Photos

Best For
Grades 6-12+ (Ages 11+)

Subjects
Science

Appropriate For
T I S 

  Moore's Law is the observation that silicon transistors shrink to half their size every two years. Silicon transistors are semiconductor devices used to amplify and switch electronic signals and electrical power—the very foundation of modern electronic devices. Moore's Law accounts for the rapid improvement of such functions as screen resolution, processing speed, and memory capacity. So, how small can you get? IBM researchers, working at the forefront of nanotechnology, say "Moore's Law ends at the individual atom. Physically speaking, we can't get smaller than that."

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All Grades

Subjects
Science

Appropriate For
T I F S K

The "Whales of the World" poster was printed in December 1976. The poster features an overview article about whales, information about each species, and beautiful paintings by Larry Foster.

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All Grades

Subjects
Science, Arts

Appropriate For
T I F S K

A rare albino alligator photographed from underwater creates a mirror-like reflection on the surface. It was photographed in captivity—white alligators are usually too conspicuous to survive in the wild.

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All Grades

Subjects
Social Studies, Science, Arts, Geography

Appropriate For
T I F S K

The acqua alta, or high tide, floods the Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy. The aqua alta is usually most pronounced between autumn and spring. Like all tides, the aqua alta is governed by the gravitational pull of the moon. In addition, local wind patterns (called the sirocco and the bora) augment the tide.

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All Grades

Subjects
Science, Geography

Appropriate For
T I F S K

The American Alligator can grow to be 4.6 meters (15 feet) long.

Best For
Grades 6-11 (Ages 11-17)

Subjects
Science

Appropriate For
T I S 

Single-celled forams outlasted the dinosaurs, built the Pyramids, and constantly adapt to climate change. What have you done lately?

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All Grades

Subjects
Science

Appropriate For
T I F S K

Bees are pollen gatherers and pollinators. There are more than 20,000 species. Most are solitary, meaning they live in small groups with a single breeding female and her offspring. Pollen is gathered to feed the young; sometimes it is mixed with nectar to make a paste.

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All Grades

Subjects
Social Studies, Science, Vocational Education, Health, Geography

Appropriate For
T I F S K

In addition to pastoralists and farmers, Martins works to educate students and guides on the importance of Africa's insect pollinators. In 2011, Martins spent time training guides at the exclusive Grumeti reserve in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Here, a guide named Mishi meets a blister beetle. The orange coloring alerts predators to the beetle's stinging, toxic secretion. The secretion is valuable, however—a variation is used to treat warts.

Best For
All Grades

Subjects
Social Studies, Mathematics, Science

Appropriate For
T I F S K

Much of the locavore movement is centered around farmers' markets, like this one in Hudson, Ohio. At farmers' markets, farmers and local food retailers can sell their fresh produce directly to buyers. The goods at farmers markets and community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs are largely determined by the season and weather of the region.

Best For
Grades 6-10 (Ages 11-16)

Subjects
Social Studies, Mathematics, Science

Appropriate For
T I F S 

Photo. Hitting an agricultural sweet spot.

Best For
Grades K-12+ (Ages 5+)

Subjects
Science, Arts, Geography

Appropriate For
T I F S K

Sphagnum moss is the most common bog plant. This tiny plant stretches across poorly drained ponds, eventually choking them and forming a thick mat across the surface. Other low-lying bog plants include heather, reeds, and sedges.

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All Grades

Subjects
Science

Appropriate For
T I F S K

Flames from a bonfire indicate the direction of the wind.

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All Grades

Subjects
Science, Geography

Appropriate For
T I F S K

Lagoons are shallow bodies of water separated from the ocean by sandbars, barrier islands, or coral reefs. The island of Bora Bora, part of French Polynesia in the South Pacific, is surrounded by a lagoon and a thick coral reef.

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All Grades

Subjects
Science, Health, Geography

Appropriate For
T F S K

Bumblebees have flown up to 5,500 meters (18,000 feet) in the air. A flight this high would almost place a bee at the top of Mount Kilamanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa.

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All Grades

Subjects
Science, Geography

Appropriate For
T I F S K

A herd of barren-ground caribou runs past a snow-covered forest in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Many kinds of animals have adapted to live in the cold, subarctic climate of the taiga.

