WNET Group’s Emmy-winning animated series Cyberchase – celebrating its 20th anniversary this year – is ready to multiply the STEM-powered fun when the show returns for a 13th season on PBS KIDS channel this month. Featuring the return of guest star Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future, Over the Garden Wall) as Hacker, the new episodes begin premiering on February 25 with four back-to-back adventures from 7 to 9 p.m. ET.
The 10 new episodes find the intrepid heroes, Jackie, Matt, Inez and Digit, tackling a variety of timely environmental topics – from light and water pollution, invasive species and coral reefs to sustainable design, transportation, biodiversity and trees – using their math and problem-solving skills all along the way to save the day.
Each episode will be accompanied by live-action “Cyberchase: For Real” epilogues that link the math and environmental concepts shown in the animation into the real world. A theme throughout this season is the interconnectedness of the environment, how one part can impact another and how even small actions can lead to big changes.
Season 13 premiere episodes:
“Duck Stop” – Every year, the Northern Frontier ducks migrate to Restoria, returning stronger, refreshed and full of energy. Hacker believes that if he felt as good, he could take over Cyberspace once and for all. Determined to discover where Restoria is, Hacker sends Buzz and Delete to follow the ducks. The CyberSquad tags along during the migration, helping the flock avoid numerous hazards along the way.
- Topics: Migration; Mapping; Cardinal Directions; Skip Counting
- Big Idea: Some animals need a ‘summer’ home and a ‘winter’ home to survive, and travel between the two often following the same route each year.
“The Great Outdoors” – A mysterious creature is trampling all over Crestwood Park, and visitors are too scared to enter. Even Digit is frightened of the unknown. The CyberSquad goes to investigate. Along the way they experience the wonders of nature firsthand and discover why they should leave nature the way they found it. Can the kids find out who or what the creature is? Will Digit overcome his fears?
- Topics: Appreciating Nature; Telling Time; Mapping
- Big Idea: Being out in nature offers many rewards, but it’s important to treat the natural world with respect, in return.
“Coral Grief” – In Coralina, the CyberSquad and Digit marvel at the cybersite’s colorful coral reef. Inez hopes to bring back a piece of coral as a gift for her aunt until they learn coral is alive and the reef is under threat! Something is causing the ocean to become hot and murky, and it’s bleaching the coral. With the help of an action hero crab, can the kids find the source of the heat before it’s too late?
- Topics: Coral Reefs; Thermal Pollution; Temperature; Mapping; Collecting Data
- Big Idea: When you protect the health of coral reefs, you also protect the vast amount of ocean life that depends on the reefs as places to live or find food.
“Sustainable By Design” – The CyberSquad gets fashionable in Factoria! Jackie wins the chance of a lifetime to apprentice with the incomparable fashion designer Fabio DeZine. Jackie quickly learns, it takes more than just a pretty drawing to design something with real, sustaining impact.
- Topics: Sustainable Design; Prototyping; Geometry
- Big Idea: When you reuse or repurpose materials to make something new, you help make sure Earth’s resources are there for the future.
