Tomorrow, Friday, April 18, PBS will launch PLUM LANDING, a brand new web-original that uses animated webisodes, online games, free apps, hands-on science activities, live-action videos—plus a curious alien named Plum—to help connect 6- to 9-year-olds to nature, teach them about ecosystems, and get them excited about their role as caretakers of the planet.
The adventure begins on Earth Day 2014, when a friendly alien named Plum lands at pbskids.org/plumlanding. Plum, a video game designer from the desolate Planet Blorb, longs to experience nature. So she commandeers a space ship, zooms down to earth, befriends five eager kids—Clem, Oliver, Gabi, Brad, and Cooper—and launches them on missions as diverse as ‘find a lake in the desert!’ and ‘search for a cow that lives under water!’
Zeroing in on four ecosystems—the Australian desert, the mangroves of Belize, the Canadian Rockies, and the jungles of Borneo—Plum discovers many fascinating, puzzling and profound things about this gorgeous planet and uses what she learns to create fantastic explorer games for 6- to 9-year olds.
On the PLUM LANDING website, kids can play these games and explore each of these exotic ecosystems – everything from tracking a thorny devil across the Australian sands, to going face-to-face with a tree snake in Borneo. Plum also encourages kids to investigate their OWN worlds.
Moving between digital platforms and the natural world, kids can:
- Watch five compelling animated characters bushwhack, float, trek, and “bubble” their way across four ecosystems while modeling scientific investigations.
- Explore the same ecosystems, wild creatures, discoveries, and science concepts in the webisodes through an array of rich and exciting online games.
- Investigate nature closer to home, aided by live-action videos and hands-on activities designed to get kids thinking like scientists.
- Document their investigations via a free mobile app, Plum’s Photo Hunt, that lets kids take photos, describe what they have found, and send their findings back to Plum.
These multiple entry points help bridge the gap between the thrill of the exotic and the comfort of kids’ own backyards. Check it out with your child and start exploring your world together!