DragonflyTV . About DFTV, Show Desciptions Season One

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Here's the skinny on the first season of DragonflyTV.

101 Investigate!
Kayaking - Simi, Jenny and Danny premiere DFTV with a splash as they kayak down a raging river, relating river speed to rock size.
Martial Arts - Kha and Peta, young martial arts athletes, determine how different tae kwon do moves challenge their bodies' skeletal and muscular systems and then apply what they learned in competition.
Scientist Profile - Paleontologist Gary Takeuchi unearths fossils in Red Rock Canyon State Park.
Robot Contest - A GEMS team (Girls in Engineering, Math and Science) designs, builds, and tests a robot to compete in the first "LEGO League" contest.
Riddle - DragonflyTV asks a heavy question: How do you weigh a whale? ¹

102 Wheels:
Motocross - Tamara and Tara, twin motocross racers, explore what impact their body positions have on their jumps.
Skateboard - Skateboarders Scott and Anthony experiment with different sized wheels to maximize speed and maneuverability.
Snow Scooter - Patrick and Justin, two young inventors, show how skis and scooters can pair up to speed through the snow.
Scientist Profile - Bruce Roberts and Rick Solarez design Harley Davidson motorcycles.
Riddle - How do you ride a square-wheeled bike? ²

103 Animal Behavior:
Otters - Josue and Michelle compare the grooming habits of otters at the Monterey Bay Aquarium with otters in the wild.
Dog Behavior - Laura and Anna test their dogs' performances on basic intelligence tests.
Scientist Profile- Otter biologist Melissa Jefferies introduces the Sea Otter Research and Conservation Program in Monterey.
Riddle - How do you keep birds off of an airport runway? ³

104 Water:
Surfing - Champion surfer Carsten explores how the terrain around different beaches affects the waves and the sport.
Dolphins - Hilary investigates how dolphins make friends, observing pair bonding among captive dolphins.
Scientist Profile - Aquatic biologist Carlos de la Rosa describes his research in the wetlands of central Florida.
Water Slides - Valerie and Margie tackle two twisty waterslides to determine which is speediest and most "wild."
Riddle - How do you weigh a whale? ⁴

105 Rocks:
Kayaking - Simi, Jenny and Danny kayak down a raging river, relating river speed to rock size.
Rock Climbing - Climbers Gordon and Jesse explore the properties of different types of rock as they scale sheer cliffs in Aspen.
Scientist Profile - Paleontologist Gary Takeuchi unearths fossils in Red Rock Canyon State Park.
Riddle - How can you cut rock without a saw? ⁵

106 Flight:
Model Airplanes - Alex and Ryan, model airplane pilots, investigate how different wing designs affect the performance of stunt planes.
Paragliding - David, Abby and Alex use a thermal camera to determine how the terrain below affects the paragliding above.
Scientist Profile - Aeronautical engineer David Urie tests his new SkyTrac, a body surfboard for parachute jumpers.
Riddle - How do you wakeboard without a boat? ⁶

107 Weather:
F-Scale - Melissa and Elizabeth visit the site of a recent tornado, examining the damage to determine the tornado's strength on the F Scale.
Tornado Model - Sullivan and Alexa engineer their own tornado model, to explore the forces that produce a tornado.
Forecasting - Mari and Lindsay test traditional "folk" forecasts against modern weather predictions.
Scientist Profile -Expert "stormchaser" Howie Bluestein investigates hurricanes, tornados, and other wild weather.
Riddle - How can you use weather to foil a potential crook? ⁷

108 Technology:
Robot Contest - A GEMS team (Girls in Engineering, Math and Science) design, build, and test a robot to compete in the first " LEGO League" contest.
Solar Car - Isaac and Anjali find out how their model solar car performs as the sun moves across the sky.
Scientist Profile - NASA engineer Lloyd French introduces his Cryobot, an ice-melting robot designed to help study the moons of Jupiter.
Riddle - How do you get electricity from a cow? ⁸

109 Plants:
Weevils - Elissa and Julia track a swarm of weevils charged with saving the Everglades from invasive melaleuca trees.
Kelp Forest - Megan and Ian, certified scuba divers, get deep as they meet some amazing creatures in an underwater kelp forest.
Leaves - Start seeing red (and yellow and orange!) as Maddie, Mia, Ally and Mikki investigate how leaves change color.

Scientist Profile - Dr. Elizabeth Stryjewski of the Kennedy Space Center researches plants for gardens in space.
Riddle - How do you sort 600 apples per minute? ⁹

110 Air:
Sailing - GiGi and Emmanuel investigate how sail position affects speed of sailboats - both model sailboats and sailing yachts.
Balloon - Masha and Patsy check out how the temperature inside a hot-air balloon makes them soar or sink.
Scientist Profile - Award-winning engineer Lonnie Johnson demonstrates his most popular invention, the SuperSoaker 2000.
Riddle- How do you use air to right a tipped 18-wheel truck? ¹⁰

111 Human Behavior:
Perception - Maddy and Martina investigate how unreliable human perception can be.
Roller Coasters - Zahabiya and Christopher hold onto their hats for their stomach-churning investigations of people's reactions to roller coasters.
Scientist Profile - Web developer Idit Harel shows off MaMaMedia.com, and the research process that produces online stories, digital art and educational games.
Riddle - How can you see your brain working? ¹¹

112 Space:
Coconauts - Sarah, Shakivia and Erica send coconut snacks into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle to investigate how the coconut would fare as a space food.
Moon Craters - Chris and Vanessa make models of moon craters, and compare their models with the view through their own telescopes.
Scientist Profile - MIT project scientist Andy Liu investigates how humans adapt to the zero-gravity atmosphere of long space flights.
Riddle -How do you transport heavy equipment on Mars? ¹²

113 Human Body:
Martial Arts - Kha and Peta, young martial arts athletes, determine how different tae kwon do moves challenge their bodies' skeletal and muscular systems and then apply what they learned in competition.
Taste Test - Leah, Julia and Folabi engage their friends in a taste test to reveal what the nose knows.
Scientist Profile - Danny Smith and Scott Holmes, medical device designers at Medical Plastics Laboratory in Gatesville, Texas, apply science to the creation of anatomical models.
Riddle - How do you blow a single note for several minutes without stopping for breath?
¹³

Answers to Riddles:
1. At Sea World in San Diego, trainers teach whales to jump out of the water onto a giant scale, so buoyancy is no problem!
2. You change the road into a set of curves that matches the rotation of the square wheels.
3. Capitalizing on birds' natural fear of predators, many airports use dogs, trained to chase the birds away. Some airports used stuffed coyotes for the same result.
4. See # 1.
5. Rock can be cut with an industrial, high-pressure jet of water.
6. Kiteboarders skim across the water pulled by a giant kite.
7. An innovative alarm system senses an intruder and fills a house with fog, which disorients the intruder, but leaves no residue.
8. The secret is cow poop - processed to produce methane, which runs a generator to produce electricity.
9. Computerized vision systems can image and sort over 600 apples per hour, separating them by color and quality.
10. Giant airbags pressurized to only a few pounds per square inch can lift over 10,000 pounds. Two or three of them easily life a tipped truck back upright.
11. PET scans produce an image of brain activity, showing which parts of the brain are active during a range of activities.
12. A giant, inflatable ball - which NASA nicknames a "tumbleweed" can carry heavy equipment inside, and is moved by the Martian winds.
13. With circular breathing: the players fill her cheeks with air, blocks of the back of her throat, and inhales a short breath through her nose, while continuing to blow into her instrument with the air from her cheeks.