities, on cliff sides, on top of water, within shrubs or even upon a simple depression in the ground.
Once the birds are finished building their special nest, it is time for Mama Bird to lay her eggs. How many eggs can she lay? Well, the clutch – or the number of eggs the female lays – depends upon the species of bird. Tropical birds may only lay two to three eggs while waterfowl can lay up to 15 eggs! Then, the female (and sometimes even the male) will sit … and sit … and sit … on the eggs for weeks until they hatch. Usually, the larger the bird species, the longer it takes the eggs to hatch. The parent bird must be diligent and keep the eggs heated between 99 to 102 degrees Farenheight – that’s as warm as a high fever! When the baby chick is ready to hatch, the chick must work hard to break free of the shell. It can take hours or sometimes even days! They use a hard bump on their beak called an egg tooth to chip through the eggshell.
You may be wondering how long it takes for birds to raise their young. The answer is … it depends! Some birds are born altricial while others are born precocial. Altricial birds, such as songbirds and seabirds, are born into the world blind, featherless, and weak. To grow strong, they greatly depend upon their parents to keep them warm, sheltered, and fed, like how we did as babies. After a month in the nest, the large and feathery hatchlings may stretch their wings and fly from the nest. Yet, imagine if human babies could walk within hours or days of being born. That is what precocial birds can do! These precocial chicks have feathers and advanced motor and sensory functions when born. Ready to be off the nest, the chicks and parents will journey to brood habitat that is stocked full of yummy insects and grubs for the chicks to eat. However, the time it takes for them to fledge, or fly, may take several months. That’s a long time to avoid predators on the ground without flight. Regardless, once the chick has successfully fledged, the baby chick becomes a “juvenile” and must eventually brave the wide world without their parents.
Breeding and nesting habitats are some of the most critical habitats to birds. Yet, as cities consume and continue to reduce the wild landscape, birds increasingly struggle to find safe spaces to breed, reproduce, and successfully fledge their young. Increases in human settlement may reduce the quality of nesting habitat. More specifically, the spread of human development can:
Yet, organizations and people like you are working actively to reduce and mitigate the impacts of human development. Stretch your wings and watch these two videos like a hawk in order to learn how companies create nesting habitat for great blue herons and osprey. And if you download the lesson guides below, you and your fellow peeps can help bird families find a home by watching birds build nests and then designing your own backyard bird houses for them.
Our educational partner, American Transmission Company (ATC), supported the video content above. To learn more about their avian protection program, check out the link below. Also, look out for ATC’s new bird identification field guide! Book copies may be purchased at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary in Greenbay, Wisconsin.
Welcome to Wild About Walleyes as part of our Getting Families Fishing Series.
As you’ll discover in this TV show and related classroom videos, walleye fishing offers you pathways to learning about fish biology, the techniques to having a rewarding family adventure while catching a unique fish, and how to become sustainable anglers who conserve our fish for future generations.
Okay, so there's several great ways to enjoy and share the fishing fun and education in this show.
First, you can kick back with family or friends to watch this entire half-hour television episode to get the full content in one sitting. Kinda like enjoying a full course meal. Yum-yum.
Then there's the four shorter, custom segments on the noted links below. These are the custom "classroom" or learning videos with some bonus content designed to share with your entire classroom. On these links below you'll also find lots of other educational content, including custom lesson activities for your teacher to take your entire classroom on a three to four day journey of peer-driven learning blended with fun and hands-on pathways to try outdoor pursuits yourself.
Whichever way you decide to enjoy the fun and educational content, it's a win-win way for you to get engaged with pathways to discovering more about yourself and the great outdoors.
Until then, enjoy the journey of discovery in all of the content in our Getting Families Fishing Series.
For all kinds of helpful information and resources on how kids can learn where-to and how-to go fishing, explore our companion KidsFishing.US website. You'll also find lots of fun educational resources for classroom or lakeside learning. Plus, be sure to check out all the helpful resources on TakeMeFishing.org.
Official Boater Safety Courses and Boat Safety Education Materials
Hey, teachers and educators!! Don't forget to check out the advanced overview for some quick-start birding lessons in your classroom plus the lesson plans below.
Did you know that more than 45 million people in the United States are birders? That means one out of seven people you meet enjoy searching for and identifying these important feathery animals.
Why are birds so important you may ask? Well first of all, they help grow and protect many crops that you eat during your mealtimes. Two thousand bird species and other animals help pollinate 90% of plants and 75% of crops around the world. Birds also eat 20 quadrillion plant-eating insects each year that destroy crops like corn, apples, strawberries, and lettuce. Not only do birds help us eat and grow, but their ability to fly at incredible heights, speeds, and distances inspired us to build airplanes. It is no wonder since the peregrine falcon can dive up to 200 miles per hour while the Ruppel’s griffon vulture can fly 37,000 feet off the ground. That is higher than the world’s tallest mountains, the Himalayan Mountains. Lastly, since birds are sensitive to changes in temperature, moisture, and oxygen in their environmental surroundings, birds can be indicators of climate change. Counting the number of species and individual birds in an area assists scientists in gauging the health of the environment. The higher the variety and amount of birds, the better. (of course not in all cases? Could be overpopulation, crowding effects)(scientists may record shifts in nesting or migration behaviors too)
Scientists are now predicting that almost half of our North American birds are at risk of extinction within the next 100 years. Currently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has listed 90 bird species as endangered, or in other words, near extinction. You may be wondering why so many birds are in trouble. There are multiple reasons accounting for this threat, such as the expansion of cities, pollution, or clearing of forests. However, one of the largest threats to bird survival is habitat loss. Habitats are like your house: they provide food, water, shelter, and space for the bird. And today, birds are losing their homes due to human impacts. For example, humans have converted 290 million acres of native grasslands into agricultural fields within North America. These rolling hills of grasses and flowers are one of the most rapidly disappearing habitats in the western hemisphere and are home to many bird species, such as a “ricebird” called the bobolink. With fewer and fewer grasslands to breed and live in within the last 40 years, our bobolink populations have decreased by 50 percent.
So what can we do to keep or regain habitat for birds? Organizations of people across the country aim to reduce the threat of habitat loss by building sanctuaries or conservancies. These sanctuaries and conservancies are refuges for birds because they protect, manage, and restore habitats that birds depend upon. Thinks of these places as hotels. When birds are in need of a new home, looking for places to find a partner and raise a family, or searching for a place to rest while traveling south for the winter, a bird will ‘check in’ to one of these hotels. Here, a bird may visit family and friends, eat lots of natural food, drink clean water, swim in the pool, and sleep in a safe space. Sounds fun, right?
Additionally, every bird species is unique and requires certain characteristics in their habitat. Therefore, a ‘hotel’ staff must work hard and long to create and maintain a sanctuary or conservancy that provides a vast array of habitats for as many bird and wildlife species as possible. For instance, you may find habitats ranging from tallgrass prairies and oak savannahs to mature hardwood forests and temperate rainforests to open wetlands and coastal beaches in a conservancy or sanctuary.
But sanctuaries and conservancies cannot build themselves. Watch these two videos and learn how avian stewards like you can help sanctuaries and conservancies reach to the skies and create quality habitat for birds.
Our educational partner, American Transmission Company (ATC), supported the video content above. To learn more about their pollinator program, check out the link below. Also, look out for ATC's new bird identification field guide! Book copies may be purchased at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary in Greenbay, Wisconsin.
