Curated Video
Oceans: The Intertidal Zone
Discover how ever-changing tidal ecosystems create opportunities for both predators and prey. Biology - Ecosystems - Learning Points. Tides are a powerful force of nature, created by the Moon's gravitational pull. Tides affect marine...
Curated Video
Oceanic Food Chain
A journey through a marine food chain, from tiny plankton to the ocean's giants. Biology - Ecosystems - Learning Points. Phytoplankton are the basis of the oceanic food chain. In the Pacific Ocean, millions of herring feed on these...
Curated Video
Global Dimming
Even though the planet is warming, the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface is decreasing. What is causing this, and what effect does it have? Earth Science - Human Impacts - Learning Points. Global dimming is the reduction in...
Curated Video
The Water Cycle
All water on planet Earth is constantly cycled from the atmosphere, into reservoirs, and through plants and animals. The Earth's water has completed this cycle around 8 million times. Earth Science - Weather - Learning Points. Water on...
Curated Video
Ocean Conveyer
A super-current runs from the Arctic past South America to the Indian Ocean. This is major factor influencing our climate, controlling everything from currents to the weather. Earth Science - Human Impacts - Learning Points. The great...
Curated Video
The Big Chill
Melting icecaps are threatening one of the most important currents in the world, the Great Ocean Conveyor. If it stopped, it could have devastating impacts on our climate. Earth Science - Human Impacts - Learning Points. The Great Ocean...
Curated Video
Carbon Capture: Phytoplankton
Phytoplankon - microscopic marine plants - could help prevent global warming. How would they do this? And is it right for man to interfere with nature in a bid to save the planet? Human Geography - A Changing World - Learning Points....
Curated Video
El Niño
The legendary El Niño effect causes dramatic shifts of weather, resulting in droughts and floods across the globe. It can all be traced to winds dying down over the Pacific ocean. Earth Science - Weather - Learning Points. El Niño is a...
Curated Video
Oceans: The Deep Blue
Marine species have developed weird and wonderful adaptations to allow them to live at depths far below where sunlight can reach. Biology - Ecosystems - Learning Points. Over 200m below the surface of the sea, photosynthesis no longer...
Curated Video
Oceans: Coral Seas
Coral seas are the most colourful and diverse habitats on Earth, built from a unique symbiotic relationship between coral larvae and algae. Biology - Ecosystems - Learning Points. Coral reefs are found in warm, tropical oceans and are...
Curated Video
Mars: The Search for Water
We know that Mars once had a landscape with oceans and rivers, but what happened to it? Physics - Universe - Learning Points. Although Mars is a freezing dry world today, it is thought the planet was once like Earth. If liquid water once...
Curated Video
Oceans: The Abyss
In the ocean abyss – the deepest of all aquatic ecosystems – life is rare. But a few well-adapted creatures do survive in the most inhospitable habitat on Earth. Biology - Ecosystems - Learning Points. The abyssopelagic zone (or the...
Curated Video
Hurricanes
Hurricanes are renowned for their destructive power and the devastation they leave behind. But how do they form and where? Earth Science - Weather - Learning Points. Hurricanes are tropical storms with constant wind speeds. Hurricanes...
Curated Video
Clathrate Gun Hypothesis
The largest volumes of methane on Earth are frozen deep underground. Learn how global warming could melt these stores and start the irreversible process predicted by the Clathrate Gun Hypothesis. Earth Science - Human Impacts - Learning...
Curated Video
Oceans: Frozen Seas
At the Earth's poles, wildlife survives both under the sea, and on the icy surface above. Biology - Ecosystems - Learning Points. During the winter, both the Arctic and Southern Oceans are covered in a thick layer of ice. The two frozen...
Curated Video
Acidification of Water
We use a drinking straw, some water and universal indicator to show that breathing out creates acid. Universal indicator is added to the water to show its pH value. When we blow into the water the indicator changes colour showing that...
Curated Video
Monsoon Zone
Around the world monsoons bring huge volumes of seasonal rain to certain regions. The best known is the Asian monsoon, but why does it happen? Earth Science - Weather - Learning Points. Monsoons are heavy rainfalls concentrated over the...
Curated Video
Tsunami
Tsunamis are huge volumes of moving water that become monstrous waves when they hit the coast. What causes them and how do they grow to be so dangerous? Earth Science - Geology - Learning Points. Tsunamis are massive volumes of moving...
Curated Video
Land Formations
Learn how our planet's landscapes, from mountains to hills, plateaus to plains, have been sculpted over millions of years by powerful geological forces. Earth Science - Geology - Learning Points. The planet's diverse landscape is shaped...
Curated Video
The Moon and Spring Tides
How the Moon affects daily tides and drives extreme spring tides, when the Sun and Moon align. Physics - Our Solar System - Learning Points. The Moon creates and controls the tides. Its gravitational pull causes ocean water to bulge...
Curated Video
How Did Fish Evolve?
Journey through the evolution of fish, from the first vertebrate to the fish species that would eventually evolve to crawl onto land. Biology - Animal Kingdom - Learning Points. The first fish was called Haikouichthys, and it evolved in...
Curated Video
Oceans: Sunlight Zone
The ocean's surface is teeming with creatures that live in water but need sunlight to survive. Biology - Ecosystems - Learning Points. The sunlight zone is the area between 0m and 200m beneath the surface of the sea and is home to...
Curated Video
Trench
An oceanic trench is a deep, narrow depression in the ocean floor along a subduction boundary where one tectonic plate is pushed under the other. A Twig Science Glossary Film. Key scientific terms defined in just 60 seconds using...
Curated Video
Ecosystem
A living community of organisms along with their physical environment, functioning as a unit. A Twig Science Glossary Film. Key scientific terms defined in just 60 seconds using stunning images and concise textual definitions. Twig...