Zula Patrol: Science for Kids

I received a copy of The Zula Patrol:  Explore Space DVD from my friends at Parent Bloggers Network  to review.  I hadn't actually heard of this show before the DVD arrived, but since we love all things science-y in our house, I thought we'd give it a whirl.

I sat down last night with the house expert on TV shows for kids, Alex, who at seven has quite a discerning palate for television.  He first harumphed that he didn't like this show because it was Rated G, which meant it was "for babies." 

"I like PG," he stated very matter-of-factly.  I told him he needed to just keep on watching and ignore the fact that it was rated G.

The show features a cast of fanciful CGI images that are round, smooth, and non-threatening aliens, and a host of talking planets.  The one bad guy is more comical than scary, so I don't think this would frighten smaller kids. They intersperse lessons on science (in this case, space) with little cartoon vignettes. The lesson in the first one was an explaination of how the moon reflects light on the earth.  Each segment is followed by a "Multo Moment," which is a review quiz on what was learned at the begining."

I learned a couple of things that I didn't know about the solar system from the show.  For example, did you know that Jupiter has 11 moons?  One of them, Io, has the most active volcanoes in the solar system.  Did you know that the moons of Mars are not round, but sort of lumpy, like potatoes?  I thought that was cool.

My critic-in-training was not as impressed.  Alex said,  "That orange alien is always trying to be Mr. Smartypants.  I don't like the talking planets."

On the plus side, Alex did remark at the end, "I like these shows on the DVD more than the ones I saw on TV.   I like that you get to learn stuff.  I learned about the planets, Pluto, Uranus, Jupiter, Mars, Earth.  OK, Pluto is not a planet, but maybe it will be in the future."

Maybe they should explain that Pluto is not going to grow up to be a planet someday.  Otherwise, I'd say the show was a hit, even for a jaded seven year old.