Collection Spotlight: Nature

Nature (Grades: K-12)

Science; Biology; Zoology

Overview

The science videos and media-enhanced lesson plans in this collection draw upon the powerful documentaries of public television’s award-winning natural history series. These video segments have been carefully selected to engage students with key curriculum concepts. The lesson plans incorporate hands-on activities, online resources, and video to interactively and creatively address topics and standards in Life Science/Living Environment and Earth Science.

Details

With 180 resources available this robust collection features 160 videos as well as 15 lesson plans and at-home activities. Videos are divided into eight subtopics based on themes like growth and development, human impacts on earth systems, and natural selection and adaptation. Additionally, all of these videos come with support materials. They include resources like discussion questions, background essays, student handouts, transcripts, and teaching tips. Many videos can be downloaded and are also available in Spanish.

Although the collection bills itself as being accessible to all ages, probably the lowest grade that would be appropriate is 3rd. In reality, upper elementary students would be an ideal young audience. That said, the majority of the videos seem most appropriate beginning at middle school. However, the support materials are incredibly accessible and alone offer a great resource that teachers can adapt to younger audiences.