Title:

Discovering The Arctic: New Places, New Ideas, New Experiences

Grade Level:

6-8; 9-12

Curriculum Focus:

Social Studies, Science

Video Segments:

• The Lives of Polar Bears (02:17)
  
• The Arctic Region (01:26)
  

Program Description:

These video chapters explore life and adaptation in the Arctic. The arctic region is too cold for farming; for example, temperatures may rise above freezing just a few weeks a year. Consequently, the soil remains frozen in a permafrost condition. As for inhabitants, aboriginals live here—the Inuit and Amer-Indians are the primary inhabitants of the Arctic region. While they have modern homes and conveniences, many of the Inuit and Amer-Indians choose to hunt seal, fish, and other animals.

Learning Objectives:

After viewing these videos, students will be able to:

• Compare and analyze societal patterns for preserving and transmitting culture while adapting to environmental or social change
• Understand an organism’s behavior evolves through adaptation to its environment
• Understand that populations of organisms can be categorized by the function they serve in an ecosystem

Academic Standards:

National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) has developed national standards to provide guidance for teaching social studies. To view the standards online, go to http://www.socialstudies.org

• Understand the significance of studying culture and cultural diversity
• Understand global connections and interdependence

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has adopted The National Academies Press national standards to provide guidance for teaching science. To view the standards online, go to http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309053269

• Understand population and ecosystems
• Understand diversity and adaptations of organisms

Title:

Discovering Australia: New Places, New Ideas, New Experiences

Grade Level:

6-8; 9-12

Curriculum Focus:

Social Studies, Science

Video Segments:

• Populations Old and New (3:01)
  
• Unique Wildlife (3:02)
  
• Geography and Weather (2:58)
  
• Traditional Culture and Arts (2:49)
  

Program Description:

The purpose of this micro-lesson with accompanying videos is to introduce students to Australia’s geographic characteristics, its cultural history, its peoples, and its art. A fascinating fact about Australia is its peoples—from its many Aboriginal tribes to the thousands of immigrants from Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. In the last 60 years 6 million immigrants have made Australia their home.

Learning Objectives:

After viewing these videos, students will be able to:

• Compare and analyze societal patterns for preserving and transmitting culture while adapting to environmental or social change
• Explain how language, art, music, belief systems, and other cultural elements can facilitate global understanding or cause misunderstanding
• Understand how an organism’s behavior evolves through adaptation to its environment
• Understand that populations of organisms can be categorized by the function they serve in an ecosystem

Academic Standards:

National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) has developed national standards to provide guidance for teaching social studies. To view the standards online, go to http://www.socialstudies.org

• Understand the significance of studying culture and cultural diversity
• Understand global connections and interdependence

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has adopted The National Academies Press national standards to provide guidance for teaching science. To view the standards online, go to http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309053269

• Understand population and ecosystems
• Understand diversity and adaptations of organisms

Title:

Discovering China: New Places, New Ideas, New Experiences

Grade Level:

6-8; 9-12

Curriculum Focus:

Social Studies, Science/Technology

Video Segments:

• The Great Wall (02:35)
  
• The Forbidden City (02:40)
  
• The History of Kung Fu (03:00)
  
• Important Inventions (02:40)
  

Program Description:

These video chapters explore the amazing contributions by the Chinese and their ancient culture. From the Great Wall, built by Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi of the Qin (Ch’in) Dynasty and called by the ancient Chinese Wan-Li Qang-Qeng,” meaning long wall, to the architectural wonder of the Forbidden City, to their many other inventions, we find that the West has learned and benefited from this culture into the present. In so many ways, the West and the East are inextricably connected.

Learning Objectives:

After viewing these videos, students will be able to:

• Compare and analyze societal patterns for preserving and transmitting culture while adapting to environmental or social change
• Explain how language, art, music, belief systems, and other cultural elements can facilitate global understanding or cause misunderstanding
• Understand that science and technology are essential social enterprises involving human decisions about the use of knowledge.

Academic Standards:

National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) has developed national standards to provide guidance for teaching social studies. To view the standards online, go to http://www.socialstudies.org

• Understand the significance of studying culture and cultural diversity
• Understand global connections and interdependence

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has adopted The National Academies Press national standards to provide guidance for teaching science. To view the standards online, go to http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309053269

• Understand science and technology in local, national, and global challenges

Title:

Discovering Costa Rica: New Places, New Ideas, New Experiences

Grade Level:

6-8; 9-12

Curriculum Focus:

Social Studies, Science

Video Segments:

• The Mangrove Swamp (06:04)
  
• Tracking the Fer-de-Lance (2:53)
  
• Capuchin Monkey Survival (4:07)
  

Program Description:

These video chapters take you into the ecosystems of Costa Rica where you encounter indigenous animals as well as a natural ecosystem. Adaptation and the importance of ecosystems are the foci of these video chapters.

