TV bids to win pre-school kids over to science

It's Dick and Dom in the lab as comic duo lead stars hoping to spark young children's interestProfessor Brian Cox has been credited with a resurgence in interest in science among teenagers through his hit television series. Now the BBC is hoping that children's TV presenters Dick and Dom will have a similar effect on much younger viewers.The BBC's children's digital channels, CBeebies and CBBC, will embark on a wide range of new programming this month, aimed at those aged four and above, which will cover inventors and engineering, from Archimedes to Isambard Kingdom Brunel.Every device has been used to make the shows interesting and accessible, from enlisting entertainers Dick and Dom – who boast one GCSE in science between them and are best known for their bogey jokes in the series In Da Bungalow – to brainstorming sessions with Cambridge University engineering students. The students helped producers of Nina and the Neurons to create a new, 25-part series about engineering and find ways to explain in simple visual terms how electricity, hydraulics, computers and tunnelling machines work. It is designed to show primary schoolchildren the important role engineers play in everyday life.On Wednesday, Dick and Dom launch a new CBBC 10-part series, Absolute Genius, in which the duo will seek explanations for great inventions and scientific breakthroughs. On 30 January another CBBC series, Super Humans, will start, featuring seven men and three women able to perform feats that ...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Children's TV News Media BBC UK news The Observer Science Television & amp; radio Source Type: news