Popular Mechanics for Kids
Popular Mechanics for Kids is an educational Canadian television series based on Popular Mechanics magazine. It was notable for starting the careers of both Elisha Cuthbert and Jay Baruchel. The show's purpose was to teach viewers how things work. It was awarded the Parents Choice Award in 2003, and was nominated for the Gemini Awards. The series aired from 1997 to 2001, and re-runs of the show continued to air on many channels until 2008. It aired on BBC Kids and Discovery Kids until December 31, 2009. After the closure of Discovery Kids Canada, BBC Kids stopped airing re-runs in all countries except Canada. The reruns on BBC Kids in Canada ended on May 14, 2011. As of 2013 re-runs of the show continue to air on Knowledge Network. Along with Cuthbert and Baruchel, the cast included Charles Powell nicknamed "Charlie" for the series, Tyler Kyte, and eventually Vanessa Lengies. The show was filmed primarily in Montreal, Quebec, and is currently distributed on VHS / DVD by Koch Vision.
Tyler starts us off when he takes to the skies in a powered parachute plane and then he gets ready for his next adventure on a mountain in Virginia. To play Street Luge, Tyler must wear protective body gear and lay down on a luge board just two inches from the pavement. The speed of the descent depends on the steepness of the hill. Vanessa receives a kite skiing lesson in Oregon, which is similar to water skiing, but the kite stands in for a boat, a kite skier can reach speeds of up to 20 mph using only the power of the wind and a 20 foot kite. Charlie builds an extreme ride by attaching cables between two trees and using a pulley to get your body from one spot to the next.
Vanessa travels to Oregon to create a real landslide, and she learns that scientists uses a unique outdoor laboratory to find out more about the patterns of landslides and how to prevent them from destroying the environment. Vanessa down to the coast of Los Angeles where she trains with the Collapse Rescue Team (a group of scientists who save people from such emergencies as collapsed buildings, stalled elevators and vehicle accidents). Tyler gets a chance to see how real life disasters are dealt with when he goes out into the field with a crew of fire researchers and helps them set a room ablaze! By setting these kinds of controlled fires, scientists are able to learn and devise the most powerful fire-fighting technique.
Vanessa catches up with Dean Gunnerson, one of the most famous escape artists in the world while Tyler visits a cockpit of an underwater helicopter and finds out what it's like to be trapped inside something that is slowly sinking to the bottom of a deep pool. He arrives later in Delaware and tries out a life chute designed to rescue people from high rise fires while Charlie shares a few tips on the art of escape.
Popular Mechanics for Kids goes behind-the-scenes at the world renowned Strathcona Mounted Troop (the only non-British Cavalry Unit in history to mount the Queen's Life Guard at Buckingham Palace). Tyler participates in the Musical Ride and finds out how the twenty horses are taught to obey the riders instructions, and after, he prepares to enter the world of jousting where he will learn about the history of the sport. He will sport a ten-foot lance, and fit inside a full suit of armour and rides a horse. Vanessa heads west to Alberta's cowboy country where she learns all about the rigors of the range. Wearing authentic cowboy gear, she saddles up with a real cowboy for some calf-roping, cattle herding and lasso tying while Charlie shows us the art and science of throwing a lariot.
Tyler goes underwaterat the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California where he uses a remote-control operated vehicle called a ROV and explores the largest submarine canyon on the continent's West Coast. With deep sea depths reaching more than 10,000 feet, Tyler assists scientists in the search for never-before-seen life forms at the bottom of the ocean floor. Tyler receives a diving suit that weighs a full ton, and after securing his oxygen supply, he accompanies underwater welders. He'll find out how this unique skill is used to repair pipelines, drilling rigs, ships, barges and even nuclear power plants and how some amazing tools can produce enough heat to melt steel even in the icy cold temperatures of the ocean. After all of Tyler's adventures, he goes to Jules's Underwater Sea Lodge, which is a hotel underwater! Built in a lagoon some 30 feet underwater, the Lodge has only four rooms each with its own supply of air sent down from the surface using an umbilical cord
Tyler joins the Skyhawks, which is Canada's elite parachute team and he gets ready to jump out of a plane at 10,000 feet above the ground. Strapped to the back of one of the Skyhawk jumpers, he will be able to see exactly how these tandem jumps are orchestrated and the special skill it takes to execute such a daring adventure. These parachutists are trained to land these dangerous jumps to get medical personnel into remote areas where help is needed such as avalanches, floods, plane crashes an war zones. Vanessa takes to the skies of California to fly her own fighter plane in a high-speed airborne dog fight! She proves just how daring she can be when she loops, turns and rolls her own plane and then attempts to 'shoot down' an enemy aircraft with high-tech laser beams. Vanessa gets to operate an eight-wheeled army surveillance truck called the Coyote. Able to spy on targets up to thirteen miles away, the Coyote is a state-of-the-art surveillance vehicle used in both military and non-
Tyler holds his breath for a class at the underwater acting school, while Vanessa gets the lowdown on high-tech protection at a school for bodyguards. Then, she goes over to a school in Nevada where she learns the awesome power of the mammoth land vehicle called a Hummer.