Learning Objectives:

After viewing these videos, students will be able to:

• Compare and analyze societal patterns for preserving and transmitting culture while adapting to environmental or social change
• Explain how language, art, music, belief systems, and other cultural elements can facilitate global understanding or cause misunderstanding
• Understand how an organism’s behavior evolves through adaptation to its environment
• Understand that populations of organisms can be categorized by the function they serve in an ecosystem

Academic Standards:

National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) has developed national standards to provide guidance for teaching social studies. To view the standards online, go to http://www.socialstudies.org

• Understand the significance of studying culture and cultural diversity
• Understand global connections and interdependence

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has adopted The National Academies Press national standards to provide guidance for teaching science. To view the standards online, go to http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309053269

• Understand population and ecosystems
• Understand diversity and adaptations of organisms

Title:

Discovering Ecuador/Galapagos: New Places, New Ideas, New Experiences

Grade Level:

6-8; 9-12

Curriculum Focus:

Social Studies, Science

Video Segments:

• Evolution of a New Species (03:38)
  
• The Last Stop(01:44)
  
• The Galapagos Islands and Argentina's Future (02:04)
  
• Geography and Regions (02:35)
  
• History and Culture (02:53)
  
• Physical Features and the Equator (02:11)
  
• Arriving at the Galapagos (07:54)
  
• Darwin Develops a Non-Random Theory of Evolution: Natural Selection and Adaptation (03:20)
  

Program Description:

These video chapters introduce Ecuador with a focus on the Galapagos Islands—“a wonderland suspended in time.” Describing the Island as “a living laboratory of evolution,” Jeff Corwin describes not only the evolution and survival of the Galapagos marine lizard but also the development and environment of a host of other island inhabitants. Once referred to by pre-Incan inhabitants as “middle of the world” because of its proximity to the equator, Ecuador possesses many distinctive physical and cultural features—all of which the video chapters explore.

Learning Objectives:

After viewing these videos, students will be able to:

• Compare and analyze societal patterns for preserving and transmitting culture while adapting to environmental or social change
• Explain how language, art, music, belief systems, and other cultural elements can facilitate global understanding or cause misunderstanding
• Examine, interpret, and analyze physical and cultural patterns and their interactions, such as land use, settlement patterns, cultural transmission of customs and ideas, and ecosystem changes
• Understand the historical perspectives
• Understand biological evolution

Academic Standards:

National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) has developed national standards to provide guidance for teaching social studies. To view the standards online, go to http://www.socialstudies.org

• Understand the significance of studying culture and cultural diversity
• Understand global connections and interdependence
• Locate and describe varying landforms and geographic features, such as mountains, plateaus, islands, rain forests, deserts, and oceans, and explain their relationship within the ecosystem
• Describe, differentiate, and explain the relationships among various regional and global patterns of geographic phenomena such as landforms, soils, climate, vegetation, natural resources, and population

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has adopted The National Academies Press national standards to provide guidance for teaching science. To view the standards online, go to http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309053269

• Develop an understanding of the nature of scientific knowledge
• Understand science as a human endeavor
• Understand the interdependence of organisms

Title:

Discovering the Mediterranean: Italy/Greece: New Places, New Ideas, New Experiences

Grade Level:

6-8; 9-12

Curriculum Focus:

Social Studies, Mathematics, English/Language Arts

Video Segments:

• Culture and Religion (02:13)
  
• Pompeii: Life Before the Roman Empire (02:33)
  
• Math and the Ancient Greeks (06:41)
  
• Greek Mythology and the Role of the Gods in Human Destiny (01:46)
  

Program Description:

These video chapters explore the culture, the people, the contributions, and the legacy of the Italians and the Greeks. Students will learn how Italian culture and religion are a part of the very fabric of Italian identity, and how the Greek legacy is one whose contributions appear in government, the humanities, and the sciences to this day. These video chapters will also allow students to explore the historical connections between Italy and Greece with regard to classical mythology.

Learning Objectives:

After viewing these videos, students will be able to:

• Compare and analyze societal patterns for preserving and transmitting culture while adapting to environmental or social change
• Explain how language, art, music, belief systems, and other cultural elements can facilitate global understanding or cause misunderstanding
• Understand how mathematical ideas interconnect and build on one another to produce a coherent whole
• Analyze, make inferences and draw conclusions about theme and genre in different cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding

Academic Standards:

National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) has developed national standards to provide guidance for teaching social studies. To view the standards online, go to http://www.socialstudies.org

• Understand the significance of studying culture and cultural diversity
• Understand global connections and interdependence

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has developed national standards to provide guidance for teaching mathematics. To view the standards online, go to http://nctm.org

• Recognize and apply mathematics in contexts outside of mathematics

National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has developed national standards to provide guidance for teaching English/Language Arts. To view the standards online, go to http://ncte.org

• Read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience
• Read a wide range of print and nonprint texts [fiction and nonfiction] to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment

Title:

Discovering New Zealand/Fiji: New Places, New Ideas, New Experiences

Grade Level:

6-8; 9-12

Curriculum Focus:

Social Studies, Science

Video Segments:

• Whale Watching and Indigenous People of Kaikoura (06:48)
  
• What is Climate? (01:45)
  
• The Flow of Energy in a Coral Reef: Underwater Food Chains (02:58)
  
• Threats to Coral Reefs (11:06)
  
• Human Activities are Destroying Our Coral Reefs (04:13)
  

Program Description:

These video chapters explore the different peoples and cultures in New Zealand and Fiji. Along with the indigenous Maori, immigrants from many parts of the world brought with them their architecture and culture. Joining immigrants from Britain, Sweden, and Germany, today, East Asians comprise a significant immigrant population to New Zealand.

