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Life in the Desert System: Plant and Animal Adaptation

Related Article: Learn more about deserts.

Plants and animals have specific traits that allow them to live in deserts. Some adaptations include burrowing, or surviving with limited water.
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Essential and Endangered: Fishing

Essential and Endangered: Fishing (1:09)

Fishing along the Hudson River was banned when it was discovered that polychlorinated biphenyls that contaminate the water were also in the fish.

A Natural Focus: The Mouth of the River

A Natural Focus: The Mouth of the River (0:38)

The Westfield River drops over 2,000 feet in less than 30 miles to join the Connecticut River, and forms less than four percent of the Connecticut Riverís watershed.

A Natural Focus: Floodplain

A Natural Focus: Floodplain (0:47)

The richest, deepest soils of the Holyoke Range are found by the riverside. To thrive here, plants must be able to withstand frequent flooding.

A Natural Focus: Sandstone

A Natural Focus: Sandstone (0:44)

Sheltered from the harsh wind, and nurtured by water seeping through the sandstone, a thick layer of herbs flourishes.

A Natural Focus: Basalt

A Natural Focus: Basalt (0:43)

Thin soil, strong winds, hot sun, and a bedrock of basalt rock determine what grows in this forest range.

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Prehistoric Disasters: Another Ice Age

Prehistoric Disasters: Another Ice Age (1:29)

What would happen if the Earth experienced another ice age? Watch this video from Discovery Channel's "Prehistoric Disasters."

10 Ways the World Will End: The Big Freeze

10 Ways the World Will End: The Big Freeze (2:34)

The Science Channel's "10 Ways the World Will End," explains how global warming could trigger a new ice age, which would destroy all life as we know it.

Assignment Discovery: Tropical Ecosystem

Assignment Discovery: Tropical Ecosystem (1:10)

Discovery Channel's "Assignment Discovery" uses the tropical rainforest to examine the differences between a biome and an ecosystem.

100 Greatest Discoveries: Periodic Ice Age

100 Greatest Discoveries: Periodic Ice Age (1:43)

What could cause an ice age? Find out as Milton Milankovitch's calculations of the Earth's orbit and angle of axis is examined on The Science Channel's "100 Greatest Discoveries."

100 Greatest Discoveries: Continental Drift

100 Greatest Discoveries: Continental Drift (2:12)

Groundbreaking research by Alfred Wegener reveals that all the continents were once connected as one single land mass he called Pangaea. Learn more about Wegener's continental drift theory on The Science's Channel's "100 Greatest Discoveries."

Assignment Discovery: Forests

Assignment Discovery: Forests (3:02)

Forests are more than a collection of trees, they are a complex fabrication of the basic elements of life. Learn more about forests on Discovery Channel's "Assignment Discovery."

Assignment Discovery: The Tundra Biomes

Assignment Discovery: The Tundra Biomes (2:05)

The tundra biome is located in the northern most part of the world, around the North Pole in the Arctic Circle. Learn more about the tundra biome on Discovery Channel's "Assignment Discovery."

Assignment Discovery: The Tropic Biomes

Assignment Discovery: The Tropic Biomes (2:11)

Constant hot weather and precipitation make the tropic biomes an ideal place for life; and many species of mammals, reptiles and insects call it home. Learn more about tropic biomes on Discovery Channel's "Assignment Discovery."

Assignment Discovery: Temperate Grassland Biomes

Assignment Discovery: Temperate Grassland Biomes (1:20)

Discovery Channel's "Assignment Discovery," takes a visit to the temperate grassland. Its fertile, green terrain can support a large population of herbivores and many other species of birds and mammals.

Assignment Discovery: Temperate Forest

Assignment Discovery: Temperate Forest (2:41)

Located near the shores of continents, a temperate forest is damp with changing seasons and can support all kinds of organisms. Learn more about the temperate forest on Discovery Channel's "Assignment Discovery."