They are Awesome Amusements! The team travel to Universal Studios: Islands of Adventure, in Florida to discover what makes this giant theme park so great. Elisha buckles up for a ride in the gut-wrenching Incredible Hulk Coaster while Tyler gets drenched in Poseidon's Fury when he walks through a forty foot tunnel containing thousands of gallons of water and enters the underworld where a battle of Poseidon and Zeus began. Then, he heads to the Triceratops Encounter and learns how advances technology makes the dinosaur come alive.
Tyler takes a dive with the dolphins off the Florida coast and then heads back to dry land where he helps the doctors at Sea World nurse a sick turtle and manatee back to health. Vanessa has a whale of a time with the humpbacks off the coast of Newfoundland and finds out what blubber tells us about the largest animal on the planet.
Vanessa searches through New York City's garbage dump looking for something very special that she accidentally threw away. Tyler also gets his hands dirty when he takes a romp with rhinoceros to find out if he has to do to become a zookeeper. Vanessa holds her nose to discover how fish get from the ocean floor to our dinner tables when she visits a very stinky fish-gutting factory.
Vanessa goes to see and find out information about the largest species of octopus in the world while Elisha watches as a frozen frog gets a new lease on life. Tyler worms his way into a special farm for the creepy crawlers and finds out why they really are a fisherman's best friend.
Tyler takes a breakdancing lesson , learning how to produce those amazing moves. Vanessa get some real-life training in fixing broken bones when she hangs out with an orthopedic surgeon, she had a chance to break a bone on a real human skeleton and watch the delicate operation of re-setting it. Tyler also gets medical this week when he joins the team of doctors tuning up super athletes for a triathlon race.
Tyler hunts down the ghosts haunting the USS Homet ship and he was also able to visit a real house of bug horrors to discover how the poisonous venom from a tarantula can help medical science. Vanessa gets all made up as a zombie creature and tries to scare the kids at the Thrillvania theme park in Texas.
Vanessa finds out if she's got the right stuff to be a motorcycle daredevil, when she helps a daredevil pass through a gap where an explosion will occur. Tyler also tests his driving skills when he takes the very fast and brand new Slide Machine for a spin!
Elisha gets behind the wheel of an airborne blimp as Tyler battles gravity as he masters the art of para-gliding and then catches up with the Elite pilot team at the Edwards Air Force base where he gets to check out the fastest and highest flying spy plane in the world.
It is another clip show, featuring the best of the best with a return of some of our most awesome adventures of the season.
Elisha strikes gold more than a mile under the earth. Tyler finds out how the slimy, gooey stuff on cave walls may be a valuable tool for medical science and then unlocks the mysteries of the ocean when he gets to be an aquanaut for a day, diving with the scientists who work in the world's only underwater laboratory.
Vanessa gets to find out how Hollywood creates those magical winter snow scenes for the movies. Elisha gets the rink ready for a big hockey game by making the ice, painting the lines and even driving the Zamboni machine. But then she receives goalie equipment where she will try to stop a 100-mile shot by an NHL player while Tyler goes deep inside NASA's ice tunnel and discovers how the experts make airplanes safe for flight during those wicked winter storms.
Vanessa checks out the newest sports craze as he shimmies up and down a sand dune on a gigantic flat board called a sand board. She also keeps her headway down when she joins a snake hunting expedition and captures a few of the slithering critters in a giant bag.
Elisha gets a family of crash test dummies ready for a dangerous crash test. Tyler also gets in the action at an armoured car factory and helps build one of the safest vehicles around.
Tyler dives down to the ocean floor, with the team searching for an ancient ship that has been buried for more than 100 years. He learns how to sword-fight and then goes sword-to-sword with a team of real life swashbuckling pros while Elisha makes her very own pirate treasure when she turns ordinary rock into pieces of gold.
The team is sent to Southern California to hang out with the Navy Seals, where Tyler gets to climb into the combat training tank and swim with the Seals as they trade scuba gear underwater and learn how to rig explosives in the water. He also gets behind the wheel of a special Seal boat and helps the Navy parachute team get ready for a show full of very unique tricks.
Tyler hangs out with the deadly Komodo Dragons and finds out what makes them one of the most feared animals on the planet. Later he meets up with a tiger in a facility that helps neglected wild animals get back on track. Vanessa journeys far up North and finds out what happens to the wild polar bears when they get too close to people.
It's Sci-Fi time, and Vanessa joins the creative team of ""Spawn"" and discovers what it's like to put together the coolest comic book on the planet. Tyler learns all about the universe when he visits NASA's Deep Space Network and sees how their huge towers send signals to the flying saucers floating around the universe.
Yet another of our best adventures on Popular Mechanics for Kids.
