Human Planet Videos

[Carolina Bornman]

Music]Little human planet. Where all fun and colorful journey around the world. I wonder who we're going to make today. All over the world, children live in different kinds of homes, as you can see. Hello. Come. Take a closer look on a journey now with me. Yes, please. Some children live deep in the jungle. Just like dua. Hello, dua. Dua's home is in a treehouse. Yes. Way up there. She has to carefully climb up and up and up a special ladder to get to her home. Right at the very top of the tree. There. What a view Dua. This family live in the hot sandy desert of the Sahara. Look at their home. It's made from a special cloth. They can put up their home wherever they want. Some children live on the ocean. Look at these special homes built on high wooden stilts. The stilts make sure the homes are kept dry from the sea. In another part of the world, in a jungle in Africa, the people here live in homes made from leaves and wood. Hello. They make the homes themselves. They have to roll some of the leaves to help build their homes. The grown-ups then put the biggest leaves on top of the homes. To make a roof? That's right. Everybody has a job to do. Just like yeyey. She's grinding some roofs. They also love making music together and they all have a great time. Thanks for showing us where you live. Now we're off to a place called Rajasthan in India. The homes here are made from mud with thatched roofs made of straw. The weather here is so warm and sunny. Families spend most of their time outside. Sweeping the floor, tiding up, relaxing in the sunshine. The granddad. Here's another hot country called Madagascar. 5 year old Suzette and her family live here. Suzette showed us her family. And this is Suzette's home. Let's see inside. Thanks for showing us your home. It was lovely to meet you. Bye. [Music]Little human planet.

IN THIS EPISODE: The rainforest is home to more species of plants and animals than any other habitat on the planet. But for humans, life there is not as easy as it looks. Life in the trees requires great skill, ingenuity and sheer bravery.

Most people have heard Earth referred to as "the water planet." With that name comes the rightful image of a world with plentiful water. In photographs taken from space, we can see that our planet has more water than land. However, of all the water on Earth, more than 99 percent of Earth's water is unusable by humans and many other living things - only about 0.3 percent of our fresh water is found in the surface water of lakes, rivers, and swamps.

The teacher guide describes our current understanding of water cycling and freshwater issues that affect natural and human communities.

In photographs taken from space, we can see that our planet has more water than land. It is unexpected and somewhat inconceivable that less than three percent of Earth's water is fresh water. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, most of that three percent is inaccessible. More than 68 percent of the fresh water on Earth is found in icecaps and glaciers, and just over 30 percent is found in ground water. Only about 0.3 percent of our fresh water is found in the surface water of lakes, rivers, and swamps. Of all the water on Earth, more than 99 percent of Earth's water is unusable by humans and many other living things. It seems extraordinary that the water that supports all terrestrial, as well as aquatic, life on our planet is actually so scarce. With this stunning realization comes a recognition that we have to use this resource very wisely. An important first step is to educate ourselves and future generations of citizens.

We can make better consumer, voter, and community member choices when we are informed about how we use resources, the ramifications of misuse, and solutions and actions to prevent freshwater issues. This guide was developed to support teachers in teaching topics with real-world context, and provide them with the background to feel competent and comfortable when teaching about fresh water. It provides a solid introduction to fresh water in an accessible and reader-friendly manner. In addition to general information about fresh water, the guide includes numerous education features, such as teaching tips and student thinking, that help to connect the content to classroom practice.

Scroll through our resources above and click to download the book or individual chapters. Having trouble downloading? Use the links below.

Earth's Fresh Water: Full Teacher Guide

Chapter 1: Biodiversity in Fresh Water

Chapter 2: Water Cycle and Water Reservoirs

Chapter 3: Changing Natural Flows of Water

Chapter 4: Water Quality in Freshwater Systems

Chapter 5: Water Concerns for Wildlife and Humans

Chapter 6: Water Rights and Human Communities

Chapter 7: Water Solutions for Our Future

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There's no end to the educational opportunities that exist, and the series is a perfect way to broaden your family's understanding of the world and its inhabitants. Each episode offers lessons in geography, history, anthropology, and social behavior.

The series encourages curiosity and a greater respect for the world's diversity and the adaptability of the human spirit. Viewers experience the lifestyles of people from all walks of life and far-reaching corners of the globe, witnessing their struggles for survival over the elements of nature.

Graphic footage of predators and human hunters killing and eating prey. Some customs involve violence, including one case that shows village people beating each other with sticks to prove their courage.

Parents need to know that Human Planet is a beautiful series from the makers of Planet Earth and Life that chronicles the struggles and triumphs of the planet's most adaptable inhabitants: humans. From the majestic jungles of South America to the barren Sahara Desert, this show introduces viewers to an array of indigenous people and their lifestyles, so there's plenty of opportunity for learning. Very young children and sensitive kids might be bothered by the graphic scenes of animals being killed by predators and by humans, so be sure to gauge your kids' readiness for this issue. What's more, there is plenty of nudity (male genitalia, buttocks, and female breasts) related to some subjects' customs. But if your kids can handle these aspects of this stunning series, then it's a great choice for the whole family.

From the makers of Planet Earth and Life comes another sweeping documentary about nature and its inhabitants: HUMAN PLANET. Narrated by John Hurt, this series turns the cameras on Earth's diverse human population, chronicling mankind's impressive ability to adapt to any surroundings and to overcome the daunting obstacles of the natural world. The show visits some of the most remote locations in the world to witness how the indigenous people use ingenuity and minimal resources to survive harsh elements, deadly native species, and limited options for food.

This series is a fascinating journey that will change the way you look at the world, inspire a new awe for the human spirit, and redefine how you interpret "civilization." Human Planet takes viewers around the world in six hours, bypassing the traditional tourism hotspots in favor of remote locales like the Altai Mountains of Mongolia, Inuit territory in Northeast Canada, and West Papua.

With six hour-long episodes packed with geography and anthropology lessons and plenty of lead-ins to discussions about global warming and conservationism, it's a sure bet that this series caters to families looking for something worthwhile to tune into. But if your kids are sensitive to issues like animal violence, be sure to preview the show before you watch it with them, as many scenes show in graphic detail animals being killed (by predators and by humans) and dismembered. The same holds true for viewers' sensitivity to nudity, since some subjects' customs mean that at times whole segments center on groups of people who go about their business wearing next to nothing.

Families can talk about the environment. Did watching Human Planet change the way you feel about the environment and conservationism? How would deforestation or global warming affect these people differently from you? What responsibilities do we have as inhabitants of the planet to protect it? How does the media serve as a learning tool?

Kids: How does this show make you look differently at cultural diversity? What challenges do these people face that you'll never have to? What challenges do you have that they know nothing about? What common ground might you have?

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go? What would you like to see there? What local delicacies would you eat and drink? How would you relate to the people? What might you learn from experiencing another culture?

The Anthropocene is a theme that I return to from time to time, from one perspective or another. The Human Planet: How we created the Anthropocene returns to where the notion began: in geology. Where did the idea come from, where was human influence first identified in the geological record, and what is the geological record anyway?

The most tragic of the global changes is the age of exploration, when people from different continents met for the first time. Europeans brought diseases to South America that people had no immunity to. Millions died, with populations crashing by 90% in some places. It was this loss of workforce that led to the slave trade and the importing of human labour to the Americas. It also led to farmland being abandoned, and the regrowth of forests cooled the whole planet.

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