Ecosystems

Amazon Adventure: How Tiny Fish are Saving the World's Largest Rainforest

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Copies: 6

Because it is home to anacondas weighing over three hundred pounds, Goliath birdeater tarantulas with a leg span the size of your face, and electric eels who have enough voltage to stun a horse, you might think the Amazon is a place that can cause more harm than good. But you'd be wrong...

Considered the "lungs of the world," the Amazon provides a full fifth of the world's oxygen, and every year unsustainable human practices destroy 2.7 million acres of it. What can be done to help? That's where Project Piaba comes in.

Author:

Sy Montgomery

Lexile:

1050L

Amazon Adventure: How Tiny Fish are Saving the World's Largest Rainforest

Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem

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Copies: 6

In Elkhorn Slough, an inlet on the California coast, seagrass grows healthy and strong in the shallow water, providing homes for fish, preventing erosion, and trapping carbon from the environment.

This healthy seagrass baffled marine biologist Brent Hughes. Water in the slough is chock-full of nutrients from fertilizer runoff on nearby farms. Normally, nutrient-polluted water supports huge population of algae that block sunlight from reaching the seagrass, and the seagrass dies. Why has the slough's seagrass thriving?

Author:

Patricia Newman

Lexile:

1060L

Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem

The Tiny Seed

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Carried from its flower home by the autumn wind, a tiny seed travels around the world.

Author:

Eric Carle

Grade Level:

Primary

Length:

00:11

The Last Ocean: The Toothfish and the Battle for Antarctica's Soul (2012)

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The Ross Sea, Antarctica is the most pristine marine ecosystem on Earth. Scientists describe it as a 'living laboratory', a place that can teach us about the workings of all marine ecosystems. But the fishing industry recently found its way to the Ross Sea, targeting Antarctic toothfish and, unless fishing is stopped, the natural balance of the Ross Sea will be lost forever.

Grade Level:

Middle

High

Length:

01:27

The Last Ocean: The Toothfish and the Battle for Antarctica's Soul

Magic Tree House #6: Afternoon On the Amazon (Unabridged)

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Eight-year-old Jack, his seven-year-old sister, Annie, and Peanut the mouse ride in a tree house to the Amazon rain forests, where they encounter giant ants, flesh-eating piranhas, hungry crocodiles, and wild jaguars.

Author:

Mary Pope Osborne

Grade Level:

Primary

Lexile:

290L

Length:

00:39

Magic Tree House #6: Afternoon On the Amazon (Unabridged)

Energy in Ecosystems (2002)

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Any ecosystem needs energy to sustain it, and the organisms within it. This energy comes in massive quantities from the Sun, although only a tiny fraction of the solar energy hitting the Earth goes towards sustaining life. The flow of energy through an ecosystem is complex, and vital to sustaining all life within it.

Grade Level:

Middle

High

Length:

00:25

Restoring H2O Ecosystems: Saving Chesapeake Bay (2008)

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Polluted waters can have damaging economic and social effects as well as destroy wildlife habitats. Chesapeake Bay is one of the most polluted bodies of water in America, but local students are working with commercial crab catchers and scientists in the Baltimore area to help restore its health.

Grade Level:

Elementary

Middle

Length:

00:09

Restoring H2O Ecosystems: Saving Chesapeake Bay

Deserts (2001, 2003)

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"Biomes of the World in Action" is a fun, informative series that takes students on a fast-paced eco-adventure around the world exploring the many characteristics that make these large regions of the world different from one another.

Grade Level:

Elementary

Middle

Length:

00:23

Grasslands (2001, 2003)

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Grade Level:

Elementary

Middle

Length:

00:23

Deciduous Forests (2001, 2003)

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Grade Level:

Elementary

Middle

Length:

00:23

Ecosystems

Amazon Adventure: How Tiny Fish are Saving the World's Largest Rainforest

Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem

The Tiny Seed

The Last Ocean: The Toothfish and the Battle for Antarctica's Soul (2012)

Magic Tree House #6: Afternoon On the Amazon (Unabridged)

Energy in Ecosystems (2002)

Restoring H2O Ecosystems: Saving Chesapeake Bay (2008)

Deserts (2001, 2003)

Grasslands (2001, 2003)

Deciduous Forests (2001, 2003)

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