A multimedia investigation of our environment. Time, processes, energy and climate. Learn about changes in the Earth over time. Explore how different forms of weathering and erosion shape the land. Learn about powerful glaciers. Find out about energy use and climate change. Discover how people are working to make the Earth a more livable planet. The Environment features clearly written text, more than 70 beautiful photographs and illustrations, interactive exercises (to “learn by doing”), nearly two-dozen video clips and animations, and a half-hour video documentary – Life: Earth from Space. Students explore how satellites are used in Earth observations, El Nino, food chains, global warming, hurricanes and more.
ScienceSchoolHouse’s new Discover! Science Library for grades 6-8 and 9-12, has the following features and components:
- Interactive multimedia tutorials: Each CD includes up to 200 screens with text and pictures/illustrations plus interactive exercises and lots of video clips.
- All core text is fully narrated (with an on/off option). All vocabulary checked for age appropriateness. Built to pedagogically correct standards with appendices for advanced research.
- 3D Virtual Laboratory: Select samples, instruments, tools, planets and natural environments. Design and perform dynamic, discovery oriented experiments, then analyze and plot data to confirm or deny hypotheses. Each student learns by doing science and being a scientist.
- One 30-minute, high-resolution, digital video on each CD, with content indexing and one-click navigation.
- Quizzes for the students and Test Banks for teachers.
- Teacher’s Guides and state and national curriculum correlations on the CDs and our website.
System Requirements
Windows 98 / 2000 / ME / XP / Vista, Pentium II, 32 MB RAM, CD-ROM Drive, Multimedia Capabilities
Macintosh OS X (native); G4 or better; Multimedia Capabilities
3D Virtual Laboratory
Quizzes and Test Banks
Manual
Interactive Exercises
- 1_1 Earth Systems
- 1_7 Distance
- 1_9 Continental Drift
- 1_10 Merry-Go-Rock
- 4_1 Glaciers
- 5_3 Biomes
- 5_4 Environmental Site Assessment
- 6_5 The Farm
- 6_18 Coal Mining
- 7_10 Land vs. Oceans
- 7_13 The Ozone Layer
- 8_1 How Science Works
- 8_2 The Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorous Cycle
- D_1 Timeline
- D_2 Earth’s Orbit
- D_3 The Sun’s Intensity
Movies and Animations
- 1_1 Earth
- 1_2 Dramatic Earth: Seconds, Hours, Days
- 1_3 Dramatic Earth: Months to Years
- 1_4 Dramatic Earth: 100s to 1000s of Years
- 1_5 Dramatic Earth: 100s of Thousands to Millions
- 1_6 Dramatic Earth: 100s of Millions to Billions
- 1_9 Continental Drift
- 1_11 Red River
- 1_12 Flooding
- 1_13 Average Global Lightning 1998
- 2_1 Physical Weathering
- 2_3 Landslide
- 3_5 Grand Canyon
- 3_6 The Mississippi River
- 4_1 Measuring Ice Thickness
- 4_2 Glacial Movement
- 4_6 Glacier Bay Alaska
- 6_2 Alternative Energy
- 6_4 Energy Use
- 6_7 Solar Power
- 6_11 Wind Power
- 6_15 Coal Mining
- 6_16 Natural Gas Formation
- 6_18 Coal Mining and Reclamation
- 7_1 The Weather
- 7_4 Solar Radiation
- 7_6 Carbon Dioxide
- 7_8 The Carbon Cycle
- 7_9 Greenhouse Warming
- 7_12 Greenhouse Gases
- D_10 Iceberg Flip!
- D_11 The Sun Radiates Energy
Interactive Multimedia Tutorial Tables of Contents
Chapter 1: Geologic Time and Processes
- 1-1 Whole Earth System
- 1-2 The Dramatic Earth: Seconds, Hours, Days
- 1-3 The Dramatic Earth: Days to Years
- 1-4 Hundreds to Thousands of Years
- 1-5 Hundreds of Thousands to Millions
- 1-6 Hundreds to Millions to Billions of Years
- 1-7 Distances and Trigonometry
- 1-8 Glimpses into Geologic Time
- 1-9 Continental Drift: The Discovery
- 1-10 The Rock Cycle
- 1-11 Watershed Modification
- 1-12 Flash Floods
- 1-13 Charged
- 1-14 Sea Level
Chapter 2: Weathering and Erosion
- 2-1 Physical Weathering
- 2-2 Chemical Weathering
- 2-3 Mass Wasting
Chapter 3: How Water Shapes the Landscape
- 3-1 Watersheds
- 3-2 Landforms Created by Running Water
- 3-3 Rivers
- 3-4 How Water Moves
- 3-5 Large Valleys
- 3-6 Floodplains
- 3-7 Reaching the Ocean
- 3-8 Groundwater
- 3-9 Water Table
Chapter 4: How Glaciers Shape the Landscape
- 4-1 Glaciers
- 4-2 Movement of Glaciers
- 4-3 Glacial Movement
- 4-4 Speed of Movement
- 4-5 Glacial Erosion and Sediments
- 4-6 Glacial Erosion
- 4-7 Glaciation
Chapter 5: How Plants and Animals Reshape the Landscape
- 5-1 Soils: Residue of Weathering
- 5-2 Formation of Soils
- 5-3 Soil Types
- 5-4 Soil Uses and Conservation
- 5-5 Plants Shape the Land
- 5-6 Animals Shape the Land
Chapter 6: Energy Uses
- 6-1 Matter and Energy
- 6-2 Energy
- 6-3 Stop and Think about Energy
- 6-4 Energy and the Earth System
- 6-5 What is Renewable Energy?