New Zealand is the island nation in the Pacific Ocean southeast of Australia. Its capital is Wellington. The country is a land filled with rugged landscapes, glacial mountains, deep, clear lakes, and vast forest reserves. It is one of the world’s least populated nations with 3.8 million people. Fiji is a republic in the South Pacific Ocean and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, part of Melanesia. It comprises 330 islands and islets, with one-third of them being inhabited.

The Maori are the native inhabitants of New Zealand; their ancestors arrived in New Zealand more than 1,000 years ago. Today, Melanesians live in Fiji as well as other places in New Zealand.

Whale Watching and Indigenous People of Kaikoura also introduces students to a community of Maori living in Kaikoura—a Maori word meaning “feast of the crayfish.” Kaikoura also is the name for the vast marine canyon, 22,000 ft deep, and home of the giant squid and sperm whale. This village was formerly a whaling community with a rich native history and an abundance of marine life. Today, the Maori conduct tours to see the sperm whales.

Learning Objectives:

After viewing these videos, students will be able to:

• Compare and analyze societal patterns for preserving and transmitting culture while adapting to environmental or social change
• Explain how language, art, music, belief systems, and other cultural elements can facilitate global understanding or cause misunderstanding
• Understand an organism’s behavior evolves through adaptation to its environment
• Understand that populations of organisms can be categorized by the function they serve in an ecosystem

Academic Standards:

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has adopted The National Academies Press national standards to provide guidance for teaching science. To view the standards online, go to http://www.socialstudies.org

• Understand the significance of studying culture and cultural diversity
• Understand global connections and interdependence

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has developed national standards to provide guidance for teaching science. To view the standards online, go to http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309053269

• Understand population and ecosystems
• Understand diversity and adaptations of organisms

Title:

Discovering South Africa: New Places, New Ideas, New Experiences

Grade Level:

6-8; 9-12

Curriculum Focus:

Social Studies, Science

Video Segments:

• Tracking Elephants (06:33)
  
• Fighting for Democracy in India, South Africa, & Latin America (02:14)
  
• The Information Age: Documenting Regime Changes (01:47)
  
• Sharks: Great Mysteries of the Natural World (01:54)
  
• Ocean Ecosystems (Integrated Science Simulation)
  

Program Description:

Southern Africa consists of twenty countries, including Madagascar, Angola, Johannesburg, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Zambia. Victoria Falls is a spectacular geographic feature of Southern Africa, located on the Zambezi River. Many indigenous peoples populate Southern Africa, speaking Bantu, although other languages are also spoken, such as English and Portuguese. The area’s natural resources are enormous, and many Southern Africans make their living through agriculture. However, because many people of Southern Africa are poor, poaching has become a serious concern because it affects not only the wildlife ecosystem but also the agriculture.

Some of these video chapters introduce students to the fragile ecosystems in Southern Africa, including a variety of animals and the area’s ocean and reefs. The remaining video chapters allow students to understand the political and social upheavals that have occurred in this area, along with the technology that aided the world to observe these changes as they were unfolding.

Learning Objectives:

After viewing these videos, students will be able to:

• Discuss idea of human rights and the status of the individual
• Explore the concept of equality and human dignity
• Compare and analyze societal patterns for preserving and transmitting culture while adapting to environmental or social change
• Explain how language, art, music, belief systems, and other cultural elements can facilitate global understanding or cause misunderstanding
• Examine, interpret, and analyze physical and cultural patterns and their interactions, such as land use, settlement patterns, cultural transmission of customs and ideas, and ecosystem changes
• Understand populations and ecosystems
• Understand diversity and adaptations of organisms
• Describe how technology and science can help maintain ecosystems

Academic Standards:

National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) has developed national standards to provide guidance for teaching social studies. To view the standards online, go to http://www.socialstudies.org

• Understand the significance of studying culture and cultural diversity
• Understand global connections and interdependence
• Locate and describe varying landforms and geographic features, such as mountains, plateaus, islands, rain forests, deserts, and oceans, and explain their relationship within the ecosystem
• Describe, differentiate, and explain the relationships among various regional and global patterns of geographic phenomena such as landforms, soils, climate, vegetation, natural resources, and population
• Illustrate how individual behaviors and decisions connect with global systems
• Examine persistent issues involving the rights, roles, and status of the individual in relation to the general welfare
• Evaluate the extent to which governments achieve their stated ideals and policies at home and abroad
• Explain the origins and continuing influence of key ideas of the democratic republican form of government, such as individual human dignity, liberty, justice, equality, and the rule of law

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has adopted The National Academies Press national standards to provide guidance for teaching science. To view the standards online, go to http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309053269

• Understand the interdependence of organisms
• Understand the behavior of organisms
• Understand the role of science in personal and social perspectives with regard to population growth, natural resources, environmental quality, and global challenges
• Understand the role of science and technology