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Life
4 Discs, 10 Programs
David Attenborough is "Biology"! (Summary for Teachers)
Teachers speak of teaching biology before and after David Attenborough in the United Kingdom. This is based on the impact of his earlier "Life on Earth" and "Living Planet" series. A younger David sat down among wild gorillas and personally dove in the Alvin into the abyssal ocean depths. Students held their breath as they came to hear biology in Attenborough's voice. The mere presentation of an animal's or plant's life has little story line. Attenborough's personal involvement became the story line. Several generations of students who saw life through his eyes shared his wonder.
He has continued to be involved in additional nature series. He still appeared in scenes in "First Life" (bought by the Discovery Channel and not available in the USA). But the release of "Life" and "Planet Earth" has ensured that biology will continue to be mentally pictured through Attenborough's seasoned voice, just as many generations of Americans viewed world news through the intonations of Walter Cronkite.
Two audiences will perceive this high quality footage differently. For viewers with significant outdoors experience, these smoothly transitioning segments are jaw-dropping. But for those electronics-addicted and nature-deprived youngsters, many of these scenes will lack "awesomeness" since the animation world has no constraint of being anchored to reality.
Attenborough is no longer seen on-screen but his voice holds these ten programs together. The photography is high-definition quality. New technologies, including gyro vibration-damped helicopter cameras, now make available perspectives that were not possible a decade ago. From satellite to microscopic imagery, it is difficult to imagine how biology will ever move to a time "beyond Attenborough."
Even if Attenborough is not "in the picture," segments called "On Location" at the end of each of the 10 programs provide a story line of the camera men and women's adventure that should grip even the electronics-addicted students.
While some teacher editions in catalogs are "teacher-proofed" for undertrained biology teachers, the following outline is provided for the professional biology teacher who merely needs to excerpt a segment relevant to their biology coursework.
John Richard Schrock
CHALLENGES OF LIFE 1) Opening footage is probably the most impressive, featuring bottlenose dolphins making circular mud walls with their tails and driving a shoal of fish to the air where the group lines up to harvest them with mouths wide open; 2) in Kenya, three male cheetahs take down an ostrich by hunting as a team; 3) Madagascar chameleon uses tongue to capture many insects from a distance, in slow motion; 4) Antarctic crabeater seals versus orca killer whales; 5) open ocean shoals of fish are decimated by swordfish while flying fish take to the air to evade predators; 6) brown-tufted capuchins in Brazil use rock and anvil to crack mature palm seeds; 7) Venus fly-trap has hairs, two must be touched within 20 seconds to trigger closure; 8) stalk-eyed fly in Malaysia emerges from pupal case and its eyes must grow apart in males, showing their use in combat; 9)in dry season in Zambia, hippopotamuses move to deeper river areas and males fight for dominance; 10) courtship of Oregon grebes concludes with beautiful "dance"; 11) Northwest Pacific octopus lays eggs in den and cares for its eggs until it dies; 12) Costa Rican poison arrow frog moves each of six tadpoles to canopy, each to a separate bromeliad and then repeatedly returns to provide an unfertilized egg as food; 13) fledgling chin strap penguins in Antarctica must make their first swim while a leopard seal takes a few as a meal; 14) orangutan mother and baby. ON LOCATION: features the challenge of filming in the Antarctic using a sailboat and HMS Endurance's helicopters; challenge of filming leopard seal underwater up close; also tracking killer whales and filming a seal that makes a miraculous escape.
REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS 1) Introduction to Komodo Island and the Komodo dragons with males in combat during mating season, but more at the end of this program; 2) a brief set of cameos show the diversity of reptiles and amphibians; 3) South American waterfall toad free falls away when pursued by a snake, while a pebble toad hunted by a tarantula tumbles downhill like a rubber ball; 4) on the Pantanal, pools concentrate caiman crocodiles but when the rain returns, fish swim into their waiting mouths [slight error referring to reptiles as cold-blooded rather than ectothermic]; 5)the basilisk lizard perches on branches over streams and when threatened drops to the stream and walks on water; 6) a Brazilian pygmy gecko is so small it has problems with rain drops but uses its hydrophobic surface to become unsinkable; 7) a panther chameleon has grasping toes, turret eyes and ever-changing skin colors; 8) in the Namib dessert, a female chameleon searches for a mate; 9) Canadian red-sided garter snake emerges on snow, while many males emerge seeking to copulate with the female but one late-emerging male mimics the female chemistry and induces warm males to warm it as well; 10) Madagascar collared iguana lays eggs in sand and buries them but a hognosed snake locates and eats them; 11) Sonoran Desert horned lizard female guards her eggs and drives off a smaller snake, then bluffs a coachwhip snake; 12) Pacific sea krait shown mating then migrates to underwater tunnel and internal cave to lay eggs on land, the young hatch in 6 months and return to ocean; 13) male giant bullfrogs emerge with rains and engage in combat, finally one male guards all the tadpoles and excavates a channel to release them to a pond; 14) final conclusion shows Komodo dragons taking on a water buffalo and waiting out the effect of the lizards' toxic saliva. ON LOCATION: "Chasing the dragon" has tense moments when cameramen are close to the feeding dragons.
