Inquisitive Minds

Two teen narrators and a wacky character called Dr. Knowledge explore the concepts of energy and electricity in this fast-paced program, which points out that everything from airplanes to iPods needs energy to function and traces how electricity moves from its source, through the power grid, to the wall outlet. Various types of power are covered, including hydro-electric, coal, nuclear, wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal. Combining live-action footage, interviews with various workers in the industry, great 3-D animation, and relevant vocabulary, Inquisitive Minds provides a surprisingly comprehensive overview of the physics of how energy does its job. From an enormous wind farm to a kitchen where fresh cookies are just emerging from the oven, the science is clearly applied to real-world applications, and the narrator does a solid job of explaining, reviewing, and making connections. Recommended. Aud: I, J. (E. Gieschen)