PBS Shows Add Fun to Math and Science Learning

Adults may be well advised to have some Dramamine handy before tuning into the new PBS children’s series, “Dragonfly TV,” launching Sunday. This “edutainment” science series is a head-spinning mix of fly-by scenes, jittery effects, stand-on-your-head camera angles and never-ending, pulsing loops of pop music.

But apparently it’s an age thing: A test at home revealed that the viewing experience is not nearly as stomach-wrenching for younger viewers, steeped in MTV culture from birth.

The live-action “Dragonfly TV” is one of two new fun-and-learn PBS shows crafted to grab the attention of ‘tweeners--ages 8 to 12. In the math-focused, animated “Cyberchase,” beginning Monday, three kids are special agents for a computer motherboard that calls for help when villainous Hacker (voiced by Christopher Lloyd) threatens the virtual worlds of cyberspace.

Both shows are designed to show that, yes, math and science do go beyond the classroom.

“Dragonfly TV,” based on and named for the respected children’s magazine that is inserted in the Scientific American Explorations family magazine, features two enthusiastic young hosts who bridge the herky-jerky, graphic design-heavy video segments. Experts in various fields, from paleontology to animal behavior, appear, but mostly the show spotlights young people engaged in favorite sports and activities: kayaking, martial arts, surfing, rock-climbing, skateboarding, robot-building.

It’s not just the activities, though, it’s the how and why of them: What makes white-water rapids rapid, how does foot position affect the power of a taekwondo kick, how do you build a robot that can unlatch a latch, how do you weigh a whale?

The fast pace may not be adult-friendly, but it craftily gives the acts of discovery and data-gathering an infectious sense of urgency and importance. Viewers are encouraged to go to the show’s Web site, www.muohio.edu/dragonfly, to share their own discoveries and for science project tips and interaction with kid and adult scientists.

“Cyberchase” is in the more traditional cartoon mode: Kid heroes use a computer as a portal to a different virtual world in each episode, going up against kooky bad guys. (In addition to Lloyd as Hacker, Gilbert Gottfried voices a cyber-bird pal named Digit and guest vocal talent includes Bebe Neuwirth, Jasmine Guy, Geoffrey Holder and others.) It’s not superpowers that save the day, however. It’s math power.

How to find the villain’s castle on a world full of castles? The kids survey a town’s inhabitants for villain-sightings, end up in Dracula’s domain and realize they must start again with more specific questions.

How can they get across a hole in the ground too wide to leap? How high must they climb to reach a ski lift whizzing the Hacker’s henchmen out of their reach? They have to estimate, not guess, volume, height, quantity and distance to save the day.

Don’t look for creative breakthroughs, but “Dragonfly TV” and “Cyberchase” combine fun and thought with enough conviction to make inventive problem-solving--and curiosity--look pretty cool.

“Dragonfly TV” can be seen Sundays at 8 a.m. and “Cyberchase” weekdays at 2:30 p.m., both on KCET-TV.