As the Scientific Homeschool we love our science channels. We watch Mythbusters, How It’s Made, Planet Earth, Destroyed in Seconds (is that really science? or just the male desire for destruction?), Dirty Jobs, Bugging Out, Head Rush, Meteorite Men, Through the Wormhole, even “Punkin Chunkin” and more. I even consider watching “Phineas and Ferb” on the Disney channel fair learning material, since it promotes creativity, interest-led learning, and individuality. And I don’t feel the least bit guilty about allowing my kids to watch TV in the name of science, especially since my older son is a visual learner. Truthfully these programs are how I justify the existence of a TV in my home (my husband was raised with television; I was not). I draw the line at Sponge Bob, though–sorry kids, no credit there.
The first two episodes of Great Migrations aired Sunday and we saved both to the DVR for the family’s viewing pleasure; sometimes we like to watch our nature programs more than once (–okay-I like to watch them more than once!). “Born to Move” and “Need to Breed” were entrancing, the photography was breathtaking and the films are everything I’ve come to expect of National Geographic.
This weekend the migration continues, with the “Science of Great Migrations” at 7pm on Saturday the 13th, and on Sunday the 14th “Feast or Famine” at 8pm, “Race to Survive” at 9pm, and a “Behind the Scenes” at 10pm.
A number of resources are available at the National Geographic website to accompany Great Migrations, including featured videos, slide shows, animals migratory profiles, episode scheduling, the science behind the migration and why scientists study migration.
If anyone calls me during any of the aforementioned viewing times for Great Migrations–don’t be offended if I let the answering machine take your message. ;D
Some Other Resources to Consider:
National Geographic-the home page will lead you to all the different facets of NatGeo–including the magazine, photography, articles, teacher resources, and more.
Science Channel-videos, information regarding all the various shows and scheduling, lots of resources.
Discovery Channel-a myriad of resources, video-clips, show schedules, teacher resources, and more.
Animal Games-we’ve been playing these games at Sheppard Software quite frequently also, which make a nice accompaniment to the Great Migrations series. I have the main page listed on our site’s links, but this will take you directly to the animal games, where you and your kids can play interactive games to learn about animal classification, producers and consumers, the food chain, herbivores, carnivores, and much more.
