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Project Descriptions

Spaceship Earth: A Global Geography (A Television Series for PBS Broadcast)

July 1, 1990 - June 30, 1992 | Media and Technology
The ETV Endowment of South Carolina, in an international co-production with Channel Four, London, will produce, promote and distribute a PBS television series "Spaceship Earth", consisting of ten 30 minute programs and an accompanying book on world geography, presented from the perspective of a global understanding of planet Earth. Geography will be viewed as an integrating science, treating physical, biological, and cultural components as interrelated parts of a whole. The series will present a satellite's eye view of the earth, utilizing the best available imagery from satellite, photographic coverage, maps, animation, and computer generated imagery. Program topics will include global systems and remote sensing, patterns of settlement, geologic processes, local impacts of global markets, climatic zones and climatic changes, oceans of the world, rivers and lakes, forests of the world, feast or famine, and ethnicity and technology. The Producers, Nigel Calder and Nicholas Barton, are experienced writers and producers of science book and films. They will be supported by an internationally recognized team of senior consultants and advisors. SPACESHIP EARTH will be complemented by educational materials packages for wide use in formal and informal settings, and U.S. precollege teachers will have unlimited three year off air tape and reuse rights to the series. This series promises to be an engaging and fresh approach to science through global views of geography, with substantial appeal to educators and schools as well as at home viewers. NSF's contribution will be 13% of the total.

Funders

NSF
Funding Program: ISE/AISL
Award Number: 8954710
Funding Amount: 367430

TEAM MEMBERS

  • Ruth Sproat
    Principal Investigator
    ETV Endowment of South Carolina
  • Nigel Calder
    Co-Principal Investigator
    Channel Four, London
  • Nicholas Barton
    Co-Principal Investigator
    Channel Four, London
  • Discipline: Climate | Ecology, forestry, and agriculture | Geoscience and geography | Social science and psychology
    Audience: General Public | Educators/Teachers | Museum/ISE Professionals
    Environment Type: Media and Technology | Broadcast Media

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