Educational Media Reviews Online

Geologic Journey II provides a fascinating and entertaining introduction to earth sciences. Textbooks simply cannot compete with this video series for key concepts related to plate tectonics, volcanoes, continental drift, earthquakes, and mountain building. The amazing aerial photography, updated computer-generated models, and personal insight into the communities that live in some of the world’s most unpredictable geologic regions makes the Geologic Journey II series a must have for geology collections.

Nick Eyles, geology professor and well-respected researcher on glaciers, is the host travelling the world meeting with fellow geologists, government officials, and community leaders. The complete series consists of 5 DVDs yet each video can stand alone and is available for individual purchase. David Suzuki, an award-winning broadcast journalist, author, and scientist, serves as an excellent narrator explaining complex concepts easily. The entire collection is recommended for college students to a general audience. Episode 1 is highly recommended for middle school students to general audiences.

Episode 1: Tectonic Europe: Travels along the Eurasian plate beginning in Iceland and ends in the Alps. Explores plate tectonics, mountain building, geologic time, alternative energy, and volcanoes. If you can only purchase or show one DVD on this topic, this would be the one.

Episode 3: The Pacific Rims: Americas: Begins on the glaciers in Alaska and moves through California ending in Chile. A recommended title for North American universities with geology and earth sciences programs to show earth sciences in our own backyard. Covers more advanced concepts, so may not be appropriate for high school audiences.

Episodes 2: Along the African Rift; 4: The Western Pacific Rim; and 5: The Collision Zone Asia: All recommended for colleges and universities with geology programs. These episodes may also be of interest to geography and anthropology students studying the regions, countries, and communities included. The producer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, explains the goal of the series is to “explore both science and legend as we seek to understand and explain the geologic forces that shape our world, and our lives.” In each of these episodes, religion, myth, ethics, risk management, and culture are all explored through interviews of community and tribal leaders. Each video can be viewed as a whole but can also be viewed by the 5-10 minute chapters if viewers are interested in one country or region.