It’s officially the “Beijing International Automotive Exhibition,” but its friends call it “Auto China,” and it’s now the largest car show in the world. Nearly 1000 companies flock to the exhibits taking up more than 380,000 square meters, or over 50 football fields! Or 1,246,719 feet and 50 soccer fields, if you’re from America! Or 9,329,989 beep-boop-zoinks and 50 astro-space-ball fields if you’re a Martian from outer space! Any way you spin it, this car show is a big deal, and there were two standout trends.
The first was electric vehicles. There’s always been an issue with charging, as makers have tried to maximize how far cars can travel on single charge while minimizing how long that charge takes. Now, a company called BYD claims to have an ultra-fast charging system that can provide 400 km of range with only 5 minutes of charging. What’s more, it’s designed to operate under extreme weather conditions. Since batteries are usually sensitive to high or low temperatures, addressing this is a major step in making electric vehicles as reliable as gas cars.
The other big topic was also fully autonomous, or self-driving cars. The company Geely developed a self-driving car built specifically for ride-hailing, so there’s no steering wheel or driver’s seat. That means you can pick your nose without fear of the driver judging you! Xpeng’s driverless car uses a combination of lasers, radar, and cameras to build a real time picture of the road, but we hope it works just as well in the clouds, because they may be extending this technology into flying cars as early as next year. It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s just my Uber! That’s one way to beat traffic.
Welcome to Zavodovski — a volcanic island that lives in the icy waters north of Antarctica. First watch Volcanic Islands Create a Penguin Sanctuary, a short clip from the award-winning BBC series Planet Earth. Sir David Attenborough introduces you to the world’s largest chinstrap penguin colony, which thrives despite (and in some cases, because of) its treacherous seas and active volcano.
Once your students have watched the video, invite them to check for understanding with this quick, 8-question quiz!
The article "Here Are 11 Arctic Animals That Not Only Survive, But Also Thrive in the Freezing Polar Landscape" from BBC's Discover Wildlife explores how various animals have adapted to endure the Arctic's extreme conditions. From the mighty polar bear and tusked walrus to the resilient Arctic fox and long-lived Greenland shark, the piece highlights their unique physical traits and survival behaviors.
In Volcanic Activity Shapes Life on the Seafloor narrator David Attenborough showcases volcanic activity beneath the ocean. The Atlantic Ocean is split by an immense volcanic mountain chain stretching 45,000 miles. In some places, fissures release superheated, mineral-rich water, forming towering chimneys called hydrothermal vents. Despite extreme temperatures and toxic chemicals, bacteria thrive here, forming the base of an ecosystem independent of sunlight. Shrimp and other crustaceans graze on these bacteria, creating a unique deep-sea community. Similar vents exist in the Pacific Ocean, where different species have adapted to similar conditions. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In Snow Petrels and Their Life in Antarctica, narrator Sir David Attenborough highlights these resilient birds as they make one of the longest migrations on Earth to find a nesting site in the heart of Antarctica. Petrels brave harsh conditions, defend their territory, and prepare for the challenge of raising their chicks. Once their eggs hatch, parents must make a 600-mile round trip to the ocean to gather food. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In The Winter Survival Strategies of Male Emperor Penguins, narrator Sir David Attenborough details the incredible survival strategies of male emperor penguins during the harsh Antarctic winter. After the females leave, the males form tightly packed groups to protect their eggs from the extreme cold. Facing brutal conditions, the penguins huddle together, constantly shifting to ensure everyone has a chance to stay warm. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In Male Emperor Penguins Are Fathers of the Year, narrator Sir David Attenborough shares how male penguins endure extreme conditions to care for their eggs. Temperatures plummet, winds whip, and the Sun disappears as these hardy birds huddle for protection. This video is excerpted from BBC's Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In How Plants Thrive in Extreme Conditions, narrator Sir David Attenborough describes plants that thrive in some of the harshest places on Earth. The dragon’s blood tree in Socotra uses its unique shape to catch the morning mist and water its roots, while the desert rose stores water in its thick trunk and grows right out of bare rock. Meanwhile, the red mangrove tree survives salty water by filtering out most of the salt through pores, showing how nature helps plants adapt to tough environments! This video is excerpted from BBC’s Life, a show that explores the remarkable strategies animals and plants use to ensure their survival.
