DragonflyTV

Created specifically for school-aged kids, DRAGONFLYTV has girls and boys from different ethnic backgrounds perform experiments together, often brainstorming, discussing, taking notes, and then rolling up their sleeves to do the actual hands-on. A sampling of show topics: studying the apes at the Bronx Zoo to discover how plants and animals coexist in the rainforest; going to the Bakken Museum and Library in Minneapolis to learn how the body's electrical signals help a prosthetic arm function; designing and racing real sailboats to find out what makes one sail faster than the other; and finding out what sort of tire studs work best to speed across a frozen lake. The show is filmed in locations around the United States that serve as attractive backdrops and naturally invite discussion on different topics. And -- trying to appeal to the video-game generation -- producers film the show in a style that includes sharp camera angles, pop music, and colorful graphic titles.