Jean-Michel Cousteau

Gr 9 Up—The programs in this series follow Jean-Michel Cousteau and his diving team across the globe as they study a wide range of animals and ecosystems. Each episode contains stunning photography, exacting sound, appropriate musical background, and incredible footage, including whales eating on the ocean floor, orcas being rescued, and pink dolphins in the Amazon River. Narrators include Robert Redford, Chris Noth, Anne Heche, and Pierce Bronson, but it is Cousteau who leads the conversations and asks the male and female scientists important questions. Viewers see scientists at work in a variety of locales and environments and are sure to be amazed at their dedication to the routines, chores, and challenges of research. Each episode refers to global problems such as deforestation, eco-tourism, the rights of indigenous peoples, illegal trafficking of animals, global warming, plastic disposed of in the oceans, over-fishing, and melting polar ice. These inspirational programs can be utilized by science and geography classes.—Patricia Ann Owens, Illinois Eastern Community Colleges, Mt. Carmel, IL