What is an Animal? Crash Course Zoology #1

Check out Animal IQ on PBS Terra! https://youtu.be/Ejhbr_t7Blc So what is an animal anyway? In our inaugural episode of Crash Course Zoology, we’ll endeavor to answer just that because as it turns out, it’s complicated! But before we get there we’ll need to introduce you to zoology more broadly, tell you about taxonomy (the branch of science dedicated...

1d

🐌 Crash Course Zoology Preview

Welcome to Crash Course Zoology! In this fourteen-episode series made in partnership with PBS and Nature, Crash Course Zoology will take a rapid deep dive into the weird and wonderful biology of animals. Host, wildlife ecologist, and conservation scientist, Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant will guide us across the tree of life as we endeavor to answer what makes...

2w

What Are the Different Types of Cyclones? Crash Course Geography #12

Today we’re going to talk about two types of cyclones: mid-latitude cyclones and tropical cyclones. Mid-latitude cyclones are huge weather systems that bring day-to-day weather in the mid-latitudes. They're the reason the weather is often unpredictable. We'll focus on the Northern Hemisphere and how these cyclones form along the polar front. Then, we'll...

2w

Synthesis and Column Chromatography: Crash Course Organic Chemistry #25

Even though all living things have a lot in common, different organisms can have very different reactions to the same organic chemicals. That means it’s really important for organic chemists to be able to purify chemicals and separate the products we want from reactions, from the side products we don’t. In this episode of Crash Course Organic Chemistry,...

3w

How Can Rain Create Conflict? Precipitation and Water Use: Crash Course Geography #11

If you compare precipitation around the world with population distribution we can understand a simple but powerful pattern of human geography: where there is water, there are people. But it gets a little more complicated because where there are people and limited resources, there is often conflict and bigger geographical questions at stake. So today,...

4w

Alcohols, Ethers, and Epoxides: Crash Course Organic Chemistry #24

What comes to mind when you think of alcohol? Probably alcoholic drinks like beer or wine. But in organic chemistry alcohols are an important and versatile family of compounds. In this episode of Crash Course Organic Chemistry, we’ll use alcohols as a starting point to get other types of compounds like ethers, epoxides, and more! Episode Sources:...

5w

☁️ What is a Cloud? Crash Course Geography #10

In addition to just being beautiful one-of-a-kind panoramas in the sky, clouds can tell us so much about how energy and weather patterns flow around the globe. Today, we'll talk about how clouds form, the three main types (cirrus, status, and cumulus), explain how and why we get rain, and end with a discussion on humidity and how high humidity can feel...

Mar 2021

Determining SN1, SN2, E1, and E2 Reactions: Crash Course Organic Chemistry #23

Organic chemistry isn’t that different from an adventure game, with substrates as characters, nucleophiles as magic potions, and reaction conditions as different magical kingdoms. In this episode of Crash Course Organic Chemistry, we’ll learn the tricks to this game so that we can figure out which transformation, or mechanism, will occur when we combine...

Mar 2021

How Do Oceans Circulate? Crash Course Geography #9

Today, we're going to take a closer look at how the oceans circulate by following the life of a discarded water bottle as it gets snagged in the North Pacific Garbage Patch. We'll talk about what causes the movement of water, called current, both near the surface and much deeper in the oceans, and we'll show how they follow similar (but not identical)...

Mar 2021

Where Does Wind Come From? Crash Course Geography #8

There's an invisible force shaping our lives, affecting the weather, climate, land, economy, and just whether a flag looks majestic or not - we're talking about the wind! Today we’re going to go into the science of where the wind comes from and take a closer look at the major wind systems and pressure belts across the globe. We'll explain how the Coriolis...

Feb 2021