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Science is an important but complex subject that often seems overwhelming to kids. Science Rock takes a nontraditional approach to this subject, entertaining kids with upbeat music that features lyrics absolutely packed with information. Simple, accurate descriptions of the human body's digestive, circulatory, central nervous, and skeletal systems, along with explanations of energy sources, the solar system, and gravity provide the thematic material for eight rock- and blues-inspired songs that kids find immediately appealing. Especially effective are the description of the central nervous system in "A Telegraph Line" and the discussion of nonrenewable energy sources in "The Energy Blues." Science Rock is a 1995 addition to the multi-Emmy Award winning Schoolhouse Rock! series. It preserves the feel and intent of the original series while offering up-to-date information about modern science. Each 30-minute video in this 25th anniversary collection contains a bonus music video featuring current rock stars singing favorite Schoolhouse Rock! songs--in this case, Better Than Ezra's rendition of "Conjunction Junction." --Tami Horiuchi |
Interplanet Janet
She's a galaxy girl
A solar system miss
From a future world.
She travels like a rocket
With her comet team,
And there's never been a planet Janet hasn't seen.
No, there's never been a planet Janet hasn't seen.Yes, the 1970s gave us Watergate and long lines to buy gas, but there was also the bicentennial, "Jaws" and "Schoolhouse Rock!" Who does not have fond memories of those 3-minute cartoons that aired on ABC television on Saturday mornings teaching a generation of children about history, government, math, grammar, and science? What kid does not know that a noun is a person, place, or thing or cannot explain how a bill becomes a law? (I am shocked that "I'm Just a Bill" is only #2 on the list of most popular Schoolhouse Rocks! behind "Conjunction Junction"). As you can tell, "interplanetary Janet" (#8), with its tour of the solar system, is my favorite Science Rock, although I guess it is not too shocking that "Electricity, Electricity" (#5) ranks higher. For the record, here the complete list of Science Rocks: "Body Machine" which needs things like chicken salad sandwiches as fuel;
"Circulation," the big new craze as everybody is doing the circulation;
"Electricity, Electricity" on the use of electrical power;
"Energy" or more accurately Energy Conservation;
"Interplanet Janet" and a tour of the Solar System;
"Telegraph Line" all about the Nervous System;
"Them Not-So-Dry Bones" without which you would be just a blob;
"Victim of Gravity" sung by the Tokens; and
"Weather" the greatest show on Earth! Science teachers around the U.S. can still use these wonderful little "rock videos" to both introduce key topics and to provide a bit of musical reinforcement. I know that music is still being used in schools to help students learn material (my daughter can sing a song with all the state capitals and there is a woman at work who can do all the nations of the world) and that was the guiding principle behind "Schoolhouse Rock." The series was created by an advertising executive who noticed his song was having trouble with memorizing multiplication tables but knew all the words to the latest rock songs. Faster than you can say, "you got chocolate in my peanut butter" he put the two together and the rest is not just history, but science, math, grammar and government. You can pick up individual videos of "Science Rock," "America Rock," "Grammar Rock," and "Multiplication Rock," but be aware that there is also a DVD edition that has ALL of the "Schoolhouse Rock" cartoons and the proverbial much, much more. I might have been too old for "Sesame Street," but I was never too old for "Schoolhouse Rock!" |
