DVD Picks: Way Cool Science for Kids - Space Trekkers

By Nicholas Moreau

• Way Cool Science for Kids: Space Trekkers
• Release date: August 17, 2004
• Ages: 6-10
• Producer: Thinkeroo
• DVD SRP: $14.95
• VHS SRP: $14.95
• Length: Approximately 30 minutes
• Live action
• The DVD can be ordered on http://www.bigkidsvideo.com/, or by phoning 1-888-477-7811.

Now from Thinkeroo, comes a new title in the Way Cool Science for Curious Kids! DVD/VHS series, called Way Cool Science: Space Trekkers.

It's a rather ambiguous, mysterious topic to present, as we know so much yet so little about the planets in our solar system. It's not the easiest to visually present either, sure some planet have rings, but they're all just coloured spheres in the end. Yet the Way Cool Science crew manages to pull it off with this original medley.

The video manages to simplify the physics and geology necessary in understanding this final frontier. Satellite pictures, space footage and photos, and digital graphics all clearly illustrate the planets, the Sun, the moon, and the asteroid belt. Each planet is profiled, talking about why the planet was named, what the atmosphere and surface are like, the length of its days and orbits, and all kinds of other interesting info.

Easy language, visuals and comparisons are helpful, take the comparison of the size of the earth to the size of the sun, as a tiny pebble next to a large ball. While this is enough to colourfully illustrate the point, it doesn't go the extra distance Bill Nye did, with a similar demonstration using all the planets, and placing them over a large farmer's field, to show their relative distance.

Just a single sequence with host Max Orbit away from the studio's blue screen, to say a science center, would have given the video a bit more visual variety. A dinosaur title in Thinkeroo's line is perfect illustration of how much a bit more reality can work.

Space Trekkers is being released a month or so after the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. The anniversary sparked ABC's Good Morning America to do a short segment, a la Kids Say the Darndest Things, to find out what today's little ones knew about the moon. The vast majority had never even heard that Neil and Buzz and about a dozen others had left their foot prints on luna firma.

For this reason, I find its especially worthwhile that Max take the time to mention human have actually explored a small but significant part of the Milky Way. At least the disc gives fitting tribute early in the going to the soon-to-be-abandoned Hubble Space Telescope, and its contributions to space exploration and knowledge.

The Know Your Planet and Name That Planet games are good multiple-choice reviews of the material covered, an unique and necessary element to this home video.

Even those who aren't interested in space will find the genial, enthuastic host for the series, Max Orbit, helps the content move along smoothly. His rubber face and not so subtle body expressions are age appropriate, and Max is even reminiscent of Jim Carrey in his earlier years. However, Max did start to go past vaudevillian and got on my nerves. His ham acting livens up the NASA photos, but he occasionally seem just plain twitchy. Confusing for fans of the Thinkeroo line is how Max often changes his name; take the recent Look Mom! I Have Good Manners, where he was Willy Doright.

The bottom line: While it could be more, it is isn't all that bad, an engaging way to learn about space.

Other releases from the makers of Potty Power include the award-winning Way Cool Science for Curious Kids series, including Stormchasers, Biotrackers, and Rockfinders, and Look Mom! I Have Good Manners.

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