Elisha finds out if she can stomach the brand new gravity-defying vomit comet while Vanessa gets a lesson in virtual reality in the NASA laboratory where the space stations are actually built. She was able to train as an astronaut using actual equipment but in a virtual-reality world where she tries to fix a damaged part of the ship.
Tyler gets to go behind Niagara Falls to see how the massive falls keeps electricity flowing. He then keeps his wet suit on and joins a real emergency oil spill clean team. Elisha has a hair raising adventure when she takes a run down the rocky rapids in an Ultramodern and indestructible raft.
It's the first ever Behind The Scenes of Popular Mechanics for Kids, where you will get a front-row centre seat this week when Tyler discovers what it takes to stage a meca-rock concert and then gets into the ring with a WWF fighter to learn about the very dangerous business of professional fighting. Elisha learns a few secrets herself when she goes under the big top and behind the scenes at the world-famous Cirque du Soleil.
Huskies used in near the North Pole. The enjoyment of Igloo Building, about Northern Cuisine, and how Ice Cream is created.
Find out the Crime at the Crime scene, the use of spy gear, and spy gadgets. How a polygraph is used to detect most of the ones that did the crime.
Digestive system, disgusting things, snot, and recycled pet-food.
Sugar Cube Subs, Shark-diving, and about Icebergs
Car Chases, ManHunting, thief proofing bikes, and about guns.
The art of goaltending in hockey, snowboarding physics to help to snowboard better, How surfing is done on the waves, and running.
Sound FX, visual effects, martial arts fights, and zoetropes.
Making Tornadoes from Charlie's explanation, Twister the ride, and how Volcanoes are created.
Acting dogs, dolphins, and dog obedience.
Sleep science, Neon signs, The Bat House and how to hunt down bats for research.
Baywatch, hostage rescues, avalanche rescues, and survival in the woods.
Clowning around, circus school, and how juggling is done.
Star observatories, Tower of Power, and hardsuits.
Tadpoles, Feeding alligators, the swamps and everglades.
Big rigs, cleaning trucks, mining trucks, and how gears work on a bicycle.
Quarry explosions, exploding cars, fireworks, and bag-bomb.
Donovan Bailey, the RamJet which is faster than a quick jet, F-18's, and rocket balloons.
Martial Arts Effects, Free flying, Goaltending in the hockey, and the creation of your own snot.
Leeches, cockroaches, bees, and bug hunting.
Elisha is on an adventure in the sky on the C-5 Galaxy, while Tyler goes test out the car-crushing dinosaur, the Megasaurus. Elisha explains about one of the best Monster Trucks, Big Foot while Charlie does his experiment on force.
It's Magic, including the magic of television. But first, Elisha goes on an expedition on discovering, locating, and digging out traces of dinosaurs. While this is happening, Charlie explains how to put an egg into a jar that has an opening which has a smaller circumference that the egg can not go through as normal. Tyler is learning some new tricks from the Harlem Globetrotters, and he plays a game, two on two while Elisha is learning a magic trick from a magician, the table salt shaker trick.
Sewers Tunnels Subways Hydraulics
Large and small submarines are discussed along with sub fries and sub science.
Demonstrations of Saloon Brawls are shown, Information on fake Blood and gun fights are told. Learning about how Boat Chases work.
Taking care of Elephants, and explaining about Termit Mounds and Iguanas.
Monster Trucks! Pit-Stops! Vegetable Oil used as Gas!
This episode is about the science of Coasters, the thrill factor, marathons and the explanation of centripetal force.
The exciting pitch in baseball. Bearings, Nike Shoes, and Mountain Biking are also viewed.
Landfills, Archaeology, Pigs, Recycling, and Compost.
Information on Knots, the pirate ships in the sea, and the ocean police.
Blowing up buildings is demonstrated in this episode along with something about concrete and elevators for tall structures.
The explanations of Catapults, and the take-off & landing of aircrafts on Carriers. Carrier Facts were produced.
Production of Lightning, The ER, and high-voltage wires.
Food-poisoning inspections, Making ice-cream in your home. The creation of bubble-gum and making some for yourself. Eating bugs for protein.
Forest-fires, water-bombers, airplane fires. How to stop burning houses.
The collection of fish and how to build an aquarium. Information on sea-lion and different eco-systems.
Testing toys in the market, like Nintendo games. The creation of toys and games.
Living in space, the use of space suits, and rocket ships.
Bomb robots, Androids, and Robot Making.
A collaboration of clips from the most exciting, fascinating, and educational episodes.
Minting at the Canadian Mint, Gold blocks that would be melted and shaped into coins, Trading at the the Stock Market, and how to spot counterfeit money.
Crash survival, F-18's, hot-air balloons, and paper airplanes.
Scratching used by DJs, concert mixing, concert lights, and creating speakers.
Bike plane, body-flying, wing-walking, and boomerangs.
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Release | 1997-09-07 |
| Producer | Shaw Media |