In Polar Seasons and Life at the Extremes, narrator Sir David Attenborough describes life in the coldest, most extreme places on the planet. Learn how the seasons at the Poles have a rhythm of their own that only the toughest species can endure. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Frozen Planet, a series that shows a fragile world of beauty and hostility, where nature finds a way to survive and thrive in frigid conditions.
In Cataplexy and Narcolepsy, learn how one woman lives with cataplexy and narcolepsy. The video follows Lucy, a woman with these conditions, exploring how her body reacts to extreme emotions and how that impacts her daily life. Gain an understanding of these two disorders, their effects on the body, and the challenges faced by individuals living with them. This video is excerpted from BBC’s The World’s Most Extraordinary People, a documentary series revealing how rare medical conditions inspire groundbreaking scientific discoveries.
In How Rare Is Our Planet?, Dr. Lynn Rothschild explains the delicate balance that makes Earth unique. She focuses on the habitable zone — the perfect distance from the Sun that allows liquid water to exist allowing life to thrive. This exact positioning results in a tiny wobble in the star, which makes it extremely challenging to find another planet with conditions similar to Earth’s.
In Inside Planetary Storms, Professor Brian Cox explores the extreme weather conditions on Jupiter, a planet with an incredibly thick atmosphere that fuels its intense storms. Despite being far from the Sun, Jupiter’s storms are powered by immense surface pressure. This atmospheric pressure causes hydrogen gas to transform into a liquid, releasing vast amounts of energy and creating some of the most powerful storms in the Solar System. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Wonders of the Solar System, a spellbinding documentary series that explores the most extreme locations on Earth to explain how the laws of physics carved natural wonders across the Solar System.
It’s officially the “Beijing International Automotive Exhibition,” but its friends call it “Auto China,” and it’s now the largest car show in the world. Nearly 1000 companies flock to the exhibits taking up more than 380,000 square meters, or over 50 football fields! Or 1,246,719 feet and 50 soccer fields, if you’re from America! Or 9,329,989 beep-boop-zoinks and 50 astro-space-ball fields if you’re a Martian from outer space! Any way you spin it, this car show is a big deal, and there were two standout trends.
The first was electric vehicles. There’s always been an issue with charging, as makers have tried to maximize how far cars can travel on single charge while minimizing how long that charge takes. Now, a company called BYD claims to have an ultra-fast charging system that can provide 400 km of range with only 5 minutes of charging. What’s more, it’s designed to operate under extreme weather conditions. Since batteries are usually sensitive to high or low temperatures, addressing this is a major step in making electric vehicles as reliable as gas cars.
The other big topic was also fully autonomous, or self-driving cars. The company Geely developed a self-driving car built specifically for ride-hailing, so there’s no steering wheel or driver’s seat. That means you can pick your nose without fear of the driver judging you! Xpeng’s driverless car uses a combination of lasers, radar, and cameras to build a real time picture of the road, but we hope it works just as well in the clouds, because they may be extending this technology into flying cars as early as next year. It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s just my Uber! That’s one way to beat traffic.
Welcome to Zavodovski — a volcanic island that lives in the icy waters north of Antarctica. First watch Volcanic Islands Create a Penguin Sanctuary, a short clip from the award-winning BBC series Planet Earth. Sir David Attenborough introduces you to the world’s largest chinstrap penguin colony, which thrives despite (and in some cases, because of) its treacherous seas and active volcano.
Once your students have watched the video, invite them to check for understanding with this quick, 8-question quiz!
