“Faces of Earth,” a much-anticipated, high-definition television series produced by the American Geological Institute with support from the AAPG Foundation, makes its debut this month on the Science Channel.
“Faces of Earth” is a four-part series exploring the forces of nature that have made and constantly remake Earth -- shown via state-of-the-art computer graphics, aerial photography and production techniques that are as educational as they are dazzling.
The premiere episode will air at 9 p.m. (EDT/PDT) on July 23. The Science Channel is available through cable and satellite services.
The story is told by and through the eyes of several geologists and other geoscientists -- including many AAPG members.
A portion of the series was shown in April before the opening session in April at the AAPG Annual Convention in Long Beach -- to enthusiastic applause.
The four parts of the series and their air dates (all at 9 p.m. EDT/PDT) are:
- “Assembling America,” which is “a traverse across North America, exploring how the land we see today is the result of hundreds of millions of years of Earth’s processes interacting. Monday, July 23.
- “Shaping the Planet,” which is a global look at how the Earth works - from the greatest depths of the inner Earth to the surface we live on -- where “the dynamic processes are revealed where they impact humans directly - from Ethiopia to Italy to Tibet.” Thursday, July 26.
- “Building the Planet,” which explores the planet’s birth and evolution. “Follow geoscientists as they learn how each part of Earth interacts together through time, protecting us from solar winds to the energy and mineral resources that drive our society.” Thursday, Aug. 2.
- “A Human World,” which explores the relationship between humans and Earth, showing how the planet has defined and shaped our civilizations, and how humans have interacted with the planet. Thursday, Aug. 9.
AGI will use the series’ footage and animations to create educational ancillary materials for the classroom, including DVDs showing geoscientific phenomena and their causes and effects, as well as interviews with geoscientists.
The AAPG Foundation, one of seven sponsors for the series, contributed $100,000 to the project specifically toward “taking the next step” in providing a public outreach mechanism for the series.
AAPG Foundation Trustee Chairman Jack C. Threet said the Foundation bequest “represents about a third of the cost of developing, producing and distributing the ancillary materials and was a major factor in bringing in the other two-thirds of the necessary funding.”
The ancillary materials include:
- A DVD of the four “Faces of Earth” episodes with three soundtracks -- the original narration, Spanish narration and narration linked to instructional materials.
- Instruction materials consisting of career vignettes, lessons and trade books for middle and high school students, with hands-on and field-based science activities.
- A CD-ROM, offering content similar to the DVD but intended for school settings without DVD capability.
- A Web site to feature access to educational environments according to the viewer interests, including public policy.
- Printed educational materials to be made available via the Discovery Channel stores and other outlets.
Other sponsors along with the AAPG Foundation are the AGI Foundation; Discovery Communications; ExxonMobil; the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin; Rive Gauche International Television; and the U.S. Geological Survey.