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 Snow on Mount Kenya, narrator Sir David Attenborough explores the remarkable adaptations of plants that survive the dramatic daily temperature swings on Mount Kenya, near the equator. Despite the tropical location, snow and freezing temperatures challenge life in this alpine environment. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth II, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In Inside India’s Teak Forests: Partners in Desperate Times, narrator Sir David Attenborough describes how plants and animals adapt to survive the hot, dry season. Langur monkeys and chital deer form an unlikely partnership to help them survive. This video is excerpted from BBC's Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In The Panther Chameleon’s Survival Skills, narrator Sir David Attenborough looks at the amazing panther chameleon and how it has adapted to survive. This chameleon uses its long, fast tongue like a missile to catch insects, and its toes act like pincers to grip branches. Its eyes rotate in all directions, and its skin changes color to blend in with its surroundings, helping it thrive and hunt in the jungles of Madagascar. This video is excerpted from BBC's Life, a show that explores the remarkable strategies animals and plants use to ensure their survival.
Climb high into the world of mountains! From the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas to the rugged Rockies, these towering ecosystems challenge life to adapt in amazing ways. After watching our videos, challenge your students to become ecosystem experts by creating their own colorful report filled with fascinating facts. (They’ll need to dig deeper with extra research, too!) Inside the brochure, students will uncover and share:
- Location of the ecosystem on a world map
- Adjectives that describe the ecosystem
- Three animals that live in the ecosystem
- Three plants that grow in the ecosystem
- The climate of the ecosystem
- What makes the ecosystem important
- Their favorite fun facts
Your students will summarize the most important details in their own words while keeping it clear and easy to understand. As they choose what to include, they’ll sharpen their ability to evaluate and combine information from different sources. Best of all, they’ll show off their creativity and communication skills by designing a brochure that’s as fun to read as it is informative!
Bring your students on an icy exploration of the polar ecosystem! The Arctic and Antarctica may look frozen and empty at first glance, but they’re full of life perfectly adapted to the cold.
✨ Perfect for Grades 3–8, here’s what you need to bring ecosystems to life:
- Iconic BBC Videos: Share the clips on this page to introduce the location, plants, animals, and climate of the polar regions. (Don't miss the narwhals and emperor penguins!) Brought to you by world-class BBC programs like Planet Earth, Frozen Planet, and Seven Worlds, One Planet.
- Free Printable: Use the Polar Brochure Template to help students pull it all together in an ecosystem report with facts they’ve learned (and a little extra research).
It’s everything you need to make ecosystems easy to teach and truly memorable for your students.
In The Strange Life of the Sea Krait, narrator Sir David Attenborough discovers the mysterious sea krait snake, a reptile that has completely adapted to life underwater. Unlike most land-dwelling reptiles, the female sea krait only leaves the ocean when it's time to lay her eggs, finding secret caverns with air pockets. Six months later, the baby snakes hatch and make their way back to the water, continuing this fascinating cycle. This video is excerpted from BBC's Life, a show that explores the remarkable strategies animals and plants use to ensure their survival.
In Clever Ways Plants Reproduce, narrator Sir David Attenborough explains how flowers are amazing problem-solvers when it comes to pollination! In sunny fields of France, sunflowers use nectar to lure insects, which help spread pollen from flower to flower. But in the icy winds of Cradle Mountain, the honey bush protects its delicate parts by fusing its petals, leaving only strong birds to break through and help with pollination. Depending on its environment, flowers are problem-solvers when it comes to reproducing! This video is excerpted from BBC's Life, a show that explores the remarkable strategies animals and plants use to ensure their survival.
In Sloths, Masters of Slow and Steady, evolutionary biologist Ben Garrod describes how a sloth's skin provides unique camouflage, helping it blend into its environment for protection. Discover the symbiotic relationship between sloths and algae, which grows on their fur and gives them a greenish tint. This algae offers camouflage while also supporting moths that help fertilize the algae. Through this fascinating example of nature’s design, see how animals and plants can depend on each other in unexpected ways. This video is excerpted from Secrets of Skin, a documentary series exploring the natural history of the body’s largest organ.
In A Gecko’s Survival Tale, narrator Sir David Attenborough introduces the Brazilian pygmy gecko, a rainforest creature so tiny it could rest on your fingertip! This speedy little gecko has amazing survival tricks, like hydrophobic skin that keeps it dry and the ability to stand on water. Even in the face of a rainstorm, this gecko’s lightweight and clever moves help it thrive in its wild and watery home. This video is excerpted from BBC's Life, a show that explores the remarkable strategies animals and plants use to ensure their survival.
In The Amazing Waterfall Toad, narrator Sir David Attenborough introduces the amazing waterfall toad, a tiny creature that lives in the jungles where Brazil and Venezuela meet. About the size of a postage stamp, this toad has super gripping hands that help it cling to trees and wet leaves in the treetops. While other frogs might hop away from danger, the waterfall toad has a unique strategy that protects it from hungry snakes below. This video is excerpted from BBC's Life, a show that explores the remarkable strategies animals and plants use to ensure their survival.
