Audio description...

I watched some of the Human Planet DVD earlier in the week to prepare some materials on DESERTS, and accidentally put the AUDIO DESCRIPTION on.

I was watching a programme on Deserts, and had forgotten about that until it started to describe the scenes where there is no other soundtrack or voice over describing what was happening....

e.g. a long line of camels walks slowly across a sand dune, led by three men in blue clothing... the camera moves back and upwards to reveal a huge expanse of desert sands...

It occured to me that this might be an appropriate way for students to use a DVD. Rather than relating to the existing script, they need to explain what can be seen - which perhaps is the most useful reason for using a video of course...

iPlayer app

Hurray for the new iPlayer app for the iPad...
This allows you to watch a rather excellent selection of current programmes: notably the wonderful 'Human Planet' and Bruce Parry's 'Arctic'.

This is a free app, which I have now installed on my device, and am really impressed with the quality of the experience. I have used it to catch and up repeat the Human Planet experience.
Using some of this in a session in Brighton next week too...

Got the excellent Human Planet book earlier this week, and the DVD is on order...

If you have an iPad, this is a great way of playing TV catch-up...

Human Planet

Just ordered my DVD copy of this amazing series, which should perhaps be an essential part of every geography department's multimedia library... It should perhaps sit alongside Planet Earth, Coast, and various other DVDs which I bought...

There are so many clips and aspects of this series that should find their way into the curriculum in lower school, as well as supporting many GCSE contexts.
There are 8 episodes in the series.

There are chances to watch some of the previous episodes that haven't yet been broadcast on the iPlayer page

Check out the BBC HUMAN PLANET EXPLORER for more details.
Some fabulous images and other media on the HUMAN PLANET BLOG.

Check out the SURVIVAL SKILLS resource too... splendid..

Following on from last week's FORESTS episode, there's an excellent GUARDIAN INTERACTIVE on the world's endangered forests.

Finally, don't forget that you can get embeddable videos from each programme too, such as this one of the CEMETERY dwellers of MANILA

Human Planet

This new BBC programme has been attracting a lot of attention.
This week's programme is on the theme of DESERTS, and the ways that humans have adapted to the extremes of temperature and water availability.

Check out the HUMAN PLANET EXPLORER for more resources.

For example, here's Bruce Parry walking a mile for water in the desert heat... One of many clips that you can embed in blogs etc...