In this video, Jonathan treks all the way to Antarctica to investigate life south of the polar circle. Along the way he dives in the majestic kelp forests of Patagonia, where crabs rule the sea floor. Once he arrives in Antarctica, his adventures continue. He swims with penguins, dives under an iceberg, meets a massive jellyfish 3 feet wide, and has an incredible encounter with a Leopard seal, the apex predator of Antarctica. Part 1 finds Jonathan diving in Ushuaia, Patagonia in Argentina before boarding the ship to Antarctica, then he finally gets to Antarctica and meets some penguins! This program won a New England Emmy Award! Please see the accompanying lesson plan for educational objectives, discussion points and classroom activities.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Animals and plants have close relationships with the bacteria on their surfaces and macroalgae — like kelp — are no different. The spatial structure of these microbial communities can impact how they interact with their neighbors, host, and environment. A recent study used spectral imaging to characterize the spatial structure of the bacteria on _Nereocystis luetkeana_. The kelp hosted a dense microbial biofilm that consisted of closely associated, but diverse, microbial taxa. For example, Gammaproteobacteria were found close to the kelp surface, and filamentous Bacteroidetes and Alphaproteobacteria were concentrated near the biofilm-seawater interface. Bacterial density also varied along the length of the kelp blades with density increasing from new tissue at the base to older tissue at the blade tips. Between kelp populations, declining populations hosted fewer microbial cells than kelp from a stable population. This study characterized the dense, spatially differentiated community on _N..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

The purpose of this 3 ACT task is to provide students with an opportunity to problem solve based on a real-world situation. In the task, students are presented with a map of a Bull Kelp bed near Squaxin Island and asked to generate their own questions that could be answered using the map. Students then decide on necessary resources for finding the solution and are given time as a group to complete their work. The task concludes by having students examine the information provided in Act three to see if it answers their question. Includes slides to support the implementation of "Keeping An Eye On Kelp (Algebra)" Math Performance Task with charts, images, etc.

Believe it or not, your life depends on algae! Join Scripps' Institution's Russell Chapman as he discusses the important roles algae have played in the development of life as we know it. (55 minutes)