Episode 901: An Urchin Matter

There’s a mega mystery in Megabays – the once-healthy kelp in Big Bay is washing ashore. Is it nature at work, or is something – or someone – causing the underwater kelp forest’s collapse?

For Real segment: Harry leads his campers in a game of “Chomp, Nibble, Grow, Grow, Grow” to demonstrate how otters, urchins, and kelp exist together and depend on one another to maintain a healthy, balanced ecosystem.

Learning Goals

1) Keystone species are those that, although small in numbers, play a large role in maintaining the balance between predators and prey in an ecosystem. 2) When you represent data with a bar graph, it is easy to compare their values at a glance in order to see patterns and draw conclusions.

Topics: Keystone Species; Bar Graphs

Episode 902: Going Solar

When the power mysteriously goes out at the new Radopolis skate park, the CyberSquad and Digit must find a way to turn it back on before a nighttime skateboarding extravaganza.

For Real segment: Alicia, one of Harry’s coworkers, is passionate about solar power, and she has come up with a game called “Power Up!” to teach their campers about it.

Learning Goals
1) The amount of solar power you can collect is proportional to the surface area of the solar panels you’re using. 2) To determine how much solar power you can get from a given space, calculate its area and use that to determine how many solar panels it can hold.

Topics: Solar Power; Area

Episode 903: Trash Creep

Perfectamundo isn’t so perfect anymore – the trash is out of control! A giant garbage heap threatens to break through the cybersite’s dome, and the CyberSquad must become garbologists to reduce the rubbish.

For Real segment: Harry devises a game called “Trash Dash” to show his campers the importance of sorting trash items that are recyclable, reusable, and compostable.

Learning Goals
1) To cut trash to a small fraction practice the three R’s – first Reduce, then Reuse, and finally Recycle. 2) Sometimes it’s not how much you need to know, but what fraction of a total it represents.

Topics: Trash; Fractions

Episode 904 & 905: The Cyberchase Movie Part 1 & 2

The CyberSquad and their new friend Scanner embark on a quest to build a new Encryptor Chip for Motherboard and cure her virus. With Hacker in hot pursuit, the kids must run, ski, canoe and climb their way to the end of the mission.

For Real segment: Inspired by his friend Hudson, Harry adopts a dog from an animal shelter. But after his dog, Joe, tears up his furniture, Harry learns an important lesson about keeping pets (and himself) physically active.

Learning Goal
To have fun and be healthy, get up and moving for sixty minutes each day.

Topics: Being Active; Data Representation/Tables