Glaciation: Ice Shapes the Land

When pondering the majesty of, say, Yosemite National Park, one does not instantly connect it with slow-moving sheets of dirty ice. Yet glaciers are responsible for its beauty, as well as many of the physical features of North America. Starting with the growth of a glacier from a snowflake, Glaciation: Ice Shapes the Land completely explores this geological process, including movement, erosion features, and classification. However, the program suffers from a lack of cohesiveness, and…well…glacially slow pacing, as the completely flat, emotionless narration gives way several times to montages of giant chunks of ice set to improbable music. The combination of outdated footage, unimaginative graphics, and a musical background that sounds like a lullaby played on a bad keyboard, makes this very optional for classroom use. Part of the 15-volume Physical Geography Video Series, other titles include: Volcanoes of the United States, Weathering and Erosion, The Hydrologic Cycle, Geologic Time and Introduction to Rocks and Minerals. Aud: H, C, P. (E. Gieschen)