Science 4 - Living Systems Videos

This episode dives into the world of amphibians, animals that live both on land and in water. Bill explains how amphibians like frogs, toads, and salamanders undergo metamorphosis, transforming from tadpoles to adults. The episode highlights the unique adaptations that allow these creatures to thrive in diverse environments. 

The video "Being a Poison Dart Frog is Hard" explores the challenges faced by poison dart frogs despite their toxic defenses. These brightly colored frogs use their toxins as a deterrent against predators, but they still face significant threats from habitat loss and climate change. Additionally, their toxins are derived from their diet of certain insects, which makes their survival dependent on the availability of these food sources. Poison dart frogs also have to compete with other frogs for resources and mates. Despite their chemical defenses, being a small amphibian in a changing environment poses constant challenges for survival.

The "Best of Frogs" video by BBC Earth showcases a variety of frog species and their unique adaptations; this is very useful for introducing students to some fascinating examples of amphibians. Glass frogs have translucent skin that provides camouflage by blending into their environment. Poison dart frogs use bright colors to warn predators of their toxicity, which comes from their diet. Tree frogs possess sticky toe pads, allowing them to live safely in trees, while bullfrogs are large and powerful, able to jump far and prey on various animals. Lastly, red-eyed tree frogs use their vibrant eyes and body colors to startle predators, giving them time to escape. Each frog's adaptation helps it survive in its specific habitat.

This episode dives into the world of amphibians, animals that live both on land and in water. Bill explains how amphibians like frogs, toads, and salamanders undergo metamorphosis, transforming from tadpoles to adults. The episode highlights the unique adaptations that allow these creatures to thrive in diverse environments. 

The "Fish" episode explores the underwater world of these aquatic animals, explaining how gills, fins, scales, and other unique adaptations help them survive in water. Bill introduces viewers to different types of fish, from tiny minnows to large sharks, and discusses their role in the food chain and ecosystems. 

Bill explores the fascinating world of arthropods, which include insects, spiders, and crustaceans. (Do note that there is an eopisode exclusively to spiders below.) Viewers learn about their segmented bodies, exoskeletons, how the exoskeletons are a key adaptation, and how these creatures make up the largest group of animals on Earth. The episode covers their vital roles in ecosystems and their incredible diversity. 

This episode focuses on invertebrates, animals without backbones, which include insects, worms, and jellyfish. Bill explains their important roles in ecosystems and how they adapt to their environments. The episode also highlights the incredible diversity (and the diversity of their adaptations) within this group of animals. 

Bill explains what makes mammals unique, from their fur to their warm-blooded nature and how they care for their young. Viewers learn about the different kinds of mammals, from humans to whales, and their key adaptations. The episode explores how mammals are found in every habitat on Earth. 

This episode explores marine mammals like whales, dolphins, and seals, animals that live in the ocean but share characteristics with land mammals. Bill discusses their adaptations to aquatic life, such as echolocation and blubber, and how they are able to survive in deep and cold waters. 

In this episode, Bill takes a look at reptiles, including snakes, lizards, turtles, and crocodiles. He explains their cold-blooded nature, scales, and how they adapt to life in various environments. The episode touches on reptile behaviors, including their methods of hunting and defense. 

This episode explores the world of spiders, showing how these eight-legged creatures use silk to build webs, hunt, and protect their eggs. Bill explains their unique adaptations, including their multiple eyes and venom. The episode highlights spiders' roles in ecosystems as both predators and prey. 

The "Top 5 Killer Crocodile Moments" video showcases the formidable adaptations of crocodiles in their natural environment. Crocodiles use their powerful jaws and immense bite force to capture and crush prey, making them highly effective predators. They are also masters of stealth, using their ability to stay submerged with only their eyes and nostrils above water to ambush prey. Their tough, armored skin provides protection during fights and attacks. In one instance, they exhibit cooperative hunting, where multiple crocodiles work together to capture larger prey. These adaptations enable crocodiles to dominate their ecosystems as apex predators. Though it places focus on one small part of the reptiles within the animal kingdom, this is the type of video that many students will become fuly engaged with!

The "Unbelievable Bird Behaviours" video highlights various birds and their remarkable adaptations. For example, the lyrebird is a master of mimicry, able to imitate natural and artificial sounds to attract mates. The bowerbird constructs intricate and colorful nests, called bowers, to impress females. Birds of paradise perform elaborate mating dances, showcasing their vivid plumage to attract partners. The northern bald ibis exhibits teamwork and strong migratory instincts to survive challenging journeys. Each bird demonstrates specialized behaviors that help them succeed in courtship, survival, and adapting to their environment.

Though this video might seem a bit too quick with too much information, it does manage to touch on nine different interesting adaptations in just over six minutes. This might be the type of video that would strongly benefit with having your students make a list at the end of the the top three facts that they remember from the video; the information is certainly abundant, but sometimes overwhelming!

Where this video stands apart from some of the others is that it divides the adaptations among animals into the major phyla of the animal kingdom. There is discussion in this video of adaptations found in reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals, and arthropods (invertebrates). One place where this video stands out is that about two-thirds of the way through, they take a look at some of the key vocabulary terms when discussing animal adaptations.

This video does a nice job of clearly dividing physical adaptations (the focus of this unit) from behavioural and life cycle adaptations (the former is somewhat included in Living Systems 6 while the latter is in Living Systems 3). This way you can take a look at some good examples of physical adaptations and divide them from the other two types of adaptations. While some of the phyisical adaptations can be found in some of the other videos here, some of them are unique to this video.

What has this video stand out from the rest is that it repeatedly makes use of global maps to show where each of the species discussed in the video live. This might help many students to understand why some of the adaptations might relate to the area of the world that they live. The other key piece that this video addresses is the idea that adaptations are not the result of a single organism living its life, but the long-term result of natural selection over many generations.

This video is great in looking at some variations among animals, but the title isn't perfectly accurate. This video is one that looks at five excerpts from various BBC videos that dealt with a variety of animal adaptations. The one excerpt, about adaptations found in Africa, is condsidered only one of the five exceprts, but it looks at about five different adaptations on five different animals.

This episode takes a look at some of the animals that have not only outstanding hearing, but how the means by which certain animals hear (such as snakes) is very different than in mammals. One key idea that this video also addresses is that when looking at animals with an array of ear sizes, that the largest ears do not necessarily demonstrate the best hearing. Somewhat analogous to the explanation of infrared and ultraviolet waves in the sight video, it would be helpful to explain to student the idea that there are sounds at frequencies above and below the frequencies that humans can hear (~20 Hz - 20 000 Hz).

Note: There is a section relating hearing to mating from 13:45 - 14:30; you may want to decide whether this can be used in Science 4. The introduction to this video is 1:10 long.

This episode takes a look at some of the animals that have not only outstanding vision, but also vision that is very different than the vision that humans have.  This video also takes a look at a wide breadth of animals from animals that students will likely know very little about to learning about the vision of a domestic cat. Before showing this video, you may want to try to explain to students the very basics of infrared and ultraviolet waves; these are mentioned multiple times throughout the video.

Note: The introduction to this video is 1:10 long.

Of all the videos in this section, this is the video that goes into the greatest depth on each animal. This can certainly be beneficial for students who understand the basics within this topic, but are looking to learn a bit more.  What really stands out in this video is that it deomonstrates some examples of experimentation in the section that looks at the incredible sense of smell that the wolverine has.

This video walks through all five of the classic senses, and discusses examples of animals who stand out for each of the senses. Though the amount of information in this video might seem a little quick for students in Science 4, there is a good collection of facts throughout this video that students might find interesting.