Science & Technology
Why are there so many insects?
Lesson duration 04:44
If insects suddenly morphed into large beings and decided to wage war on us, there’s no doubt...
Search results for insects
TED-Ed Lessons
Life Sciences
A simple way to tell insects apart
Lesson duration 04:07
There are nearly a million known insect species in the world, but most have one of just five...
Science & Technology
The sexual deception of orchids
Lesson duration 05:25
Nearly 28,000 species of orchid grow all around the world, bearing every imaginable color, shape...
Science & Technology
The world’s most painful insect sting
Lesson duration 05:12
One of these three creatures is thought to possess the world’s most painful insect sting: there’s...
Science & Technology
Are insect brains the secret to great AI? - Frances S. Chance
Lesson duration 09:33
Are insects the key to brain-inspired computing? Neuroscientist Frances S. Chance thinks so. In...
Life Sciences
Mysteries of vernacular: Earwig
Lesson duration 02:16
An earwig is neither an ear nor a wig; it is an insect. Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel explain...
Environmental Science
The beautiful tricks of flowers - Jonathan Drori
Lesson duration 13:49
In this visually dazzling talk, Jonathan Drori shows the extraordinary ways flowering plants --...
Nutrition
Should we eat bugs?
Lesson duration 04:52
What's tasty, abundant and high in protein? Bugs! Although less common outside the tropics,...
Environmental Science
Why the insect brain is so incredible
Lesson duration 04:23
The human brain is one of the most sophisticated organs in the world, a supercomputer made of...
Nutrition
Do we really need pesticides?
Lesson duration 05:18
Annually, we shower over 5 billion pounds of pesticides across the Earth to control insects,...
Science & Technology
Just add water: The garden insect that can turn into a plague
Lesson duration 05:46
A ravenous swarm stretches as far as the eye can see. It has no leader or strategic plan; its...
Science & Technology
Why do bugs swarm over water?
Lesson duration 05:13
For most of the world’s 4,000 mayfly species, adulthood lasts roughly one day. And for some...
Life Sciences
Why isn't the world covered in poop?
Lesson duration 04:58
Each day, the animal kingdom produces roughly enough poop to match the volume of water pouring...
Science & Technology
Are there really dead wasps in figs?
Lesson duration 05:20
In 2023, a US grocer recalled over 10,000 cases of broccoli-cheddar soup over concerns they...
Mathematics
Why do honeybees love hexagons?
Lesson duration 03:59
Honeybees are some of nature’s finest mathematicians. Not only can they calculate angles and...
Science & Technology
Why do animals form swarms?
Lesson duration 04:06
When many individual organisms come together and move as one entity, that’s a swarm. From a...
Life Sciences
The human and the honeybee
Lesson duration 06:25
Both honeybees and humans originated in East Africa, and the connection between us has survived...
Science & Technology
The weird and wonderful metamorphosis of the butterfly
Lesson duration 05:03
In order to become a butterfly, a caterpillar’s body dissolves almost completely and is rebuilt...
Science & Technology
Are there any places on Earth with no bugs?
Lesson duration 05:01
Insects are the world’s most numerous and diverse animals. Even where you’d least expect...
Life Sciences
Puke, poop and tiny cockroaches: How the leafcutter ant queen runs her farm
Lesson duration 05:06
In a Texas clearing, an ancient tale that ties four species together is unfurling. The first...
Life Sciences
The hidden beauty of pollination - Louie Schwartzberg
Lesson duration 07:41
Pollination: it's vital to life on Earth but largely unseen by the human eye. Filmmaker Louie...
Science & Technology
Licking bees and pulping trees: The reign of a wasp queen
Lesson duration 05:23
As the sun rises, something royal stirs inside a pile of firewood. It's the wasp queen; one of...
Science & Technology
Natural pest control ... using bugs! - Shimon Steinberg
Lesson duration 15:24
Shimon Steinberg looks at the difference between pests and bugs -- and makes the case for...
Science & Technology
How does this all-female species reproduce?
Lesson duration 06:00
In 2021, workers at a Sardinian aquarium were stunned by the birth of a smooth-hound shark. What...
TED-Ed's Best of Web
Science & Technology
Why do these deadly insects look like flowers?
Lesson duration 04:00
Animals sometimes have camouflage to hide from predators, but did you know they can also use...
Environmental Science
What can we learn from insect cribs?
Lesson duration 07:38
Where do all these insects actually live? What do their homes look like and what advantages...
Science & Technology
Why cockroaches are so hard to kill
Lesson duration 04:33
Cockroaches are one of the most widespread and resilient creatures on this planet. They are...
Earth and Space Science
Frogsicles: Frozen but still alive
Lesson duration 03:58
Wood frogs are amazing little amphibians that can freeze during the winter and thaw out in the...
Science & Technology
The insanely painful sting of the bullet ant
Lesson duration 06:27
Bullet ants (Paraponera clavata) have the most intense sting of any insect -- but what makes it...
Science & Technology
The Cheerios effect
Lesson duration 05:29
Ever notice how cereal tends to stick together in the middle of the bowl? Or it clumps to the...
Science & Technology
Why mosquitoes bite some people more than others
Lesson duration 12:10
Are you the person in the group who is always getting bitten by mosquitoes? Science has shown...
When giant scorpions swarmed the seas
Lesson duration 11:41
Sea scorpions thrived for 200 million years, coming in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Over...
Health
Honey: bacteria's worst enemy
Lesson duration 04:20
It may not look like it sitting in that cute bear bottle, but honey is a supercharged...
Design, Engineering & Technology
This piece of paper could revolutionize human waste
Lesson duration 05:35
Could this simple kirigami paper be a solution to our waste problem? Kirigami is a variation of...
TED-Ed Blog
9 TED-Ed Lessons about cool (and creepy) bugs
Bugs are amazing creatures — they inhabit the worlds below our feet, above our heads and...
8 fun facts about bees (in TED-Ed GIFs)
How much do you know about the tiny, mighty bees? Here are 8 facts worth learning about our...
How to grow your own tiny forest
When you look at a row of empty parking spots, what do you see? Many of us would see it for what...
A new curated digital collection of videos and learning resources for teachers everywhere
Kim Preshoff is the Obi-Wan Kenobi of science teachers in her community. With more than 25 years...
From Earth Day to every day: 4 TED-Ed Lessons to help you save the world
Earth Week is a fantastic opportunity to rethink our environmental impact, both on the individual...
How to help kids fall in love with the outdoors
You don’t need to go to a national park to help your kids fall in love with nature; a walk around...
Need a fresh perspective? See the world like a horse does (or a cow or a cat or an ant …)
Practice an act of radical empathy — try to put yourself in the hoofsteps, pawprints and...
An animated lesson full of adorable animals made of autumn leaves
Ten percent of plant matter gets eaten while it is alive. The other 90% falls to the ground and...
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Many TED Speakers are known for delivering engaging and insightful talks that can broaden your...
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Anyone with an allergy has their origin story, a tale of how they discovered that their immune...
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Staying home is the best way to fight COVID-19, but there are plenty of projects you can get...
Want to boost your creativity and be a better collaborator? Think about why the sky is blue
Stretch your mind and strengthen your relationships with this simple exercise borrowed from...
The 10 most popular TED-Ed Animations of 2022
In 2022, our YouTube audience spent nearly 24 million hours watching TED-Ed Animations (that’s...
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As the Moon casts its shadow across the Earth during the upcoming solar eclipse, cameras of all...
TED-Ed July Challenge: Here’s the archive of daily lessons
Did you sign up to keep your brain in shape this summer — and learn 31 new ideas in the month of...