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All Grades

Subjects
Science, Health, Geography

Appropriate For
T I F S K

Caterpillars are the larval stage of moths and butterflies. They are mostly herbivores, and eat so much, so quickly, that they are often considered agricultural pests.

Best For
Grades 1-12+ (Ages 6+)

Subjects
Science

Appropriate For
T I F S 

A beautiful companion to the Solar System map that appeared in the same issue, this compelling work illustrates the varied faces of the planets in our solar system. Published in August 1990 with two articles, "Neptune: Voyager's Last Picture Show" and "Voyage of the Century," this work shows planets scaled to relative size, their portraits made from actual images taken from various spacecraft.

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All Grades

Subjects
Science, Health, Geography

Appropriate For
T I F S K

A Geiger counter measures radiation outside the Chernobyl (Ukraine) Nuclear Power Plant, which exploded in 1986. The explosion created a cloud of radioactive particles that fell to the ground, called fallout. The fallout drifted with the wind and entered the water cycle as rain. Radioactivity traced to Chernobyl fell as far away as Scotland and Ireland, although most fallout was detected in Belarus.

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All Grades

Subjects
Science, Health

Appropriate For
T I F S K

This chimpanzee, at a theme park in the Ozark Mountains, has been trained to interact safely with people, but is still kept on a leash for safety reasons. Chimpanzees are wild animals, and much stronger than people. Pet chimpanzees have attacked their owners, causing serious injury and sometimes death.

Best For
Grades 3-10 (Ages 8-16)

Subjects
Science, Health

Appropriate For
I F S K

Photo. Wild chimps have a wildly varied diet.

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All Grades

Subjects
Science, Geography

Appropriate For
T I F S K

Cicadas are big, red-eyed, harmless insects that burrow underground and stay put for 17 years. (Yes, 17 years.) When millions emerge from their underground burrow, the buzzing "cicada-pocalypse" signals springtime on the East Coast. 

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All Grades

Subjects
Social Studies, Science, Geography

Appropriate For
T I F S K

Waterways are highways in the depths of the Congo rain forest.

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All Grades

Subjects
Science, Health, Geography

Appropriate For
T I F S K

Corn, called maize outside the United States, is one of the most familiar types of grains. Grain is the harvested seed of grasses such as wheat, oats, rice, sorghum, millet, rye, and barley.

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All Grades

Subjects
Science

Appropriate For
T I F S K

Mountain lions are an apex predator in areas such as the Rocky Mountains. Mountain lions go by many names: cougars, pumas, panthers, and catamounts. Like all cats, mountain lions are carnivores who can only digest meat.

Best For
Grades K-12+ (Ages 5+)

Subjects
Science, Geography

Appropriate For
T I F S K

Bogs are a type of freshwater wetland. Histosol, bog soil, is made up largely of decaying plant matter. It is oxygen-poor and nutrient-poor, making biodiversity much lower than in other wetland ecosystems. Few plants can survive in such an acidic, waterlogged soil, but cranberries, harvested from this cranberry blog in Massachusetts, thrive.

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All Grades

Subjects
Social Studies, Science, Vocational Education, Health, Geography

Appropriate For
T I F S K

Fruits are also a major food crop. Cranberries, for instance, are the major agricultural export of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. Cranberries are a semi-aquatic plant harvested in bogs.

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All Grades

Subjects
Social Studies, Science, Health, Geography

Appropriate For
T I F S K

The biodiversity in tropical rain forests is not in their soil, which is often of poor quality, but in their canopy, or layer of overhanging tree branches. The biodiversity of the Amazon rain forest includes hundreds of thousands of insects and plants, some of which have the potential to treat human diseases. Here, and all over the Amazon basin, companies and governments are destroying the rain forest for agriculture, housing, and industry.

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All Grades

Subjects
Science, Health, Geography

Appropriate For
T I F S K

This cyanobacteria is the result of agricultural fertilizer seeping into a small lake in Finland. Cyanobacteria forms a thick mat near the surface of the water, suffocating life underneath it.

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All Grades

Subjects
Science, Geography

Appropriate For
T I F S K

Impalas are a type of antelope native to Africa.

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All Grades

Subjects
Science, Educational Technology

Appropriate For
T I F S K

This microorganism is a vital part of the biosphere. It is a species of plankton, which drift in the sunlit surface layers of oceans around the world. Plankton are one of the producers in the ocean food web, providing nutrients for animals from shrimp to whales.