Earthtones (Video)
Earthtones
is a television series focusing on environmental science taking place
at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Environment Canada, Fisheries and
Oceans Canada, Natural Resources Canada and Health Canada. The series
aired on the Discovery Channel's @ discovery.ca between 1998 and 2001
(RealPlayer Required - RealPlayer Help). Teacher's Guides
Websites
Discover how your choices and actions as an individual, can save energy and help fight global warming (text and video).
Learn
about efforts to erradicate the Brown Spruce Longhorn Beetle, an alien
species that has caused the deaths of red spruce trees in Halifax, Nova
Scotia (text and video).
Discover how alternative fuel vehicles produce up to 30% less C02 than their gasoline counterparts (text and video).
Find
out how a bioremediation strategy based on nutrient enrichment was used
to clean up over 100 kilometres of oil-contaminated shoreline (text and
video).
Discover
how changing patterns of wind and severe weather resulting from climate
change threaten the migratory patterns of birds (text and video).
Find out about efforts to ensure that bottled water does not contain harmful contaminants, such as bacteria (text and video).
Venture to Sable Gully in Nova Scotia to learn about the northern bottlenose whale (text and video).
Discover
how scientists are using state-of-the-art sampling equipment to add to
our knowledge and understanding of the resources and natural wonders of
our oceans (text and video).
Learn
about the Stella variety of cherry, which transformed the sweet cherry
industry by becoming the world's first self-fertile variety with
high-quality fruit (text and video).
Meet
Dr. Rosanna Peeling, a scientist at Health Canada who developed a test
for chlamydia that can help make some of its long-term complications,
such as infertility, a thing of the past (text and video).
See a demonstration of an innovative approach to cleaning up chlorinated solvents using vitamin B12 (text and video).
Learn
about research done to reduce illness in consumers resulting from the
increasing availability of exotic foods (text and video).
Find
out why DDT was banned in 1972, and why this decision was one of the
most important steps in protecting wildlife and people from the effects
of pesticides (text and video).
Learn
about Pseudomonis putida, bacteria that degrades ethylene glycol
efficiently to protect bodies of water from the deicing fluid used on
the wings of planes (text and video).
Discover
how the diet of pigs can be adjusted to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus,
two of the pollutants contained in pig manure (text and video).
Explore
the accomplishments of Dr. John Amyot, whose many contributions to the
science of public health include the filtration and chlorination of
water, production of vaccines and the pasteurization of milk (text and
video).
Visit
the experimental lakes area, where scientists are trying to replicate
potential environmental risks, such as acidification and flooding that
usually occur on a much larger scale (text and video).
Visit
a former working mine that is now dedicated to research for developing
and testing safe, cost-effective mining equipment and systems (text and
video).
Learn about fall-out radiation in Canada’s North and how it can travel through the food chain to humans (text and video).
Find out what impact ground-level pollution, or smog, has on crop production in B.C.’s Fraser Valley (text and video).
Discover
how deep-rooted perennial grasses, such as Rough Fescue, help protect
prairie landscapes from drought and wind and water erosion (text and
video).
Picture a golf course as a microcosm of the urban environment to find out how waste can keep a fairway green. (Text and video)
Discover how researchers are determining the potential environmental damage caused by offshore oil drilling (text and video).
See how studies of ice cores are helping to decipher past environmental change (text and video).
Learn about the threat that alien insect species can pose when they make their way into Canada (text and video).
Learn
about Integrated Pest Management to find out how scientists are able to
reduce both the numbers of fruit tree pests as well as the use of
pesticides (text and video).
Find
out why researchers have built a Level Four containment lab to bing to
Canada some of the deadliest diseases known to humanity (text and
video).
Meet
Dr. Hermy Lior, who was instrumental in developing research tests and
methods to distinguish different types of the bacteria E. coli and
Campylobacter (text and video).
Find out what factors may have led to the high levels of mercury found in Nova Scotia loons in 1995 (text and video).
Learn how Charles Saunders developed Marquis wheat, a crop that flourishes under Canadian weather conditions (text and video).
Meet
Ontario’s only poisonous snake, the Massassauga Rattler, and find out
about efforts to understand and protect this threatened species (text
and video).
Find
out how Dr. André Robert revolutionized meteorology by creating the
first Canadian computerized simulations of weather patterns (text and
video).
Find
out how changes in a cow’s diet could reduce its methane emissions,
making these animals more environmentally friendly (text and video).
Meet
Dr. Hari Vijay, a research scientist at Health Canada who has developed
internationally recognized research on the standardization of mold
allergens (text and video).
Visit
one marsh that provides an example of the value of wetlands, the
diverse life they contain and consequences of their loss (text and
video).
Find
out how Canadian biologists used a captive breeding program to bring
back Anatum Peregrine Falcons after DDT caused their disappearance from
North America (text and video).
Learn about pythium, a fungus that threatens indoor farming of tomatoes (text and video).
Learn
about Canadian technology for mapping the seafloor, and find out how it
was used in recovery efforts following the crash of Swiss Air flight
111 (text and video).
Learn
about the Shepody potato, which has been adapted for Canada’s short
growing season and is becoming one of the most popular potato varieties
for French Fries (text and video).
Learn about the mysterious parentage of the Spartan apple and the science behind breeding better apple species (text and video).
Learn
about the impact of storm surges and rising sea-levels, both of which
are likely to increase as a result of climate change (text and video).
Discover how DNA analysis may soon be used to catch tree thieves (text and video).
Find
out how looking at the smallest particles of vehicle exhaust helps
scientists to understand the effects of pollution on human respiration
(text and video).
Meet
the volunteers who assist atmospheric scientists by taking time every
day to monitor and report on the weather (text and video).
Find
out how the field study of killer whales was revolutionized through the
innovative technique of photographic identification of natural markings
on individual whales (text and video).
Find
out how wheat, the single most important source of plant protein in our
diet, has been crossbred to adapt to Canadian climate and disease
conditions (text and video).
Learn
about the Worm Watch program and discover more about the important
contribution of earthworms to soil ecology (text and video).