Discover Resources
Browse curated homeschool resources from the community
TED-Ed: The Myth of Thor's Journey to the Land of Giants
Thor—son of Odin, god of thunder, and protector of mankind—struggled mightily against his greatest challenge yet: opening a bag of food. How had the mighty god fallen so far? Scott Mellor tells the myth of Thor's journey to Utgard.
TED-Ed: The Science of Static Electricity
We’ve all had the experience: you’re walking across a soft carpet, you reach for the doorknob and … ZAP. But what causes this trademark jolt of static electricity? Anuradha Bhagwat sheds light on the phenomenon by examining the nature of matter.
TED-Ed: What Is Entropy?
There’s a concept that’s crucial to chemistry and physics. It helps explain why physical processes go one way and not the other: why ice melts, why cream spreads in coffee, why air leaks out of a punctured tire. It’s entropy, and it’s notoriously difficult to wrap our heads around. Jeff Phillips gives a crash course on entropy.
TED-Ed: What Is Consciousness?
Patient P.S. suffered a stroke that damaged the right side of her brain, leaving her unaware of everything on her left side. If someone threw a ball at her left side, she might duck. But she wouldn’t have awareness of the ball or know why she ducked. Where does consciousness come from? Michael Graziano explores the question that has vexed scientists and philosophers for centuries.
TED-Ed: Do You Really Need 10,000 Steps a Day?
For years, Jean Béliveau walked from country to country, with the goal of circumnavigating the globe on foot. While few people have the time or desire to walk such extreme lengths, research shows that adding even a modest amount of walking to your daily routine can dramatically improve your health. So, what exactly happens to your body when you increase your step count? Shannon Odell investigates.
TED-Ed: How Does Caffeine Keep Us Awake?
Over 100,000 metric tons of caffeine are consumed around the world every year. That’s equivalent to the weight of 14 Eiffel Towers! Caffeine helps us feel alert, focused, and energetic, even if we haven’t had enough sleep — but it can also raise our blood pressure and make us feel anxious. So how does it keep us awake? Hanan Qasim shares the science behind the world’s most widely used drug.
TED-Ed: The Genes You Don't Get from Your Parents
Inside our cells, each of us has a second set of genes completely separate from our 23 pairs of chromosomes. And this isn’t just true for humans— it’s true of every animal, plant, and fungus on Earth. This second genome belongs to our mitochondria, an organelle inside our cells. So why are they so different from anything else in our bodies? Devin Shuman explores the purpose of mitochondrial DNA.
TED-Ed: How Blood Pressure Works
If you lined up all the blood vessels in your body, they’d be 60 thousand miles long. And every day, they carry the equivalent of over two thousand gallons of blood to the body’s tissues. What effect does this pressure have on the walls of the blood vessels? Wilfred Manzano gives the facts on blood pressure.
TED-Ed: How Food Affects Your Gut
The bacteria in our guts can break down food the body can’t digest, produce important nutrients, regulate the immune system, and protect against harmful germs. And while we can’t control all the factors that go into maintaining a healthy gut microbiome, we can manipulate the balance of our microbes by paying attention to what we eat. Shilpa Ravella shares the best foods for a healthy gut.
TED-Ed: How Your Digestive System Works
Constantly churning inside of you, the digestive system performs a daily marvel: it transforms your food into the vital nutrients that sustain your body and ensure your survival. Emma Bryce traces food’s nine-meter-long, 40-hour journey through the remarkable digestive tract.
TED-Ed: How Do Ocean Currents Work?
In 1992, a cargo ship carrying bath toys got caught in a storm. Shipping containers washed overboard, and the waves swept 28,000 rubber ducks and other toys into the North Pacific. But they didn’t stick together -- the ducks have since washed up all over the world. How did this happen? Jennifer Verduin dives into the science of ocean currents.
TED-Ed: How Stretching Actually Changes Your Muscles
An athlete is preparing for a game. They’ve put on their gear and done their warmup, and now it’s time for one more routine — stretching. Typically, athletes stretch before physical activity to avoid injuries like strains and tears. But does stretching actually prevent these issues? And if so, how long do the benefits of stretching last? Malachy McHugh explores the finer points of flexibility.
TED-Ed: The Law of Conservation of Mass
Everything in our universe has mass — from the smallest atom to the largest star. But the amount of mass has remained constant throughout existence even during the birth and death of stars, planets and you. How can the universe grow while maintaining its mass? Todd Ramsey answers that question by unravelling the law of conservation of mass.
TED-Ed: What Causes Cavities?
When a team of archeologists recently came across some 15,000-year-old human remains, they made an interesting discovery: the teeth of those ancient humans were riddled with holes. So what causes cavities, and how can we avoid them? Mel Rosenberg takes us inside our teeth to find out.
TED-Ed: Making Sense of How Life Fits Together
From something as miniscule as a cell to the biosphere we all call home, living things fit together in numerous interesting ways. Bobbi Seleski catalogs biology from our body and beyond, tracking how unicellular organisms, tissues, organs, organ systems, organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems, and our biosphere build off of each other and work together.
TED-Ed: The Myth of Oisín and the Land of Eternal Youth
In a typical hero’s journey, the protagonist sets out on an adventure, undergoes great change and returns in triumph to their point of origin. But in the Irish genre of myth known as echtraí, the journey to the otherworld ends in a point of no return. Iseult Gillespie shares the myth of Oisín and the land of eternal youth.
TED-Ed: How Your Muscular System Works
Each time you take a step, 200 muscles work in unison to lift your foot, propel it forward, and set it down. It’s just one of the many thousands of tasks performed by the muscular system: this network of over 650 muscles covers the body and is the reason we can blink, smile, run, jump, and stand upright. So how does it work? Emma Bryce takes you into the body to find out.
TED-Ed: DNA: The Book of You
Your body is made of cells -- but how does a single cell know to become part of your nose, instead of your toes? The answer is in your body's instruction book: DNA. Joe Hanson compares DNA to a detailed manual for building a person out of cells -- with 46 chapters (chromosomes) and hundreds of thousands of pages covering every part of you.
TED-Ed: Could We Actually Live on Mars?
There's a lot of talk these days about when and how we might all move to Mars. But what would it actually be like to live there? Mari Foroutan details the features of Mars that are remarkably similar to those of Earth — and those that can only be found on the red planet.