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Just imagine if we could see the really big news stories of the past as they happened, on-the-spot reports of the Dawn of Time, the Ascent of Man, and the Rise of Civilization. But wouldn't we need a time-machine for that and maybe some knowledgeable guides? Yes, we would, and the good news is we've got them.
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Centers on the unexpected discovery in 1949 of the Alpine newt and recent attempts to help them survive, including the 90 year old biology teacher involved in the original discovery.
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Time has clearly shown the serious impact our society and general lifestyle has had on the environment. To most adults it is evident that future generations may not enjoy common privileges society has enjoyed in the past if they do not take an active role in protecting the environment. Along with adults, it is essential that our children also learn to share in this important responsibility.
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Highlights the pivotal role coal played in fueling America's industrial revolution and arsenal of democracy for two world wars.
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The series offers an exciting look at the future of Science & Technology which connects viewers to the future.
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Global warming, pollution, the melting of the polar ice caps and the vanishing rainforest are all contributing to making the earth sick, and all have an effect on the environment. It's going to take everyone's contributions to make our planet better. Eco=Kids is designed to help students take steps in the right direction toward making the Earth a better, an environmentally friendlier place to live. Each divided into three parts, these series report on the state of our planet today as seen through the eyes of their peers. Join our hosts as they demonstrate ways to help the Earth become healthy again.
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ECO KIDS EXPLORE features the 5 different types of "Green Power" which are becoming increasingly popular: Solar Power, Wind Power, Geothermal energy, Ethanol and Hybrid Cars. This series investigates these energy sources in an understandable way, which will help young viewers learn how to help solve the problems facing our earth today. As our world grows, so does the demand for energy. As pollution increases and our fossil fuels deplete there is a need for more reliable affordable and eco-friendly source of energy - Green Power.
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With today's high fuel costs, it is time to start looking beyond petroleum and into renewable resources to power our vehicles. Ethanol is a clean-burning fuel derived from plants, primarily corn. The corn is ground, cooked, fermented, distilled and dehydrated, then ready for use. Ethanol is combined with gasoline to produce a cleaner fuel that doesn't emit as many greenhouse gases as pure gasoline. Pure ethanol has not yet been approved to fuel our vehicles, but it is the fuel of choice for racecars. Indy cars operate on 100% ethanol fuel. By mixing gasoline with ethanol, we can extend our fuel supply. Join us as the Eco Kids explore the production of ethanol and highlight the importance it holds in the Green Power movement.
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Simply put, geothermal energy derived from heat produced by the core of the earth. Geothermal energy is one of the oldest renewable resources used by humans. It has been used since the Ancient Roman times as a heat source. Recently, we have begun to harness that energy as a source of power. Geothermal power plants take the heat from the earth and bring it to the surface to create steam that spins a turbine. We have a constant supply of heat from the earth. The challenge is finding where it is strongest and bringing it to the surface. The Eco Kids will guide us through this process and explain a few different ways that geothermal power plants operate. Find out how experts are working to fine tune the process and make geothermal power plants more affordable and useful across the country.
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The first hybrid car was introduced in 1905. It had two distinct power sources working together to make it run; gas and electric power. However, using only gasoline back then was cheap and easy to power, and the hybrid car was forgotten; until recently. Since the fuel widely used now is a non-renewable resource and becoming increasingly less affordable, the hybrid car is making a comeback. Hybrid cars are operated by a computer system called the Digital Drive Line. When you step on the gas pedal, you are telling the system how fast you need to go and the car decides whether to use gas, electric power or both. The benefit of the hybrid is that instead of running on gas for an entire trip, it uses non-polluting electric power when possible. The hybrid car is ideal for city driving and traffic. By using less gas, hybrid cars help cut pollution and helps save drivers money at the gas pump.
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Solar power is defined as the energy we produce by converting sunlight into heat or electricity. It is one of the most abundant and affordable sources of energy available. However, it is difficult to harness and impractical in some parts of the world. So, it is important to explore in-depth, the process of converting sunlight to power. The three primary ways to produce solar power on a large scale are solar power generating plants, photovoltaic cells and solar thermal heaters. The Eco Kids will take us through each process of energy conversion to help us better understand this clean energy technology.
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Wind is a natural resource that is readily available and virtually everywhere. Wind power is defined as the process of turning the kinetic energy of the wind into electrical energy. Humans have been harnessing the power of the wind for around 2,000 years. The Dutch made the windmill famous. Find out how the large wind turbines are built using a simplistic design and modern technology. They operate completely autonomously by rotating with the force of the wind. The blades turn on a rotor that is connected by a shaft to a generator that creates electricity. With the Eco Kids, we'll explore how the use of wind power is growing and becoming widely used throughout the world. It is an efficient way to use a clean renewable resource.
