What We’re Watching: Earth Day

Greetings from The Paley Center for Media’s Education Department!

Welcome to the latest installment of “What We’re Watching.” Twice a month the education department reaches out to the community with tips and ideas for consuming media with kids by highlighting different themes that connect to two selected programs, one for younger viewers and one for older viewers, each with related activities and resources.

Watching media alongside your kids is a perfect jumping-off point to making media literacy a part of your everyday lives. Familiarizing yourself with the basics is a great first step. You can view our first newsletter about media literacy best practices archived here. We also recommend the National Association for Media Literacy Education’s Parents Guide—it’s a terrific introduction!

‌What We're Watching: Earth Day

Earth Day is always a great reminder that we are living at a time with enormous threats to the planet that will affect human survival in the near future. As our world becomes more technologically advanced, we use up more energy, produce more trash and release more greenhouse gases and particulate matter into the atmosphere. Our planet cannot replenish natural resources faster than we use them. If we don't find a more sustainable way to live, everyone will inevitably suffer. The programs recommended this week are for all ages and remind us just how interconnected we are to each other and all living things on the planet.

This Week's Recommendations for Younger Viewers

Flow (2024)
Recommended for Grades 2+
Available on Max

This feature by Latvian director, animator, and composer Gints Zilbalodis follows a black cat in a post-human world as he navigates a cataclysmic flood. Teaming up with other animals on a boat, they must rely on each other to find dry land. This dialogue free film explores themes of survival, friendship, and the impact of environmental disaster through compelling visual animated storytelling.

Viewing Questions

Describe the environment we find the characters of this film living in.
What threat at the beginning of the film forces the animals to run?
What main animal do we follow through the film?
What other animals join Cat on the journey?
How do they get along? Are there any problems?
How do they ultimately survive and help each other?

Extension Activity

Just like the dialogue-free movie Flow, there are lots of fantastic wordless books. Try telling a short story through a series of drawings and then narrate it to a friend or family member. Or use Create a Story Cards by eeboo to immerse yourself in a visual storytelling game.

Additional Resources

Read

Science Comics: Cats by Andy Hirsch

Watch

David Attenborough: Life on Our Planet (2020)
The Wild Robot (2024)

This Week's Recommendations for Older Viewers

Adventure Time: “Food Chain” S6 E7 (2014)
Recommended for Grades 3+
Available on Max

This animated imaginative fantasy series was created by Pendleton Ward (Bravest Warriors and Midnight Gospel) for Cartoon Network and follows the adventures of a boy named Finn and his best friend Jake, a dog with the power to change size and shape at will. Finn and Jake live in the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo, where they interact with Princess Bubblegum, the Ice King, Marceline, BMO, among others. In this episode, Finn and Jake learn about the food chain by becoming the food chain on a field trip to the Candy Kingdom Museum of Natural History.

Viewing Questions

What type of museum does this episode take place inside of?
Who turns Finn and Jake into birds?
Describe each part of the food chain Finn and Jake travel through during this episode.
What do we all learn about the cycle of life through their adventure?
How do you think humans might fit into this food chain and where would you place us in the circle if at all?

Extension Activity

Find and play Krill - A Whale of a Game on eBay—a card game about food chains in Antarctica where Krill, tiny little shrimps, form the base of an entire ecosystem.

Make Your Own Finn and Jake Card

Additional Resources

Read