Cooke, Tim

The streets were littered with rats scurrying over dead and dying bodies. Fear spread through the city of London just as fast as the plague, killing almost a quarter of the city's population by the end of 1666. Follow along with the true story of a doomed city in the midst of a deadly epidemic. Then, review what you've learned with a recap timeline and a quick quiz to check how much doomed history you remember.

Explores how the development of new technologies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, including theories about gravity and motion, the production of cheaper iron, and the invention of the steam engine, aided in the development of humankind. Includes teacher notes.

Provides information on the lives and contributions of great scientists in the fields of philosophy, invention, and engineering. Includes teacher notes.

Explores how new technologies, including the cultivation of plants and animals, the use of fire, and the invention of writing, influenced the development of humankind from prehistoric times through the classical period. Includes teacher notes.

Describes how technological advances in China and the Arab world during the medieval period helped make up for the lack of scientific discovery that took place in Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire and explores how the Renaissance became a great period of European learning and discovery. Includes teacher notes.

Looks at the life of non-violent social activist Mahatma Gandhi.

In the 1800s, Florida panthers thrived in the southeastern United States, but by the mid 1900s, there were very few of the animals left. When biologists like Mark Lotz realized that wildlife refuges would only do so much to save this endangered species, they got to work.

Brothers John and Frank Craighead knew there was a problem when they saw fewer and fewer grizzly bears at Yellowstone National Park. But how did grizzlies-with a population size once as big as 100,000-wind up on the endangered species list?.

When Howard Sharpe spotted a group of southern sea otters floating off the coast of California, he was nearly as surprised as if he had seen a dinosaur. The otters were thought to be nearly extinct, and yet he spotted hundreds splashing in the water. Soon, Howard and other environmental activists sprang into action to make sure this once nearly extinct species didn't disappear forever.

William Hornaday admired the American bison. He wanted every American to see the beautiful animal that was once plentiful across the Great Plains. But in 1886 he made a shocking prediction. Unless something changed quickly, bison would disappear from America forever.