ClassX Video Lessons Youtube Channel MinuteEarth Why Do You Make So Many Poop Videos? (& Other Questions)
Hey there! I’m Kate from MinuteEarth. We recently hit 2 million subscribers, and to say thanks, we made a video answering your most common questions. Let’s dive in!
Great question! Our team at MinuteEarth often explores topics we’re curious about, and it turns out we have a lot of questions about poop. Everyone deals with waste daily, but we rarely stop to think about it. Science helps us see that even something as ordinary as waste involves complex and fascinating processes. There’s a whole world to discover if we take a closer look!
We’re a remote team working from different places. Our team includes Henry Reich, David Goldenberg, Peter Reich, Emily Elert, Kate Yoshida, Alex Reich, Ever Salazar, Melissa Hayes, Nathaniel Schroeder, Qingyang Chen, Jesse Agar, and Arcadi Garcia.
Sure! Kate lived with hyenas, David studied monkeys, Alex enjoys fishing, and Henry made a video about staying warm in the cold. Emily loves geology, I’m an illustrator who enjoys math, Peter is into plants, Melissa raises bees, and Nathaniel creates our music. Qingyang loves waffles, Jesse always wears a wool hat in winter, and Arcadi is a master of fun. We’ve even made stick figures for many of our friends!
Yes, we do! I help make Hot Mess and enjoy cross-country skiing. I also work on MinutePhysics and play in a bluegrass band. Some of us study climate change and forests, work for conservation organizations, or have other projects like Paradigms, MinuteLabs, and Bodypedia on Japan’s NHK. I’ll be focusing more on these projects, so you might not hear my voice on MinuteEarth as much.
We all collaborate on the puns. Sometimes they come easily, and other times they require a lot of effort.
Well, let’s just say we’re not the best at editing!
Some videos come together quickly, taking just a few weeks, while others can take months or even years. You can watch our video about the production process to learn more.
Nope! In fact, ASAPScience was inspired by MinutePhysics, and MinuteEarth is a spinoff of MinutePhysics.
Lions have manes to show strength to rivals and attract mates. Other cats might not need such big signals, or manes could be a disadvantage for them. For more on this, check out our video on monogamy!
Actually, we haven’t eradicated cholera. But we did eradicate smallpox, mainly through vaccines, which are very effective!
Yes, you can watch MinuteEarth in Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese.
Stay tuned! We’re working on a video about that right now!
Beach! Mountain!
Hmmmm…
We have the most viewers from these five countries, but per capita, these are the top five.
Nope… just nope. Haven’t you seen Jurassic Park?
My favorite is “Ambergris: Why Perfume Makers Love Constipated Whales,” because it’s basically a big poop video. If I had to pick right now, I’d choose “Are any Animals Truly Monogamous?” because it’s weird and surprising and has my favorite ending pun. My favorite video is “This Is Not a Bee” because it covers a few of my favorite topics: mimicry and bees. My favorite is “Climate Change: The View From MinuteEarth” because it’s personal and about fixing climate change. My favorite one is “Why Do We Eat Spoiled Food?” because I really like cheese and chocolate and kimchi. I am incapable of choosing, so I made a list of my favorites.
Thanks for asking! You can support us by watching and sharing MinuteEarth with friends and family. You can also support us financially by becoming a Patreon patron or sponsoring videos if you run a company or foundation. We appreciate your support and hope you’ll consider adding us to the things worth spending your time and money on. After all, bad puns don’t write themselves!
Design a poster that explains the science behind why MinuteEarth makes so many videos about poop. Include interesting facts and diagrams that illustrate the complex processes involved in waste management and its environmental impact. Use your creativity to make it visually appealing!
Choose one of the MinuteEarth team members mentioned in the article and research their background and contributions to the channel. Prepare a short presentation to share with the class, highlighting their unique skills and interests.
Create a short comic strip using stick figures to tell a story about one of the topics discussed in the article, such as the backstory of the MinuteEarth team or the process of making a video. Focus on using humor and creativity to engage your audience.
Work in small groups to simulate the production of a MinuteEarth video. Assign roles such as scriptwriter, illustrator, and editor. Choose a scientific topic, research it, and create a storyboard for a short educational video. Present your storyboard to the class.
Engage in a friendly debate about whether mountains or beaches are better, inspired by the MinuteEarth team’s preferences. Research the benefits of each environment and prepare arguments to support your side. Present your case to the class and see which side wins!
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
—
Hey, this is Kate from MinuteEarth. We recently reached 2 million subscribers, and as a way to say thanks for watching, we decided to make a video answering your most common questions. Here we go!
**Why do you make so many videos about poop?**
Well, some of our videos answer questions that we on the MinuteEarth team actually have about the world, so I guess we have a lot of questions about it. But also, everybody deals with waste on a daily – or hopefully almost daily – basis, but we don’t usually stop and appreciate it. One of the things that makes science so cool is that it gives us a way to discover how even something as seemingly mundane as waste is the result of complex, beautiful processes, and there are whole worlds in there when we stop to look.
**Who’s behind MinuteEarth, and where are you from?**
That’s a great question! We are a remote, internet-based team of people, including Henry Reich, David Goldenberg, Peter Reich, Emily Elert, Kate Yoshida, Alex Reich, Ever Salazar, and me, Melissa Hayes, along with Nathaniel Schroeder, Qingyang Chen, Jesse Agar, and Arcadi Garcia.
