This feature from the NOVA "Cut to the Heart" Web site highlights facts about the heart -- including its size and placement -- and will help you to understand the importance of this wondrous organ in our bodies.
Recommended for: Grades 6-8 ***Access to Teacher's Domain content now requires free login to PBS Learning Media.

This video segment from NOVA: "Animal Imposters" shows the lightning-fast strike of the anglerfish.

It takes a thick skin to withstand the hardships that life has to offer. This collection of images shows a variety of animals, each with a slightly different type of protective covering.

In this activity, students learn how an animal's sense of hearing is adapted to -- as well as affected by -- its environment. They begin by exploring how a shark's senses enable it to be an efficient predator. Students then compare a shark's senses to those of a land animal of their choice, and discover how each animal's senses are adapted to its particular environment. Next, they focus on the sense of hearing, and a common cause of hearing loss: continual exposure to loud noises. Students learn how a change in the way that an Arctic community hunts -- using rifles instead of harpoons -- has caused widespread hearing loss. Finally, students research noise levels in their environment and conduct a public awareness campaign about noise pollution and the associated hearing loss.

Students observe several animals' mouth structures and explore how these structures help the animal obtain, handle, and eat food.

This collection of images of six different creatures, including insects and carnivorous vertebrates, illustrates the wide range of mouth types that exist within the animal kingdom. ***Access to Teacher's Domain content now requires free login to PBS Learning Media.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, scientists discuss their attempts to grow human body parts in a jar.

In this video from QUEST produced by KQED,find out what scientists are discovering in investigating the newest methods for converting what we grow into what makes us go.

This ZOOM video segment shows how to create a self-contained environment and explores evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.

There are almost as many types of bird beaks as there are types of food that birds like to eat. This collection of images shows a wide range of beaks and the types of foods handled by each.

In this video segment, adapted from NOVA, Dr. Judah Folkman uses the scientific method to discover how cancer cells induce the formation of new blood vessels, which in turn nourish those cancer cells.

This interactive feature from the NOVA "Surviving Denali" Web site details the variety of ways the body can fail while climbing a high-altitude peak.

This video segment from IdahoPTV's D4K takes a look at the reasons why body waste keep you healthy and the parts of the body form the waste products, urine, pus, carbon dioxide, gas and feces.

This video segment from IdahoPTV's D4K explores the anatomy of the brain and how your brain interacts with the rest of your body.

Which part of your brain controls your ability to swallow? Your instinct to survive? And how do all the brain's parts function cooperatively? Find out with this interactive feature from the NOVA: "Coma" Web site.

Find out how serious head concussions can be in this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW.

This video segment from The Human Spark observes the brains responses to a series of cognitive tests.

Bridges come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and lengths and are found all over the world. It is important that bridges are strong so they are safe to cross. Design and build a your own model bridge. Test your bridge for strength using a force sensor that measures how hard you pull on your bridge. By observing a graph of the force, determine the amount of force needed to make your bridge collapse.

In this video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey, learn about bubonic plague and how city officials in San Francisco tried to contain its spread in the early 1900s..

A bungee jump involves jumping from a tall structure while connected to a large elastic cord. Design a bungee jump that is "safe" for a hard-boiled egg. Create a safety egg harness and connect it to a rubber band, which is your the "bungee cord." Finally, attach your bungee cord to a force sensor to measures the forces that push or pull your egg.