Activity6:37
Bonneville

How to Build a Turbine

4th - 12th
Here is a six-minute video of a pair of electrical engineers that illustrate how to build a wind turbine. A list of materials is provided, along with general guidelines for your class. Use this to introduce turbine design to your...
Instructional Video2:09
MinutePhysics

Magnetic Levitation

7th - 12th
In a short, but sweet film, physics pupils are exposed to diamagnetism and magnetic levitation. The concepts are explained in two minutes, supported by fun animation and clear narration. What makes this special, is that it teaches high...
Instructional Video2:23
MinutePhysics

How Modern Light Bulbs Work

6th - 12th
Here is a fascinating find for future techies: a video about how various light bulbs work. Because it begins with the incandescent bulb, it covers a bit of history of the light bulbs. It concisely and creatively describes how halogen...
Instructional Video5:50
National Science Foundation

Science of the Winter Olympic Games: Engineering Competition Suits

6th - 12th Standards
What a thrilling job for an engineer: designing advanced athletic competition suits! Which materials can most reduce friction and drag, and yet still be flexible enough to move with the athlete's body? With attention focused on Shani...
Instructional Video5:32
National Science Foundation

Science of the Winter Olympic Games: Alpine Skiing and Vibration Damping

6th - 12th Standards
Alpine skiers have engineers looking out for their safety and for their performance. Physics and materials engineers consider how to dampen the vibrations that can be caused by bumps in the snow, vibrations that can cause the athletes to...
Instructional Video4:01
National STEM Centre

Bin-bag Capacitor

9th - 12th
Learn how to demonstrate the workings of a capacitor by viewing this valuable video. A technician walks you through the use foil and plastic, from a bin bag (a plastic garbage bag), to represent the plates and dielectrics. With...
Instructional Video3:37
National STEM Centre

Brownian Motion

9th - 12th
Not meant to be shown in the classroom, this video teaches the teacher how to display Brownian motion using microsized polystyrene balls and how to model it with a speaker and Ping-Pong balls. When you use these vivid demonstrations,...
Instructional Video1:53
Curated OER

STEMbite: DVD Players

7th - 12th
Hear a complete explanation of how a DVD player works. Data is stored in the spiraling groove of a compact disc, and a laser follows the groove, reading the peaks and valleys as 1s and 0s. The teacher even explains the difference between...
Instructional Video2:17
Curated OER

STEMbite: Bar Codes

7th - 12th
Binary code is used to create an endless supply of barcodes. The narrator writes out the computation of how many bar codes are possible. Then he shows that we have come up with even more complex coding such as quick response (QR) code...
Instructional Video6:58
TED-Ed

A 3D Atlas of the Universe

9th - 12th
Hear a lecture by Carter Emmart, director of Astrovisualization for production and education at the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History. He introduces an astounding software that serves as a...
Instructional Video5:07
National Science Foundation

Science of the Winter Olympic Games: Olympic Movement and Robotic Design

7th - 12th Standards
Here is a high-interest topic to inspire your engineering class: robots that can learn. These particular machines imitate the motion of athletes headed for the Olympic Winter Games. Hear from a professor of dynamics, systems, and control...
Instructional Video6:10
National Science Foundation

Science of the Winter Olympic Games: Engineering Faster and Safer Bobsleds

6th - 12th
While your physical science class is studying mechanics, this would be a fabulous enrichment video for covering aerodynamics or friction. Mechanical engineers dedicate their time to developing Olympic-quality bobsleds to be as fast, but...
Instructional Video0:57
Steve Spangler Science

Color Changing Carnations - Sick Science! #020

3rd - 6th
The classic carnation color-change activity for demonstrating water transport up a plant stem is played out in this video. Add the clip to a PowerPoint presentation or show it when teaching plant structure to young botanists. If you have...
Instructional Video6:15
TED-Ed

How Curiosity Got Us to Mars

9th - Higher Ed Standards
Curiosity is the desire to learn or know, and it is also the name of the rover that landed on Mars in 2012. Mohawk-sporting Bobak Ferdowsi, a NASA engineer also discusses how and why we study Mars. He provides facts about the rover and...
Instructional Video16:55
TED-Ed

Printing a Human Kidney

11th - Higher Ed Standards
Biotechnology has allowed us to engineer transplantable bladders and other organs successfully. The hope is to someday be able to engineer kidneys, and so save many lives. Dr. Anthony Atala, who specializes in regenerative medicine,...
Instructional Video2:32
Curated OER

STEMbite: Plasma Televisions

7th - 12th
Plasma television screens display images made of pixels. The varying colors of light in the pixels are produced by electric charges to the neon and xenon gases in them. Phosphorescent material absorbs the ultraviolet light, allowing the...
Instructional Video2:10
Curated OER

STEMbite: Diffraction

7th - 12th
This psychedelic session of STEMbite introduces the concept of diffraction to your upper elementary science class. The teacher in the video uses a compact disc to show the rainbow results of the bending of light and then dons a pair of...
Instructional Video2:29
Curated OER

STEMbite: Bone Conduction Speakers

4th - 12th
Sound can be conducted through the bones of your skull. Drew Vanden Heuvel has designed a project in which emerging engineers can construct a bone-conduction contraption. A pair of old earbuds and a tiny electric motor are connected and...
Instructional Video2:46
California Academy of Science

Earthquake Engineering

7th - 12th
Protecting buildings, bridges, and roadways from damage during an earthquake is an important task for engineers. Discover how one lab goes about testing the safety of existing and yet-to-be-built structures with a short video. See some...
Instructional Video0:57
Curated OER

Color Changing Carnations

3rd - 6th
The classic carnation color-change activity for demonstrating water transport up a plant stem is played out in this video. Add the clip to a PowerPoint presentation or show it when teaching plant structure to young botanists. If you have...
Instructional Video1:36
Science Today

Earth at Night

6th - 8th
The Sumoi NPP satellite collects light from Earth's surface during nighttime hours. From the images produced, scientists can study populations, pollution, sea ice, moon phases, and more! This brief video clip would be a high-quality...
Instructional Video2:14
Curated OER

STEMbite: Refrigeration

7th - 12th
Mr. Vanden Heuvel opens up the back of his refrigerator to show viewers how it works. He explains that the mechanism removes heat from inside the cooler box. The refrigerant material changes phases from a liquid to a gas, thus extracting...
Instructional Video2:18
Curated OER

STEMbite: Gear Ratios

7th - 12th
Demonstrate how different-sized gears work together according to gear ratios. With the guts of a clock and the gears of a bicycle, Mr. Vander Heuvel explains how changing gears can alter the output of a system when the same input is...