MAMMALS 1) Waddell's seals at the North Pole dives below the ice and must constantly expand its hole in the ice; 2) the elephant shrew of Africa uses pathways to flee from lizard; 3)Madagascar ai ai taps on wood to detect wood-boring grubs; 4) Arctic tundra has 8 million reindeer that must endure biting flies and long migrations; 5) Congo fruit bats fly to a swamp in Zambia to decimate fruit trees; 6) East African herds migrate while lions protect their kill from hyenas; 7) female polar bear detects carcass of a bowhead whale; 8) South American coatis scavenge as a group for safety; 9) Kalahari meerkats life a communal life; 10)in migration, a grandmother elephant assists a granddaughter mired in a mud hole; 11) female humpback and calf migrate, and males battle to select who mates with a female whale. ON LOCATION: "The heat run" shows filming of male competition pursuing a female.
FISH 1) How sailfish separate single fish from a shoal; 2)flying fish lay eggs in a floating frond that sinks; 3) Australian "weedy sea dragon" courtship dance results in male with eggs and hatchlings; 4) convict fish designs tunnels from which thousands of offspring erupt and return; 5) a sarcastic fringehead defends its territory off California coast; 6) Japanese mudskippers feed, males jump in displaying fins, and females lay eggs; 7)in Hawaii, the rock-climbing gobi ascends waterfalls, 8) in Africa, a species of fish clean the surface of hippos; 9) ocean wrasses are cleaner fish while jacks brush against sharks for sandpaper; 10) establishing a reef and the growth of sea anemones; 11) schooling can evade sea lions but sharks can decimate the school; 12) in Belize, snappers gather to breed; 13) the whale shark feeds. ON LOCATION: Filming sail fish feeding frenzy and the flying fish.
BIRDS 1) Hummingbird male in the Peruvian Andes "flags" females; 2) in the Ethiopian Mountains, condor-like bird drops bones from on high onto rocks to smash them; 3) red-billed tropic birds battle to keep their food from the frigate bird (Mon-o-war) thief; 4) red knots migrate but time their stopover to coordinate with the horseshoe crab emergence; 5) African flamingoes nest on mud mounds; 6) in the Antarctica, chin-strap penguins must move from sea uphill to the colony; 7) South African pelicans fly in V-formation to reduce drag but also raid baby gannets; 8) the grebe's mating dance (repeat of program one; 9) male sage grouse on booming grounds in Wyoming; 10) New Guinea birds of paradise display and bower birds construct bowers to attract mates; 11) lesser flamingoes have a courtship march or promenade. ON LOCATION: difficulties of filming bower birds in West Padua.
INSECTS 1) Darwin's beetle searches for a mate, combats with other males, and mates; 2) elaborate plumes of the male Arctiid moth secrete pheromones to attract a mate; 3) cameos of insect variations and innovation of wings; 4) newly emerged damselfly, selecting a mate and copulation; frogs jump to eat adults hovering over water, underwater egg-laying in plant stems, re-emergence of winged adult from water; 5) monarch migration to Mexico [error: birds do not pull out the toxic parts but select the less toxic by taste; and butterflies do not hibernate, a very specific term, but overwinter and become active]; 6) alkali flies of Mono Lake, California walk underwater to eat algae, are major food for Wilson's Phalarope; 7) an ant-eating beetle uses acid-firing for defense, stick insects fire turpenes, ants squirt formic acid, bombardier beetle directs vaporized chemical; 8) bee hive raided by bear cub, view of barbed stinger remaining in the predator; 9)Japanese red bug "cares" for offspring and provisions "nest" brood; 10) Dawson's bee of Australia have murderous competition among males [error: males cannot sting, stinger is a part of female ovipositor]; 11) grass-cutting ants harvest grass blades, carry segments to nest to cultivate fungus garden, antibiotic saliva, air conditioning system via topside vents to pullout carbon dioxide. ON LOCATION: filming monarchs in Mexico with discussion with Lincoln Brower.
HUNTERS AND HUNTED 1) Three cheetah brothers are unsuccessful in hunt for zebra but succeed taking down an ostrich in a repeat of program one; 2) the ibex in the Dead Sea cliffs manages to climb steep slopes and outmaneuver a desert fox; 3) the greater bulldog bat drags its claws at water's surface at night in slow-motion fishing; 4) stoat youngsters lay at hunting techniques which prepare them as adults to take down much larger rabbits; 5) bottlenose dolphins circle a shoal of fish, forming a mud wall with the tail-flapping, and corral the fish so they can harvest them as they jump into the air, a learned behavior unique to Florida Bay and as seen in program one; 6) Alaska brown bear await salmon run at the sea shore; 7) an Ethiopian wolf pack hunts to provide for the dominant female; 8) star-nosed mole shows action of its nostrils underground as well as swimming where it blows and withdraws bubbles to sniff underwater; 9) in an Indian forest, both deer and langurs watch to avoid the Bengal tiger; 10) a California ground squirrel chews snake skin and rubs it into its tail to smell like a snake as it later stands its ground with a rattlesnake; 11) on the Falkland Islands, penguins and elephant seals try to evade killer shales (orcas) but one mother orca risks a shallow pool to hunt. ON LOCATION: Photographing the killer whale that enters the shallow tidal pool.
