PBS show turns kids into sleuths of science

By Terry Kinney
Associated Press

A new PBS series takes kids on an investigative journey through science.

"This stuff moves fast, and it has incessant music," said executive producer Richard Hudson.

"DragonflyTV" comes from Twin Cities Public Television, producer of the long-running "Newton's Apple," and is based on a children's magazine developed at Miami (of Ohio) University. The show is aimed at 9- to 12-year olds and has youngsters as hosts.

"Kids ask questions and then look for answers on their own," Michael, one of the first-name-only hosts, says in the first episode.

"On every show, regular kids will investigate the things they love to do," co-host Mariko says.

The show elicits science questions from kids, then producers film kids carrying out experiments that often are based on vigorous activities such as martial arts, kayaking and rock climbing.

The photography is slick, the editing fast, the music current.

In the first show, groups of youngsters try to find out why so many boulders are in whitewater rapids, how a whale is weighed and how to get more power behind a tae kwon do kick.

Dragonfly magazine is the model. Now distributed to 200,000 homes as an insert in Scientific American's Explorations magazine, Dragonfly originated as "a magazine for young investigators" and featured environmental stories written by children.

"Kids are natural investigators, and what they remember is what they investigate on their own," said Chris Myers, a professor at Miami University and the former editor in chief of Dragonfly. "Kids see the world in much different ways than adults do."

The National Science Foundation and Best Buy have provided financing for the first 13-program season. The NSF has committed to share the cost of two more seasons if matching money is found.

On the Web:
www.dragonflytv.org