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The Earth Needs YOUR Help, the first part of the Eco Kids series, discusses some of the things that are hurting the planet. Students will learn common terminology used when talking about the environment, such as climate, ozone, fossil fuels, and carbon dioxide. We'll explore the issues of air pollution, the greenhouse effect, renewable resources and water usage while studying the factors contributing to all of them. The program is the first episode in understanding how to change our ways in order to become more eco-friendly.
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ECO KIDS EXPLORE features the 5 different types of "Green Power" which are becoming increasingly popular: Solar Power, Wind Power, Geothermal energy, Ethanol and Hybrid Cars. This series investigates these energy sources in an understandable way, which will help young viewers learn how to help solve the problems facing our earth today. As our world grows, so does the demand for energy. As pollution increases and our fossil fuels deplete there is a need for more reliable affordable and eco-friendly source of energy - Green Power.
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Join the Eco=Kids Explorers as they travel to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), having been granted an all-access pass to learn about Electric-Plug-in cars. Before key interviews with scientists and engineers, the Explorers give a history of the Electric-Car from the beginning of the 20th Century to today. Then we explore an electric car that was designed at NREL and is being tested for possible mass production.
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Follow the Eco=Kids as they learn the history of Hydroelectric Energy and explore the process of turning the down flow of water into usable energy. Watch our explorers discover the function of the turbine and water level at the hydroelectric dam, as well as the scale of a dam construction.
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Join the Eco=Kids Explorers as they travel to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with an all-access pass to learn about Hydrogen Fuel Cells. After an explanation and history of what a Hydrogen Fuel Cell is, our explorers team up with NREL testers and explain a modern Hydrogen Fuel Cell car. Students will learn how close we are to having them in our driveways.
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In this installment our explorers visit three recycling plants: aluminum, paper and plastic. Follow the cross country paths of a regular aluminum can, cereal box and plastic bottle through the cycle of production, use, recycling bin, melting, washing, pressing and back to production. Learn to make your own recycled paper at home with the Eco=Kids Explore and investigate the costs of large scale recycling.
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Join the Eco=Kids Explorer team as they teach students about water treatment. After a brief history of clean water usage, our hosts visit a water treatment plant. We learn of two types of transforming water into usable water: purification and desalination. The hosts demonstrate how to do their own water filtration experiment from a class room or home.
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We live in a world full of contrasts. From the coldest to the driest of climates, the most populated to the most remote, the highest to the lowest locations, and everything in-between.
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Across the world, extreme weather events are affecting local conditions.
Some areas are getting drier and hotter, while others are
getting wetter, as floods are becoming more frequent and more
extreme.
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Areas such as the Horn of Africa are suffering severe droughts
brought on by seasonal changes, climate change, political troubles
and population increases.
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The Earth is roughly four and a half billion years old, and life started
to emerge shortly after the first billion.
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Earthquakes are sudden, unpredictable movements of the Earth’s
crust. Certain parts of the world are especially susceptible to these
types of catastrophic events.
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Our planet’s untouched natural environments are shrinking, due
to pressure from human populations.
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Fires strike when the air is hot and the land is dry. They spread
when high winds fan the flames. This episode profiles the 2007
California wildfires, the Los Alamos Research Lab super computer
‘Blue Mountain’ that simulated fire spread, the Fire Camera system
in Australia, and the fire festival in Spain.
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With average temperatures rising globally, floods are becoming
more frequent and prolonged.
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The world’s glaciers are breaking away and melting at a rate that
cannot be replenished.
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Islands provide unique environments isolated from major land masses. We look at some of the most isolated and beautiful islands on the planet, including Easter Island with its stone sculptures, the treeless expanses of the Shetland Islands of Scotland, and the Pharaoh Islands, initially settled by Irish monks and Vikings.
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Lakes are bodies of water not connected to an ocean. Just three
percent of the world’s water is fresh, with two-thirds being locked
away in polar or glacial ice. Russia’s Lake Baikal and the Great
Lake System of North America make up as much as half of what’s
left over.
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Of all the planets, Mars has an environment most like Earth. We
look at the multiple missions to Mars, and the technology employed
by NASA in its probes to assist with the search for water
and life on Mars.
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More than half of the world’s population depends on the rivers that
are fed by the ice and snow that form in mountain ranges.
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Coral reefs are incredibly bio-diverse areas formed in nutrient-poor
water. Over millions of years the cumulative work of tiny coral polyps
has built vast formations that support coral, plants and other
species.
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Lakes and rivers constitute only one-percent of the Earth’s water,
but are vital to all land-based life.