CREATURES OF THE DEEP 1) Abyss includes hydrothermal vents with Pompeii worms, swarms of krill and Humboldt squid that herd fish; 2) under the Arctic ice is a rich bottom life with nemertean worms, sea stars and urchins, especially rich around the corpse of a seal; 3) jellyfish Aurelia drift while a fried egg jellyfish feeds on some of them; 4) spider crabs move en masse and molt while a sting ray eats soft crabs; 5) cuttlefish mate while using color changes and one male mimics a female to confuse dominant male; 6) British Columbia coastal octopus finds a crevice to lay eggs and tends them until she dies in a repeat of program one; 7) sunstar hunts, feeds on octopus corpse in time lapse, then her arm is eaten by a king crab; 8) coral reef island diversity followed by plankton including coral larvae colonizing a sunken boat, contrasted with advanced algae growth on a WWII boat, corals shown eating corals in interface war with time lapse photos, and mass spawning; 9)Great Barrier Reef diversity includes Christmas tree worms, varieties of crabs and shrimp and while only one percent of ocean, holds one-fourth of species. ON LOCATION: Follows sinking of a ship to form an artificial reef; then drilling holes through the ice in Antarctica.
PLANTS 1) A sequence shows changes through the seasons in a forest woodland; 2)the battle for light includes time lapse photos of tendrils ascending to t he canopy; 3) air plants grow above the crown and solve the water problem and form their own compost; 4) a sundew in a bog attracts emerging mosquitoes; 5) Venus fly-trap produces nectar and then if two hairs are triggered within 20 seconds, it closes, but flowers need pollination too; 6) sunflowers shown in time lapse photos and includes pollination; 7) Cradle Mountain in Tasmania has a honey bush where the bird must break open the flower for insects to pollinate; 8) Monarch butterfly larvae must survive latex produced by milkweed that can glue many caterpillars, so caterpillars cut the veins and shut off the latex supply while adult butterfly carries pollen sacs; 9) a hummingbird repeatedly visits and defends the Heliconia plant; 10) South African lily plants flowers are circular for seed dispersal; 11) in Borneo, helicopter seeds and paper plane gliders disperse seeds; 12) cactus produces flowers at night for bat pollination, when the seeds ripen, doves disperse seeds; 13) the dragon's blood tree has condensation that is funneled down the leaves to the roots, forms an umbrella for moist soil and young saplings; 14) a desert rose grows on bare rocks; 15) in Australia, the red mangrove in salt marshes has pores in roots, filters salt, concentrates salt in leaves and discards leaves; 16) deciduous leaves are shed regularly; 17) pine tees have anti-freeze in their needles; 18) bristlecone pine grows but 6 weeks a year, needles last 60 years and some trees are over 5000 years old; 19) white water lily emerges on pond; 20) spring wildflowers take advantage of sun before canopy forms; 21) over 10,000 species of grasses, includes rice flowers. ON LOCATION: How the "outdoor" seasonal shot is a composite of outdoor and indoor blue screen techniques.
PRIMATES 1) Summary of primate features concludes with `primates remember what they learn" which is a qualified generalization; 2) Ethiopian Hamadryad baboons engage in troop warfare; 3) some Japanese macaque "snow monkeys" enjoy a natural sauna while others are excluded; 4) Congo Basin gorillas establish their territories by chest beating; 5) Madagascar tarsiers are 100 percent carnivorous, hunting insects at night; 6)Thailand gibbons swing and sing in trees to establish their territories; 7)Madagascar lemurs scent mark, compete for mates and mate; 8)Sumatran orangutans feed and use leaves for a rain shelter; 9) African Cape Peninsula baboons raid tidal pools to eat shark eggs and mussels among the kelp; 10) white-faced capuchin monkeys in Costa Rican mangroves pound mussels; 11) brown-tufted capuchins in Brazil use hammer stones to crack palm nuts (in introductory program as well); and 12) chimpanzees in west Africa use tools, stick dipping for ants, mashing palm hearts and nutcracking. ON LOCATION features the canopy photography but mainly the difficulty capturing chimpanzees using tools and buttress drumming.
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Reviews with images
Series title NOT on DVD labels
I love this series as much as The Blue Planet and Planet Earth . Great nature footage on all three sets, and of course David Attenborough is simply THE BEST NARRATOR ever!! Even though some of the subjects may appear in more that one series, there is always new information, so it's still worth watching everything. The only quibble I have is that the title series for LIFE does not appear on the DVD labels. If you, like me, keep the discs in a binder - without the case box, of course - you may wonder what series these discs come from. Now that I've figured out the series name, I'll write it on the discs - no danger of ordering a duplicate set by mistake.
Top reviews from other countries
Christian Alejandro ☠️
Excelente si eres amante de la naturaleza y las buenas historias.
Reviewed in Mexico on October 25, 2017
dhanny24
Imprescindible para los amantes de los documentales.
Reviewed in Spain on January 30, 2014
