Greetings from The Paley Center for Media’s Education Department!
Welcome to the latest installment of “What We’re Watching,” a weekly Paley Education@Home guide. During this unprecedented time, we thought we would reach out to our community with some tips and ideas for consuming media with your kids! We know that screen time has increased so we’re here to help! Each week we are highlighting a different theme that connects to two selected programs, one for younger kids and one for older students, each with related activities.

Consuming media with 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. In case you missed it, you can view our first edition about media literacy best practices. We also recommend the National Association for Media Literacy Education’s Parents Guide—it’s a terrific introduction!
Weekly Zoom Meet-ups
Thursdays, 3:00 to 3:30 pm ET
Students Grades 3+ can join us for a weekly Zoom Meet-up, Thursdays from 3:00 to 3:30 pm ET, to chat about the week’s theme and engage in some hands-on learning led by a Paley Educator. Parents and teachers are welcome to join as well!

For connection details, please RSVP to eduny@paleycenter.org.
What We're Watching: World Oceans Day!
For this week’s recommendations, we’re getting splashy for World Oceans Day! Both of our picks this week focus on expanding knowledge about the ocean, a critical part of the biosphere, and appreciating how a healthy ocean is deeply linked to human survival. The planet has 5 great oceans and 113 seas, and takes up roughly 70% of the surface of the globe. People around the world depend on the ocean for not only food, jobs, medicine, and the air they breathe, but also for fun and relaxation. As temperatures rise and summer gets closer we are reminded that a dip in the ocean is one of the best things this planet has to offer. If you are not able to travel to the beach in person this week we hope our streaming choices make a good substitute.

"How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is clearly Ocean."
—Arthur C. Clarke
This Week's Recommendation for Younger Kids: Our Planet
Our Planet: “The High Seas” (2019)
Recommended for Grades 3+
Available to stream on Netflix

Renowned natural historian Sir David Attenborough narrates this series about our planet. In this episode, viewers dive into the deep, dark, and desolate oceans that are home to an abundance of beautiful and strange organisms.
Viewing Questions
  • What part of the marine biome do we learn about in this program? What is unique about it?
  • What different marine species live there?
  • What are phytoplankton and why are they so important?
  • How do oceans help protect us against climate change?
  • What is the weirdest looking animal you learned about in this episode? What is the most interesting animal you learned about? What is one species you would like to read more about?
  • Which familiar sea creatures are endangered? What human activity has led to their diminishing numbers?
  • What do you think we can do to help protect the diversity of the ocean and marine species? What does the program suggest?

Resources

Read
Coral Reefs by Jason Chin, Grades 1+
Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle by Claire A. Nivola, Grades 1+
Wow! Ocean! by Robert Neubecker, All ages

Watch
20,000 Leagues under the Sea, Grades 4+
Blue Planet I & II, Grades 1+
Finding Nemo, Grades K+
The Magic School Bus: Takes a Dive, Grades K+
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, Grades 1+
This Week's Recommendation for Older Students: Chasing Coral
Chasing Coral (2017)
Recommended for Grades 5+
Available to stream on Netflix

Did you know that a coral is an animal and not a plant? Coral reefs are also the most diverse marine ecosystems on the planet. Almost one-quarter of all ocean species depend on reefs for food and shelter. This is an amazing statistic when you consider that reefs cover less than one percent of the earth’s surface. In this inspiring call-to-action documentary, divers, photographers, and scientists set out on an ocean adventure to learn why coral reefs around the world are disappearing. With complicated underwater time lapse photography, they capture visual evidence of coral bleaching, and reveal the phenomenon in a powerful way.

Viewing Questions
  • What exactly is coral? What is something new you learned about coral in this documentary?
  • How would you describe what a reef is? Why are coral reefs important?
  • What did you learn over the course of the film about coral bleaching and the ocean?
  • What techniques were used to film this documentary?
  • What part of the film do you remember the most and why? What was happening in that part? How did it make you feel?
  • Do you think the film is an effective call to action concerning climate change and ocean health? Why or why not?
  • What do you think we can do to help preserve coral and maintain a healthy ocean?

Resources

Read
The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch, Grade 7+
The Sea around Us by Rachel Carson, Grade 9+
Science Comics: Coral Reefs by Maris Wicks, Grades 5+

Watch
Bob’s Burgers: “What about Blob?” (2019), Grades 8+
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), Grades 11+
A Plastic Ocean (2016), Grades 6+
Whale Rider (2003), Grades 6+

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Explore these rich, full online classes, with complete thematic descriptions, clips from the Paley Archive, pre- and post-viewing questions, associated vocabulary, further online resources, and more.

As always, if you have any questions, thoughts, or ideas, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at eduny@paleycenter.org.

Happy viewing,
Rebekah Fisk, Director of Education
Caroline Quigley, Senior Manager of School & Family Programs

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