Family Choice

KLRU has great programs for kids and great programs for adults, but it’s not easy to find programs that all family members can enjoy together. Each month, KLRU identifies a Family Choice program from our schedule that will interest and engage family members, ages 7 and up. Keep updated on the Family Choice program-of-the-month and ways your family can build and extend the program through discussion and activities.

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NATURE's
“Oceans in Glass: Behind the Scenes of the Monterey Bay Aquarium”

Sunday, July 27, 7 p.m.

Jellyfish

Also airing on KLRU:
Monday, July 28, 2008, 2-3 AM
Wednesday, July 30, 2008, 2-3 AM
Imagine standing on the bottom of the ocean and watching five-foot-long sharks and giant tuna whiz by at arm's length or being surrounded by elegant, lacy white jellyfish as they soar, pulsing, through the water. Visitors to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Northern California can experience this... and more.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is recognized as one of the most spectacular aquariums in the world because of its realistic presentations. Instead of exhibiting collections of animals, the Aquarium presents entire habitats, virtual slices of ocean that include 30,000 animals and plants. But how does an aquarium work? What's the science behind the magic?

Now NATURE gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at one of the world's leading centers for marine research and conservation -- a marvel of engineering and biology.

Suggested Family Discussion

Suggested Family Activities

Suggested Books and Other Media
Do you think aquariums are a good human-made habitat for marine animals? Why or why not? What does the Monterey Bay Aquarium do to make its habitats resemble natural habitats?
What comes to mind when you hear the word “shark”? How much information about shark behavior in movies, books and television do you think is true? What do you know for sure about shark behavior? What are good sources for accurate information?
Brainstorm all the jobs you can think of that would be part of creating an aquarium such as that at Monterey Bay. Ask family members which job they think they'd like to do, and why.
 After viewing the film, have family members imagine that each has been hired to design aquarium exhibits. Each can draw or make models and then describe what the exhibits include.
Older children and teens can use their imagination to tell or write an oceanography horror story. The sea provides a rich source of creatures that can be modified in text for the purposes of a horror story. To set the mood, read together an excerpt from an ocean-themed horror story such as Jaws, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, or Peter Benchley's The Beast. Then ask the storytellers to change just one characteristic of a creature they saw in the film and develop their plot.
Explore the teeming live kelp forest at the “kelp cam.” Many household products, medicines, and cosmetics contain substances that come from kelp. Look through your cupboards at home to see which products contain algae (alginate). (Hint: check dog food, lipstick, dry mixes, syrups, etc.)
One of the nation's best aquariums is in Texas, Corpus Christ's Texas State Aquarium. It houses hundreds of marine animals and is visited by half a million people each year.
A Critter Cam is a research tool designed to be worn by wild animals, allowing scientists to study animal behavior without interference by human observers. Go on a virtual deep-sea dive and then create your own Critter Cam where you build, deploy, retrieve footage and then watch the video of your own interactive mission.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium was the first to keep a young white shark on exhibit. The young female shark, accidentally caught by a commercial fisherman, thrived during her captivity. Now for only the second time, a healthy young white shark is making himself at home in the million-gallon exhibit. Watch the shark live on the streaming Outer Bay web cam each day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Pacific time. 		Young children will be entertained by the lyrical language and beautiful watercolors in My Visit to the Aquarium by Aliki.
The best-selling novelist of Jaws, Peter Benchley draws upon four decades of diving and studying ocean creatures in his book titled Shark Life: True Stories about Sharks and the Sea adapted by Karen Wojtyla.
The Monterey Bay Shoreline Guide by Jerry Emory is a comprehensive guide to one of the world's most beautiful and diverse landscapes.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium website.
Website on aquariums around the world.