The article "Here Are 11 Arctic Animals That Not Only Survive, But Also Thrive in the Freezing Polar Landscape" from BBC's Discover Wildlife explores how various animals have adapted to endure the Arctic's extreme conditions. From the mighty polar bear and tusked walrus to the resilient Arctic fox and long-lived Greenland shark, the piece highlights their unique physical traits and survival behaviors.
In Volcanic Activity Shapes Life on the Seafloor narrator David Attenborough showcases volcanic activity beneath the ocean. The Atlantic Ocean is split by an immense volcanic mountain chain stretching 45,000 miles. In some places, fissures release superheated, mineral-rich water, forming towering chimneys called hydrothermal vents. Despite extreme temperatures and toxic chemicals, bacteria thrive here, forming the base of an ecosystem independent of sunlight. Shrimp and other crustaceans graze on these bacteria, creating a unique deep-sea community. Similar vents exist in the Pacific Ocean, where different species have adapted to similar conditions. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In Snow Petrels and Their Life in Antarctica, narrator Sir David Attenborough highlights these resilient birds as they make one of the longest migrations on Earth to find a nesting site in the heart of Antarctica. Petrels brave harsh conditions, defend their territory, and prepare for the challenge of raising their chicks. Once their eggs hatch, parents must make a 600-mile round trip to the ocean to gather food. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In The Winter Survival Strategies of Male Emperor Penguins, narrator Sir David Attenborough details the incredible survival strategies of male emperor penguins during the harsh Antarctic winter. After the females leave, the males form tightly packed groups to protect their eggs from the extreme cold. Facing brutal conditions, the penguins huddle together, constantly shifting to ensure everyone has a chance to stay warm. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In Male Emperor Penguins Are Fathers of the Year, narrator Sir David Attenborough shares how male penguins endure extreme conditions to care for their eggs. Temperatures plummet, winds whip, and the Sun disappears as these hardy birds huddle for protection. This video is excerpted from BBC's Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In How Plants Thrive in Extreme Conditions, narrator Sir David Attenborough describes plants that thrive in some of the harshest places on Earth. The dragon’s blood tree in Socotra uses its unique shape to catch the morning mist and water its roots, while the desert rose stores water in its thick trunk and grows right out of bare rock. Meanwhile, the red mangrove tree survives salty water by filtering out most of the salt through pores, showing how nature helps plants adapt to tough environments! This video is excerpted from BBC’s Life, a show that explores the remarkable strategies animals and plants use to ensure their survival.
In Polar Seasons and Life at the Extremes, narrator Sir David Attenborough describes life in the coldest, most extreme places on the planet. Learn how the seasons at the Poles have a rhythm of their own that only the toughest species can endure. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Frozen Planet, a series that shows a fragile world of beauty and hostility, where nature finds a way to survive and thrive in frigid conditions.
In Cataplexy and Narcolepsy, learn how one woman lives with cataplexy and narcolepsy. The video follows Lucy, a woman with these conditions, exploring how her body reacts to extreme emotions and how that impacts her daily life. Gain an understanding of these two disorders, their effects on the body, and the challenges faced by individuals living with them. This video is excerpted from BBC’s The World’s Most Extraordinary People, a documentary series revealing how rare medical conditions inspire groundbreaking scientific discoveries.
In How Rare Is Our Planet?, Dr. Lynn Rothschild explains the delicate balance that makes Earth unique. She focuses on the habitable zone — the perfect distance from the Sun that allows liquid water to exist allowing life to thrive. This exact positioning results in a tiny wobble in the star, which makes it extremely challenging to find another planet with conditions similar to Earth’s.
In Inside Planetary Storms, Professor Brian Cox explores the extreme weather conditions on Jupiter, a planet with an incredibly thick atmosphere that fuels its intense storms. Despite being far from the Sun, Jupiter’s storms are powered by immense surface pressure. This atmospheric pressure causes hydrogen gas to transform into a liquid, releasing vast amounts of energy and creating some of the most powerful storms in the Solar System. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Wonders of the Solar System, a spellbinding documentary series that explores the most extreme locations on Earth to explain how the laws of physics carved natural wonders across the Solar System.