TV REVIEW : NEW PBS OFFERING PUTS KIDS IN THE ‘KNOWZONE’

Although it is aimed at 10- to 14-year-olds, there’s nothing juvenile or simple-headed about “Knowzone,” PBS’ new half-hour science/nature/technology series (5 p.m. Fridays on KCET Channel 28).

Built around recycled visual material from 13 seasons of the consistently excellent series “Nova,” “Knowzone” adds new graphics, music and narration to create a sophisticated program that makes few concessions to the youthful mind and is perfectly suitable for adults used to PBS hard stuff like “Nature of Things” or “Nature.”

“The Great Oil Disaster,” airing today, chronicles the cleanup and aftermath of one of the greatest man-made ecological disasters in history, the sinking of the oil supertanker Amoco Cadiz off the coast of France in 1978. We see the horrible mess created when 68 million gallons of crude oil coated Brittany’s beaches, killing much of the animal and plant life and crippling tourism. We also get a look at the new technologies and improved training methods being developed to prevent or mop up future spills.

Happily, long-term damage to the environment has proved to be far less than first feared, explains narrator David Morse, a.k.a. Dr. Jack Morrison of “St. Elsewhere.” Morse, informal and unaffected, doubles capably as the casual host of the brief in-studio segments that bookend the program, which takes an intellectually mature and scientific approach to a complex and often over-emotionalized issue.

“Knowzone” is also aired on KVCR Channel 24 Friday at 5 p.m.; KLCS Channel 58 Saturday at 8:30 a.m.; KOCE Channel 50 Wednesday and Friday at 2 p.m.; and KPBS Channel 15 Sunday at 4 p.m.