**Can you explain your stick figure backstory?**
Well, Kate lived among hyenas, David studied monkeys, Alex likes fishing, and Henry made a video about what to do when it’s cold outside. Emily likes geology, I am an illustrator and love math, Peter is into plants, Melissa raises bees, and Nathaniel plays our music. Qingyang loves waffles, Jesse always wears a wool hat in winter, and Arcadi is the master of a fun spell. Plus, we have made stick figures for a ton of our friends and other people.
**Do you have other jobs, hobbies, or projects?**
I help make Hot Mess and cross-country ski. I make MinutePhysics and play in a bluegrass band. I’m a scientist studying climate change and forests. I have a long-dormant channel that someday will rise from the ashes. I work for a conservation organization that protects wild lions. And we’re working on a bunch of other projects, like Paradigms and MinuteLabs and Bodypedia on Japan’s NHK! Going forward, I’m actually only going to be working on those projects, rather than on normal MinuteEarth videos, so if you don’t hear my voice on the channel much anymore, that’s why.
**Who comes up with your puns, and is it hard?**
We all work together. Sometimes the magic happens, and other times it’s challenging work.
**Why are your videos longer than a minute?**
Because… we’re… not great at editing?
**How long does it take to make a video?**
Some of them come together really quickly and go from an idea to a video in a few weeks, but others take months or years. You can check out this video to learn more about our production process.
**Is MinuteEarth an ASAPScience knockoff?**
No, in fact, ASAPScience was actually kind of a MinutePhysics knockoff. MinuteEarth was a MinutePhysics spinoff.
**Why are lions the only cats with manes?**
Lions’ manes signal strength to rivals and worthiness to potential mates. For other felines, manes might be a liability, or those species just might not need such big signals… but for more on that, you’ll have to watch our monogamy video!
**How did we eradicate Cholera?**
Uhhh… we didn’t? We did eradicate smallpox though! Mostly through vaccines. They really work!
**Is MinuteEarth available in other languages?**
Yes, in Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese.
**Why can’t two people have the same fingerprints?**
Well, actually, stay tuned! We’re making a video about that right now!
**Mountain or Beach?**
Beach! Mountain!
**Can you answer this question?**
Hmmmm…
**Which countries watch MinuteEarth the most?**
The most viewers come from these five countries. But per capita, these are the top five.
**If you could bring an extinct creature back from extinction, which would you choose and why?**
Nope… just nope. Haven’t you seen Jurassic Park?
**What’s your favorite MinuteEarth video?**
My favorite is “Ambergris: Why Perfume Makers Love Constipated Whales,” because it’s basically a big poop video. If I had to pick right now, I’d choose “Are any Animals Truly Monogamous?” because it’s weird and surprising and has my favorite ending pun. My favorite video is “This Is Not a Bee” because it covers a few of my favorite topics: mimicry and bees. My favorite is “Climate Change: The View From MinuteEarth” because it’s personal and about fixing climate change. My favorite one is “Why Do We Eat Spoiled Food?” because I really like cheese and chocolate and kimchi. I am incapable of choosing, so I made a list of my favorites.
**How can we support MinuteEarth?**
What a great question! Thanks for asking! First, you can support us by continuing to watch MinuteEarth and sharing it with your friends and family. You can support us financially by becoming a Patreon patron or, if you run a company or a foundation, you can actually sponsor videos directly. We appreciate you counting MinuteEarth among the things worth spending your time on, and we hope you’ll consider adding it to the things worth spending your money on, too. After all, bad puns aren’t going to write themselves.
So, the question is: who is this?… Can Ever figure it out? Yeah… mystery voice… Well, I’m sure… hmm… yeah, anyway. Is it going? Yeah, it’s going. Oh, hahahaha, ok… alright… ok… that might sound silly though. That sounds great! I mean, Ever can decide. Ok. He’s the one in charge of this.
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Let me know if you need any further modifications!
Poop – The solid waste matter that is eliminated from the digestive tract of an animal. – In biology class, we learned that animal poop can be used to study their diet and health.
Waste – Materials that are not needed and are discarded after use. – Scientists are researching ways to reduce plastic waste in the oceans to protect marine life.
Science – The systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. – In science class, we conducted an experiment to understand how plants grow under different light conditions.
Vaccines – Biological preparations that provide immunity to a particular infectious disease. – Vaccines have played a crucial role in controlling the spread of diseases like measles and polio.
Lions – Large carnivorous mammals of the cat family, known for their strength and social behavior. – In our biology textbook, we read about how lions live in groups called prides.
Cholera – An infectious disease caused by bacteria, often spread through contaminated water. – During the science fair, one student presented a project on how to prevent cholera outbreaks in developing countries.
Monogamy – A mating system in which an individual has only one partner during their lifetime or at any one time. – Many bird species, such as swans, are known for their monogamous relationships.
Mimicry – The resemblance of one organism to another or to an object in its environment for protection or other advantages. – The viceroy butterfly uses mimicry to look like the toxic monarch butterfly, deterring predators.
Climate – The long-term pattern of weather conditions in a particular region. – Scientists study climate change to understand how rising temperatures affect ecosystems around the world.
Bees – Insects known for their role in pollination and producing honey. – Bees are essential to agriculture because they pollinate many of the crops we eat.
