Video Lending Library Feature: Can I Eat That?

Here is a timely video for the holiday season. This video ventures into three areas to explore the scientific secrets behind our favorite foods. The topics include: Thanksgiving Cooking Chemistry – looks at the physics, chemistry and biology that go into making the perfect Thanksgiving dinner; Why Do We Cook? – Why are humans the only animals who cook?; What is Taste? – explores the secrets of flavor and taste. The video also includes a profile of Nathan Myhrvold, the former chief technology officer at Microsoft. Borrow this DVD from the WGBY Video Lending Library for a month by clicking here.

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New PBS KIDS App: Fizzy’s Lunch Lab: Hectic Harvest

The new Fizzy’s Lunch Lab app, Hectic Harvest, aims to stock the Lunch Lab with the freshest veggies. But there’s one problem: Fizzy’s too busy running the Lunch Lab to work on his new farm! He needs Mixie to help him out. In this time-management simulation game, help Mixie plant, water and harvest the crops. Luckily, Mixie comes equipped with helpful gadgets to make farming fun. Earn enough money and you can visit the upgrade store to purchase even more gadgets to speed up farming.

This app’s goals are to communicate the processes of farming and to connect children with the process of farming healthy food.  The app is available now on iTunes, Amazon App Store for Android, Google Play and Barnes & Noble’s Nook Store.

Check out a demo of the game below:

Is your child a fan of Fizzy’s Lunch Lab already?  Check out these great family activities.  New to the series?  Check it out online at PBS Kids.

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America Revealed: 10 Videos & Lessons for Classroom Use

America Revealed, airing Wednesdays on WGBY, is a new series that reveals the inner-workings of our country, the systems and patterns that keep our country running.  The series, which is full of exciting learning opportunities for students, looks at four important areas of America’s infrastructure:  Food, Transport, Energy and Manufacturing.

Using beautiful and breath-taking aerial photography to provide an otherwise unseen view of America as well as original data visualizations to demonstrate how our systems work, the series is presented by technology expert and communications attorney, Yul Kwon, winner of Survivor: Cook Islands 2006.  As presenter and guide, he jumps out of aeroplanes in Kansas, climbs to the top of wind turbines in the Columbia River Gorge,  and takes part in a giant tomato fight in Nevada.

The series makers have created ten video stories exclusively for classroom use. These videos are supported by engaging, standards-aligned lesson plans that provide teachers with interactive content, tools, and ideas to delve deeper into the show’s thought-provoking themes. If you’re an educator who is interested in creating a lesson based around the series, or just looking for inspiring curriculum-based teaching opportunities, these resources will get you started.

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