- 6-6 Alternative Energy Sources
- 6-7 Solar Energy
- 6-8 Hydroelectric Power
- 6-9 Tidal Energy
- 6-10 Geothermal Energy
- 6-11 Wind Energy
- 6-12 Biomass Energy
- 6-13 Non-renewable Resources
- 6-14 Fossil Fuels
- 6-15 Coal Buried Sunshine
- 6-16 Oil and Natural Gas
- 6-17 Nuclear Energy
- 6-18 Mining and Reclamation
Chapter 7 :Climate Change
- 7-1 What is Climate?
- 7-2 Climate Cycles
- 7-3 Climate Connections
- 7-4 Earth Traps the Heat
- 7-5 A Comfortable Balance
- 7-6 Greenhouse Gases
- 7-7 The Human Role
- 7-8 The Carbon Cycle
- 7-9 The Question
- 7-10 Why Don’t We Know?
- 7-11 More Meddling or Less?
- 7-12 What Will Global Warming Do?
- 7-13 Reasons to Worry
Chapter 8: What People Are Doing
- 8-1 Conservation
- 8-2 One Voice Recycling
- 8-3 The Four R’s
Note: Appendices A, B and C are common to all Discover! titles.
Appendix A: Scientific Method
- A.1 The Need to Know
- A.2 What Makes Science Different?
- A.3 Induction
- A.4 The Scientific Method
- A.5 Hypothesis and Deduction
- A.6 Experiments and Observation
- A.7 Acceptance of Hypotheses
- A.8 Theories and Laws
- A.9 The Cycle of Scientific Inquiry
- A.10 Scientists Build Models
- A.11 Scientific Theories and Revolutions
- A.12 Scientists Doing Science
- A.13 Open Communication
- A.14 Ethical Responsibilities
- A.15 Role of Technology
- A.16 Science and Society
Appendix B: Measurement Systems and SI Units
- B.1 The Need for Common Units
- B.2 Some Old Units of Measurement
- B.3 Problems with Different Measurement Systems
- B.4 The SI (Metric) System
- B.5 Basic Units of SI
- B.6 Derived Units
- B.7 More Derived Units
- B.8 Decimal Multipliers
- B.9 SI Prefixes
- B.10 Scientific Notation
- B.11 Large and Small Numbers
- B.12 Exact and Approximate Numbers
- B.13 Precision Measurements
- B.14 Significant Figures
- B.15 Scientific Notation and Precision
- B.16 Accuracy and Precision
- B.17 Dangers of Many Digits
- B.18 Working with Scientific Notation
Appendix C: Careers in Science
- C.1 Careers in Science
- C.2 Careers in Geology
- C.3 Careers in Oceanography
- C.4 Careers in Atmospheric Science
- C.5 Careers in Astronomy
- C.6 Geological Field Safety
Appendix D: Life on Planet Earth
- D.1 Introduction
- D.2 The Earth’s Location
- D.3 The Sun’s Heat
- D.4 The Small Window of Livability
- D.5 Molecules of Life
- D.6 Organic Molecules
- D.7 Simple Sugars
- D.8 Polysaccharides
- D.9 Water, Water Everywhere
- D.10 Water is Special
- D.11 The Need for Sunlight
- D.12 How Common is Life?
xMedia Movie
Earth From Space (22 minutes)
Two students guide this video which explores how satellites are used in Earth observation. El Nino, food chains, global warming, hurricanes and how to keep our planet beautiful are all explored. Using NASA'S brilliant imagery in combination with local settings gives students a good overview of Earth's systems and their interactivity.
- 00:00 Introduction
- 00:15 Introduction to Systems
- 01:53 Earth from Space and Satellites
- 02:19 Satellite Components and Links
- 03:05 Types of Satellite Images
- 03:35 Computers on Earth Translate Data
- 03:50 Weather and Communication Satellites - Geostationary Orbit
- 04:54 Orbiting Satellites
- 05:54 Earth Fact
- 06:12 Everything is Tied Together
- 06:41 El Nino
- 07:49 Phytoplankton and Food Chains
- 08:53 El Nino upsets Balance World Wide
- 10:08 Earth Fact
- 10:26 Impact on Glaciers
- 11:46 Global Warming
- 14:32 Things We Can Do to Help
- 15:17 Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
- 15:34 Drought
- 17:39 Sahara Dust and Hurricanes
- 17:57 Hurricanes
- 20:01 Summary
- 21:07 Credits
- 21:53 End
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