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 Snow on Mount Kenya, narrator Sir David Attenborough explores the remarkable adaptations of plants that survive the dramatic daily temperature swings on Mount Kenya, near the equator. Despite the tropical location, snow and freezing temperatures challenge life in this alpine environment. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth II, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In Inside India’s Teak Forests: Partners in Desperate Times, narrator Sir David Attenborough describes how plants and animals adapt to survive the hot, dry season. Langur monkeys and chital deer form an unlikely partnership to help them survive. This video is excerpted from BBC's Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In The Panther Chameleon’s Survival Skills, narrator Sir David Attenborough looks at the amazing panther chameleon and how it has adapted to survive. This chameleon uses its long, fast tongue like a missile to catch insects, and its toes act like pincers to grip branches. Its eyes rotate in all directions, and its skin changes color to blend in with its surroundings, helping it thrive and hunt in the jungles of Madagascar. This video is excerpted from BBC's Life, a show that explores the remarkable strategies animals and plants use to ensure their survival.
Climb high into the world of mountains! From the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas to the rugged Rockies, these towering ecosystems challenge life to adapt in amazing ways. After watching our videos, challenge your students to become ecosystem experts by creating their own colorful report filled with fascinating facts. (They’ll need to dig deeper with extra research, too!) Inside the brochure, students will uncover and share:
- Location of the ecosystem on a world map
- Adjectives that describe the ecosystem
- Three animals that live in the ecosystem
- Three plants that grow in the ecosystem
- The climate of the ecosystem
- What makes the ecosystem important
- Their favorite fun facts
Your students will summarize the most important details in their own words while keeping it clear and easy to understand. As they choose what to include, they’ll sharpen their ability to evaluate and combine information from different sources. Best of all, they’ll show off their creativity and communication skills by designing a brochure that’s as fun to read as it is informative!
Bring your students on an icy exploration of the polar ecosystem! The Arctic and Antarctica may look frozen and empty at first glance, but they’re full of life perfectly adapted to the cold.
✨ Perfect for Grades 3–8, here’s what you need to bring ecosystems to life:
- Iconic BBC Videos: Share the clips on this page to introduce the location, plants, animals, and climate of the polar regions. (Don't miss the narwhals and emperor penguins!) Brought to you by world-class BBC programs like Planet Earth, Frozen Planet, and Seven Worlds, One Planet.
- Free Printable: Use the Polar Brochure Template to help students pull it all together in an ecosystem report with facts they’ve learned (and a little extra research).
It’s everything you need to make ecosystems easy to teach and truly memorable for your students.
In The Strange Life of the Sea Krait, narrator Sir David Attenborough discovers the mysterious sea krait snake, a reptile that has completely adapted to life underwater. Unlike most land-dwelling reptiles, the female sea krait only leaves the ocean when it's time to lay her eggs, finding secret caverns with air pockets. Six months later, the baby snakes hatch and make their way back to the water, continuing this fascinating cycle. This video is excerpted from BBC's Life, a show that explores the remarkable strategies animals and plants use to ensure their survival.
In Clever Ways Plants Reproduce, narrator Sir David Attenborough explains how flowers are amazing problem-solvers when it comes to pollination! In sunny fields of France, sunflowers use nectar to lure insects, which help spread pollen from flower to flower. But in the icy winds of Cradle Mountain, the honey bush protects its delicate parts by fusing its petals, leaving only strong birds to break through and help with pollination. Depending on its environment, flowers are problem-solvers when it comes to reproducing! This video is excerpted from BBC's Life, a show that explores the remarkable strategies animals and plants use to ensure their survival.
In Sloths, Masters of Slow and Steady, evolutionary biologist Ben Garrod describes how a sloth's skin provides unique camouflage, helping it blend into its environment for protection. Discover the symbiotic relationship between sloths and algae, which grows on their fur and gives them a greenish tint. This algae offers camouflage while also supporting moths that help fertilize the algae. Through this fascinating example of nature’s design, see how animals and plants can depend on each other in unexpected ways. This video is excerpted from Secrets of Skin, a documentary series exploring the natural history of the body’s largest organ.
In A Gecko’s Survival Tale, narrator Sir David Attenborough introduces the Brazilian pygmy gecko, a rainforest creature so tiny it could rest on your fingertip! This speedy little gecko has amazing survival tricks, like hydrophobic skin that keeps it dry and the ability to stand on water. Even in the face of a rainstorm, this gecko’s lightweight and clever moves help it thrive in its wild and watery home. This video is excerpted from BBC's Life, a show that explores the remarkable strategies animals and plants use to ensure their survival.
In The Amazing Waterfall Toad, narrator Sir David Attenborough introduces the amazing waterfall toad, a tiny creature that lives in the jungles where Brazil and Venezuela meet. About the size of a postage stamp, this toad has super gripping hands that help it cling to trees and wet leaves in the treetops. While other frogs might hop away from danger, the waterfall toad has a unique strategy that protects it from hungry snakes below. This video is excerpted from BBC's Life, a show that explores the remarkable strategies animals and plants use to ensure their survival.