Eureka! (Canadian TV series) explained

Genre:Animation
Voices:Billy Van
Luba Goy
Country:Canada
Language:English
Num Seasons:1
Num Episodes:30
Channel:TVOntario

Eureka! is a Canadian educational television series which was produced and broadcast by TVOntario in 1980 and 1981. The series was narrated by Billy Van, and featured a series of animated vignettes which taught physics lessons to children. It is currently available online.

Synopsis

Eureka! is a series of animated shorts that illustrate concepts in physics. Each program takes a simple and direct approach to the subject matter; while the basic concepts are explained in a voice-over, cartoon characters and a variety of animated objects demonstrate the principles on the screen. Constant review and reinforcement make the message clear; as a result, the study of physics becomes easy and accessible - even to viewers without a solid background in the subject. Basic formulae and concepts are introduced with a recap of what was learnt in the previous episode to build knowledge on a topic and create connections.

Production

Animation - Grafilm Productions Inc.

Design - Joe Meluck

Educational Consultants - John Kuropatwa, Paul Henshall, Bryan Kaufman, Ernie McFarland, Michael Broschart

Unit Manager - Vickie Gilchrist

Production Assistant - George Pyron

Episodes

30 episodes were produced. All of the episodes are five minutes in length.

Unit 1: Force and Energy

  1. "Inertia"
  2. "Mass"
  3. "Speed"
  4. "Acceleration I"
  5. "Acceleration II"
  6. "Gravity"
  7. "Weight vs Mass"
  8. "Work"
  9. "Kinetic Energy"
  10. "Potential Energy and Speed"

Unit 2: Simple Machines

  1. "The Inclined Plane"
  2. "The Lever"
  3. "Mechanical Advantage and Friction"
  4. "The Screw and the Wheel"
  5. "The Pulley"

Unit 3: Heat and Temperature

  1. "Molecules in Solids"
  2. "Molecules in Liquids"
  3. "Evaporation and Condensation"
  4. "Expansion and Contraction"
  5. "Measuring Temperature"
  6. "Temperature vs Heat"

Unit 4: The Conduction of Heat

  1. "Atoms"
  2. "Electrons"
  3. "Conduction"

Unit 5: The Convection of Heat

  1. "Volume and Density"
  2. "Buoyancy"
  3. "Convection"

Unit 6: The Radiation of Heat

  1. "Heat as Energy"
  2. "Radiation Waves"
  3. "The Radiation Spectrum"

External links