"Small changes—like one careful swing, tiny differences in plankton over generations, or sunlight warming a comet—can create big results we can observe and learn from."
Ask the class before watching:
"Where have you seen something tiny or small (a habit, a creature, or a change in weather) make a surprisingly big difference over time?"
The number of hits a golfer takes to get the ball into the hole.
On our pretend mini-golf course, we counted our strokes and tried to finish with as few hits as possible.
A list that shows who is winning in a game or contest.
The leaderboard kept changing as different players made great shots in the final round.
A group of living things that are alike and can have babies together.
If one group of plankton changes over many generations, it might become a new species that survives better in warmer water.
A fuzzy cloud of gas and dust around a comet.
When the comet got closer to the Sun, its coma grew brighter, like a glowing mist around a space snowball.
Have students answer these questions after watching the episode.