Curiosity Quest

Gr 4–8—This episode in the series hosted by Joe Greene and the Curiosity Quest crew explores the life of Alaskan salmon. Responding to a viewer's question, Greene visits the site of a salmon hatchery in Juneau during the yearly great spawning migration. The salmon born at the hatchery had been allowed to imprint on a local freshwater river and have returned after several years at sea to spawn. Greene, in an unscripted format, explains the life span of the salmon, the workings of a hatchery, and its relationship with the commercial fishing industry. While the relentless music, upbeat presentation, and somewhat humorous but often erroneous responses to basic questions by random youngsters are intended to hold viewers' interest, it undermines some of the educational value of the program. None of the problems inherent to aquaculture—the massive use of fresh water, fish food made of wild fish, and pollution resulting in algae blooms—are addressed. Useful only to supplement a lesson on the topic.—Eva Elisabeth VonAncken, formerly Trinity-Pawling School, NY