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Video

Structures and Bonding

This simulation allows students to explore the chemical reactions between hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and chlorine. They can form water, carbon dioxide, hydrochloric acid, ammonia and methane. Word and chemical equations are provided. The diagrams distinguish single, double and triple bonds and shapes of molecules.

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What are bryozoans?

This is a colour video clip in which biogeochemist Associate Professor Abby Smith of the University of Otago describes the characteristics, behaviour and habitats of bryozoans. It includes photographs and micrographs of bryozoans as well as a sequence showing Professor Smith working with specimens.

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Farmland run-off into estuaries

This is a colour video clip of marine scientist Dr Candida Savage discussing nutrient run-off from farmland, and the effects it has on estuaries and other coastal environments. The clip shows Dr Savage, from the University of Otago, New Zealand, being interviewed. It also shows images of houses on the banks of estuaries, ...

Video

Why tag a starfish?

This is a colour video clip in which biologist Dr Miles Lamare of the University of Otago talks about the advantages of using electronic tags to study sea stars. He explains how the tags operate, the data they provide and how unusual it is for them to be used on invertebrates. Sequences showing tags on sea stars and other ...

Video

For the Juniors: Where Does Bread Come From?

Do you know where your bread comes from? Discover how many other foods can be made from wheat flour. This clip tells the story of wheat from the farm to the factory. See how the big machines in a flour mill make flour from grains of wheat.

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Catalyst: Scaling down our solar system

Can you imagine how huge the Sun is, or how far away planets such as Saturn are? Watch this clip to discover how 'mind-bending-ly big' the solar system is. Presenter, Bernie Hobbs, scales down the the solar system to fit into a football field to demonstrate the relative sizes and distances of the Sun and planets. Find out ...

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For the Juniors: Wet weather in cold and warm climates

Have you ever thought about how rainy weather feels in different places? This short clip talks about wet weather in a cold place and in a warm place. You will hear some children talking about how they feel when it's raining where they live.

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Dingo secrets

This 9 minute video segment from Catalyst shows a biologist is finding out about how a family of multi-coloured dingoes is challenging our very idea of these animals. Technology has been invaluable in learning how young dingoes are taught adult behaviour and survival behaviours of the pack.

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For the Juniors: Making a rain gauge

How do you feel about the rain? This clip explains why rain is so important to farmers. You will see how to make a rain gauge and use it to measure how much rain falls. Farmers measure rainfall so they know when to do different jobs on their farms.

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Stem Cells Repair

This 11 minute video segment from Catalyst is a case study of research in the use of stem cells. It demonstrates the structure of the knee joint and the role of bones and cartilage. Stem cells from bone marrow are collected and used in attempt to prevent the onset of arthritis. This program distinguishes embryonic from ...

Video

Understanding Magnets

In this simulation students select an object made of one of two materials (either iron or aluminium) and use magnets to guide the object through a maze. Engages students while they learn that aluminium is not attracted to magnets but iron is.

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Sexual selection

This 5 minute video segment from Catalyst describes how Charles Darwin has revolutionised the way we understand modern biology and evolution. A scientist in Queensland put one of his theories under the microscope by testing to see if more brightly coloured male butterflies have greater success in mating. He speculates that ...

Video

Squeaky sand

This six minute video segment from Catalyst Two compares two beaches, one with white squeaky sand, the other with darker non-squeaky sand and their sand studied under a microscope. Dr Tim Senden attempts to shed some light on this mystery with the use of a visual model. Sand avalanches and the production of sound come into ...

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Dugongs

This 6 minute video segment from Catalyst explains how the dugong, a vulnerable to endangered species is protected and that very little is known about it. Biologists are capturing animals to get baseline information about their blood and tissues in an effort to find out more about them and to secure their future. They are ...

Video

Cloud seeding

This nine and a half minute video segment from Catalyst describes how researchers from Monash University have hard evidence that cloud seeding can produce good amounts of extra rainfall. Data collected over a long period of time has give hope to scientists and environmentalists who are trying to reduce the impacts of droughts ...

Video

Planes, Trains and Autism

This 7 minute video segment from Catalyst explains how science has been applied to helping to deal with behaviours associated with Asperger's syndrome.

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The Reaction of Metals with Acid

Students use this simulation to learn that react with hydrochloric acid to produce salt and hydrogen and find out how to test for hydrogen gas. The notice that sodium reacts violently and that magnesium reacts more quickly than zinc but that the hydrogen gas test is positive for both. Word equations are provided for all reactions.

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Aerial Orang Utans

This 11 minute video segment form Catalyst shows that although the orang-utans of Borneo are threatened with extinction, we don't know exactly how many are left or where they are. The use of helicopters to locate their nests and estimate population size has helped to challenge our thinking about the requirements of this ...

Video

Too cold for cane toads

A new study reported in this video segment has looked at how temperatures impact cane toad movement and has aided in the development of a model that indicates that their geographical spread is limited. An excellent example of the use of mathematical modelling in scientific research and how scientists have tried to address ...

Video

Artificial shark birth

A five and a half minute video segment from Catalyst that explains why Grey Nurse Sharks are in danger, especially on Australia's east coast where only a few hundred individuals are thought to exist. However, in a world first, researchers at the NSW Department of Primary Industries have built an artificial uterus, which ...