Discover Resources
Browse curated homeschool resources from the community
Can You Solve the Dragon Jousting Riddle Alex Gendler
After years of war, the world’s kingdoms have come to an agreement. Every five years, teams representing the elves, goblins, and treefolk will compete in a grand tournament of dragon jousting. You have the important job of recording the scores for the inaugural tournament. But, you overslept and the games are already underway. Can you figure out the real score of each match? Alex Gendler shows how.
How Does Blood Transfusion Work Bill Schutt
In 1881, doctor William Halsted rushed to help his sister Minnie, who was hemorrhaging after childbirth. He quickly inserted a needle into his arm, withdrew his own blood, and transferred it to her. After a few uncertain minutes, she began to recover. What made this blood transfusion successful? Bill Schutt explains the history of the life-saving procedure.
The Motion of the Ocean the Concentration Gradient Sasha Wright
The constant motion of our oceans represents a vast and complicated system involving many different drivers. Sasha Wright explains the physics behind one of those drivers -- the concentration gradient -- and illustrates how our oceans are continually engaging in a universal struggle for space.
What s the Definition of Comedy Banana Addison Anderson
What makes us giggle and guffaw? The inability to define comedy is its very appeal; it is defined by its defiance of definition. Addison Anderson riffs on the philosophy of Henri Bergson and Aristotle to elucidate how a definition draws borders while comedy breaks them down.
Mysteries of Vernacular Bewilder Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel
The history of the word bewilder is more straightforward than you might think. Roots can be traced back to the Old English words wilde (undomesticated) and deor (untamed animals), eventually combined into the word wilderness. Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel track bewilder's etymological path from meaning natural states to complete confusion.
What Do the Lungs Do Emma Bryce
When you breathe, you transport oxygen to the body’s cells to keep them working, while also clearing your system of the carbon dioxide that this work generates. How do we accomplish this crucial and complex task without even thinking about it? Emma Bryce takes us into the lungs to investigate how they help keep us alive.
Let s Use Video to Reinvent Education Salman Khan
Salman Khan talks about how and why he created the remarkable Khan Academy, a carefully structured series of educational videos offering complete curricula in math and, now, other subjects. He shows the power of interactive exercises and calls for teachers to consider flipping the traditional classroom script -- give students video lectures to watch at home and do "homework" in the classroom with the teacher available to help.
Encyclopedic Entry: Plate Tectonics
The theory of plate tectonics revolutionized the earth sciences by explaining how the movement of geologic plates causes mountain building, volcanoes, and earthquakes.
Where Did Earth s Water Come from Zachary Metz
Water covers over 70% of the Earth, cycling from the oceans and rivers to the clouds and back again. It even makes up about 60% of our bodies. But in the rest of the solar system, liquid water is almost impossible to find. So how did our planet end up with so much of this substance? And where did it come from? Zachary Metz outlines the ancient origins of water on Earth.
Why Should You Read Sci Fi Superstar Octavia E Butler Ayana Jamieson and Moya Bailey
Much science fiction features white male heroes who blast aliens or become saviors of brown people. Octavia E. Butler knew she could tell a better story. She built stunning worlds rife with diverse characters, and brought nuance and depth to the representation of their experiences. Ayana Jamieson and Moya Bailey dive into the works of the visionary storyteller who upended science fiction.
SAAM: Science and Technology Through Art
Discover how you can integrate American art into your classroom. The Smithsonian American Art Museum’s educational materials are free for your use. Teacher Guides are downloadable PDFs, listed with corresponding standards and grade levels for your convenience.
How Squids Outsmart Their Predators Carly Anne York
There are about 500 species of squid, and they live in all the world’s oceans, making them a reliable food source for whales, dolphins, sharks, seabirds, fish - and even other squid. As a result, the squid's most extraordinary adaptations are those that have evolved to help them thwart these predators. Carly Anne York explains how these stealthy cephalopods have mastered deep sea survival.
How Parasites Change Their Host s Behavior Jaap De Roode
The biggest challenge in a parasite’s life is to move from one host to another. Intriguingly, many parasites have evolved the ability to manipulate the behavior of their hosts to improve their own survival -- sometimes even by direct brain control. Jaap de Roode details a few parasites that can really mess with the mind.
Why the Sun Could Crash Your Internet Fabio Pacucci
In September 1859, miners following the Colorado gold rush woke up to another sunny day. Or so they thought. To their surprise, they soon discovered it was actually 1am and the sky wasn’t lit by the sun, but rather by brilliant drapes of light. The blazing glow was a solar storm— the largest in recorded history. So what exactly is a solar storm? Fabio Paccuci explains this astrophysical phenomena.
When Ai Can Fake Reality Who Can You Trust Sam Gregory
We're fast approaching a world where widespread, hyper-realistic deepfakes lead us to dismiss reality, says technologist and human rights advocate Sam Gregory. What happens to democracy when we can't trust what we see? Learn three key steps to protecting our ability to distinguish human from synthetic — and why fortifying our perception of truth is crucial to our AI-infused future.