Science Documentaries for Youngsters? 383
An anonymous reader writes "My 7-year-old daughter is asking some interesting questions, such as, 'How did everything get created?' I've explained, in general terms, our family's non-religious views on the subject of creation and the Big Bang. I'd like to find some documentary videos geared to this age level that may explain better these concepts and theories. I've found a few PBS specials online - Stephen Hawking stuff - but they seem to be geared for young adults and older. Does anyone have recommended titles that might be better geared to children of this age bracket?"
Symmetry (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/cms/ [symmetrymagazine.org]
Wonders of Life Series (Score:5, Informative)
Our Mr. Sun
Hemo the Magnificent
Unchained Goddess
The Strange Case of Cosmic Rays
are available on DVD. The whole series had nine films, but I haven't been able to find the others.
Winged Migration is also quite good.
Torrents? (Score:2, Informative)
"The Universe" on the History Channel (Score:4, Informative)
Cosmos (Score:5, Informative)
Life on Earth - David Attenborough (Score:1, Informative)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Earth_%28TV_series%29
The newer BBC Planet Earth is great too, but Life on Earth is far more educational. Just a great series.
After that I would say Carl Sagan's Cosmos would be good.
Go to MVGroup.org - its like THE torrent hub for docs.
Look at PBS again. (Score:5, Informative)
in fact that tv show is good for chemistry, molecular physics, biology, etc....
Growing Up In The Universe (Score:2, Informative)
http://richarddawkins.net/article,826,Growing-Up-in-the-Universe-2-Disc-DVD-Set,The-Richard-Dawkins-Foundation-for-Reason-and-Science
Re:www how things work dot com of course (Score:5, Informative)
Wikipedia for Kids:
http://schools-wikipedia.org/ [schools-wikipedia.org]
Article on Wikipedia for Kids:
http://www.marrowbones.com/commons/technosocial/2007/12/wikipedia_for_kids_teaching_a.html [marrowbones.com]
NASA for Kids:
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/kidsclub/flash/index.html [nasa.gov]
and yes, if you want kids books, ask a librarian at the library, imho
http://richarddawkins.net/growingupintheuniverse (Score:4, Informative)
Not a title of a documentary per se (Score:3, Informative)
But a repository of good multimedia clips and lessons aimed at children of different ages: http://www.teachersdomain.org/ [teachersdomain.org]
This site is run by the PBS station WGBH. You might be able to find footage of what you are looking for here and questions that could spark and interesting conversation between yourself and your child.
Kids TV has gone downhill (Score:3, Informative)
Bill Nye and Beakman (especially Beakman) were not as good because they were too interested in being flashy and funny and catering to kids with no attention spans.
I don't know if there's anything comparable on TV today.
Old, but brilliant... (Score:5, Informative)
I know it's fairly local (i.e. our planet) - but it is inspiring.
The Planet Earth (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Cosmos (Score:4, Informative)
But with the science? Cosmos is of profound educational and inspirational value. It's been something like 30 years since it came out -- I tend to think of Cosmos in one mental breath with the specials about relativity that came out in 1979 for the centennial of Einstein's birth -- but I remember feeling like this was something special. Sagan was a guy who really had a sense of just how damn cool the universe is.
Re:Cosmos (Score:2, Informative)
BBC had a more recent one called Space with Sam Neill which is very similar to Cosmos. Check that out.
Pure FUD (Score:3, Informative)
There are a lot of smart, careful, and bored people who do nothing but watch the global changelog and review new edits.
I am actually proud of my kids' school, where they have banned wikipedia for use as a source.
Good for them. In the coming century, that policy will make it that much easier for my kids to outcompete yours.
Re:I got one (Score:3, Informative)
The Universe on The History Channel (Score:3, Informative)
When in the car, we also listen to the Astronomy Cast [astronomycast.com] podcast. Dr. Pamela Gay [starstryder.com] does a great job of getting the science across in an informative and entertaining way without dumbing it down too much for us non professional physicists and astronomers.
Yes, a lot of it is over his head (heck, a lot of it is over my head), but he asks very intelligent questions about time, space, where everything came from, and where it's all headed, so I highly recommend those two sources.
We've tried watching reruns of Cosmos [wikipedia.org]. It was an absolutely groundbreaking and stunning show 28 years ago. But by today's standards, the graphics are weak and some of the science is dated. It's amazing how much we as a species have learned about the universe we live in in that short amount of time.
-S
Re:Observe your daugher carefully (Score:5, Informative)
Some kids develop faster, others slower. If you look more closely, it's usually even more of a mixture: some kids learn some things faster and other things slower. I still remember my first primary school teacher insisting that at age 5 I could not possibly have learnt to read yet, and not allowing me to have books beyond 'A is for Apple' when I wanted to have something more like 'Thomas the Tank Engine' (not so much more advanced, maybe, but there are complete sentences in the latter even if they're short). Three weeks of boredom seems like a lot when you're five (that being about how long it took her to understand that I could read simple sentences without sounding out the words).
(incidentally - sibling = (brother or sister), not child)
Re:Wikipedia lessons for kids (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Wonders of Life Series (Score:1, Informative)
Connections with James Burke (Score:4, Informative)