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Across the void of space, the other planets in our solar system all
have environments that are hostile to life as we know it.
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Housing, clean water, sanitization and transportation are all crucial
to a functional city.
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Some areas are too harsh to be inhabited by civilization. Others
have survived through conservation efforts, such as the parks
protected as World Heritage Sites. The last great wilderness is
Antarctica, which belongs to no country and is protected from exploitation
by its subzero climate.
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Part 3 profiles the after effects of the second gulf war. Iraq, which once played a major role in the Middle East oil trade, is struggling to gain stability. Exemplifying this is the city of Kirkuk, one of the two largest oil regions in the country, where oil brought destruction and discrimination against the Kurds. In Iran, controversy surrounds the Sunni and Shiite's and the struggle for everyday life. This episode also shows the disparity between north and south Tehran and the south's disappointment with failed promises by president Ahmadinijhad. In stark contrast lies Kuwait and Saudi Arabia where modernization is far beyond that of Iran and Iraq.
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From ancient civilizations to current day metropolitan cities, all societies have been shaped by the struggle to control water. The future of humankind will be shaped by the element of water and this struggle for control will establish the balance between peace and war, profoundly influencing relations between countries and continents. Climate change will also greatly affect water resources in the future. In the next decades huge water projects will radically change the face of the Earth. The future of water is a highly important global issue, which threatens the security of the entire planet.
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Incredible amounts of ice are melting in the Arctic and the warmer temperatures have made it possible to sail all the way around Svalbard, the northern most civilization in the world. What is happening in the Arctic islands is the best illustration of what happens to nature when global warming spreads. A cameraman has found space on a Russian expedition ship and has persuaded the crew to drop him off at several places around the islands. Completely alone on these harsh coasts, he experiences first hand the consequences of global warming on the Arctic environment. We come very close to starving polar bears as they have no hunting grounds due to the fast melting ice. We also meet walruses, polar foxes, and many birds, all of whom are feeling the effects of climate change.
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Steven Holl is one of America's most renowned and innovative architects, and the winner of many outstanding awards. The Building, opened by Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit in August 2009, the Hamsun Center, off Norway's northwest coast, is one of his most prestigious international achievements and a worthy runner-up to the Oslo Opera House.
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India is an ancient land of devotion, ritual, and tradition - but it is also in the throes of becoming the modern world's largest consumer economy. This program looks at both broad areas of progress (education, health care, information technology, urbanization) and concerns (illiteracy, poverty, the caste system, urban sprawl, damage to natural resources) and specific examples of each.
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The materials used in the construction of buildings vary according to historical, environmental, climactic and economic reasons. The difference between natural and manufactured materials and the reasons for their use as well as the aesthetic, economic and practical qualities of each are given. This video also highlights the manufacturing of bricks and compares them to the expensive building stones and mouldings of synthetic stones.
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In this program towers, tunnels and bridges are highlighted. The challenges of designing and constructing major structures and the use of suitable materials are surveyed; how a radio telescope or a television dish is prevented from falling is also described. What special kind of clay is utilized in overflow dams, and what is a spillway?
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Part 1 - Columbus, Vespucci, Magellan - The earliest maps didn't represent the actual land content of the world. Maps were updated as more of New World was explored. The maps of the Middle Ages, were mostly based on conjecture rather than actual discovery. With the expansion of the spice trade between Asian and Portugal and Spain, the maps began to change once again.
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7 year old Taco is the first of his family to attend school and therefore tries very hard. His first lesson concerns the purification of water. Taco dresses like his Inca ancestors in a hat and poncho. He and his classmates salute the flag like soldiers, even bringing their heels together.
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On Bute Island 10 year old Edward prepares to leave his family's sheep farm to attend a boarding school on another island. Classes begin with geography.
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Wood. We build houses from it, we make paper from it, we burn it to keep warm, we make boats and furniture from it. All wood comes from trees. In this episode, Albert tries to reveal the truth behind a tree. Trees are the great recycling players in the game of life. Did you know that each day a tree produces enough oxygen for twenty people to breathe? That they filter out dirt and pollution from the environment, releasing clean, valuable air? That each tree is a sophisticated ecosystem supporting a variety of different trees are being felled at an alarming rate, and that, if it continues, the health of the planet will suffer?
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AIR - It's everywhere. Without it, we can't smell, talk, hear, or breathe. We can't even live. In fact, we die. But don't get morbid. Join Albert as he travels with a kleptomaniac magpie to find out from where air comes, and what's happening to it. After a break for a barbecue, they deduce that noxious gases are polluting the environment. How can we keep our air clean? Find out how we can keep the earth breathing!
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