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Our planet's diverse, thriving ecosystems may seem like permanent fixtures, but they're actually vulnerable to collapse. Jungles can become deserts, and reefs can become lifeless rocks. What makes one ecosystem strong and another weak in the face of change? Kim Preshoff details why the answer, to a large extent, is biodiversity.

5:27 video, Our planet was once populated by megafauna, big top-of-the-food-chain predators that played their part in balancing our ecosystems. When those megafauna disappear, the result is a "trophic cascade," where every part of the ecosystem reacts to the loss. How can we stay in balance? George Monbiot suggests rewilding: putting wolves, lions and other predators back on top -- with surprising results.

15 minute video

Lesson materials

This lesson follows a flipped learning model where teachers don't stand before the class and lecture.  Instead, students become grizzly bear scientists and "discover" the answers to real-world research questions through scientific inquiry. Using real-world demographic data collected over 30 years on grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, students work individually, in three Science Teams, and as a class to determine whether or not this grizzly bear population is biologically ready for delisting.

Highlighting role of animal research in human health.  A visually appealing website with an array of research summaries.

Washington, D.C. - April 10, 2015 - Human norovirus may infect our canine companions, according to research published online April 1 in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, a publication of the American Society for Microbiology. That raises the possibility of dog-to-human transmission, said first author Sarah Caddy, VetMB, PhD, MRCVS, a veterinarian and PhD student at the University of Cambridge, and Imperial College, London, UK. Norovirus is the leading cause of food-borne illness in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In this special episode, Laura Ling dives deeper into the illegal wildlife trade for DNews Reports. How big is it and how can we stop it?