Sid the Science Kid

Sid wonders what he could possibly do on his day off from school. But when all his friends come over for a play date, they quickly put their science minds together and decide to put on a show in the backyard! They each take turns rocking out as they sing their favorite science songs for a very appreciative audience of Mom, Dad, and Zeke!

Sid is trying out his new dance called “The Sid Slide To The Side!” On his room’s hardwood floor, he boogies to the left, jumps to the right and then tries to slide to the side. But in his new sneakers, he can’t slide…he just squeaks to a stop! Sid and his friends investigate how different materials and surfaces can create friction, causing something to slow down.

Sid created a new sport called Play-Doh Ball! You just jump in the air, spin around and bounce the ball. When Sid attempts to play his new game, he bounces the Play-Doh ball and it promptly splats on the ground! At school, Sid and his friends investigate and discover that if a ball doesn’t have enough elasticity, it won’t bounce!

Sid is sending his toy panda Ignatz on yet another adventure! He places him on top of a skateboard and rolls him across the patio. The skateboard comes to an abrupt stop when it bumps into a wooden bench, but Ignatz keeps moving forward and flies into the air! Sid is curious why Ignatz didn’t stop moving too, so he and his friends investigate and discover that things in motion stay in motion until they are stopped—and that’s inertia!

In his backyard, Sid is pretending to be “Super Sid!” To show his super strength, he kicks a soccer ball really hard and it sails across the yard. But when he tries to kick it to a nearby tree with the same might, the ball once again sails really far. On a special trip to the Science Center, Sid and his friends investigate how using lots of force makes something move really far and fast—just like kicking a soccer ball!

While brushing his teeth, Sid wonders what happens to all the dirty water when it goes down the drain. At The Science Center, Sid and his friends explore how water travels in and out of our homes through pipes. And here’s something Sid and his friends never realized: there’s lots of water in the world, but you can’t drink it all! We can only use fresh water, and there aren’t a lot of fresh water sources in the world. That’s why it’s important not to waste water!

Sid the roving reporter is investigating something strange in his backyard--his Dad is wearing a mask while painting. Sid discovers that his Dad is protecting his face so he doesn’t breathe in the dirty fumes. At school, Sid and his friends discover that people and animals on Earth need to breathe clean air, and when we pollute the air around us, it affects the air that everyone breathes. The kids also discover that trees have a really important role in keeping our air clean!

Sid’s toy robot is broken, so he wants to throw it "away." Sid's Mom tells him there is no such thing as "away," and when we put something in the trash, we are actually creating waste. Sid and his friends explore the idea that everything we throw away goes somewhere. This leads to an investigation of how to recycle and reuse items so that we make less trash.

Sid is super excited because his Dad is clearing out space in the yard for a basketball court! While Sid and Dad are surveying the land, Sid notices a big stump teeming with little creatures! During a special field trip to The Science Center, Sid and his friends discover that there are animal habitats all around us, even in old stumps, and if one habitat is destroyed, all of the other habitats and animals are affected.

Sid and his baby brother Zeke are playing a game where they try to “grab” the light coming out of a flashlight, which proves to be impossible. At school, Sid and his friends explore the science of light and discover that light comes from various energy sources. They also discover that there are some light sources that can’t be turned off, like the biggest light source of all…the sun!

On an early morning, Sid wakes up while it’s still dark outside. Sid and his friends investigate and observe what happens when a light source is completely blocked--creating darkness. It turns out everything stays the same in the dark, because darkness is just the absence of light…which means there’s nothing to be afraid of in the dark!

After looking at his own shadow, Sid wonders why his shadow doesn’t smile when he does. This leads Sid and his friends to investigate shadows at The Science Center. They explore ways to create a shadow by blocking a light source and discover that shadows show shapes but not details like colors, stripes, or a smile!

After a rainstorm, the sun comes out and Sid spots a big rainbow in the sky. He races inside to tell his parents, but by the time he brings them outside to see it, the rainbow is gone. Sid and his friends investigate rainbows at school where they discover that rainbows can only form when light passes through water droplets.

Pack some food and bring your backpack because Sid, Gerald, and Dad are gearing up for a big adventure! They’re setting up tents for a campout in the backyard! Dad is eager to share his love of nature and demonstrates how to have a great time outside with the simplest of necessities. They look for animals, cook their own dinner, marvel at the stars in the sky, roast marshmallows, and sing songs around the campfire. And here’s the best part, the viewer is invited to join the adventure and sing along!

It’s springtime and that means it’s time to hunt for Easter eggs! Explorer Sid searches under every bush and behind every tree to find all the hidden eggs. But wait, he also finds…a big, shiny rock! Could it be a treasure? Elated, Sid brings the rock to school to try to identify what it could be. Join Sid and his friends on a special Easter investigation, and sort different kinds of rocks on an Easter Rock Hunt!

Fortunately for Sid, today his class is going on a field trip to the Science Center, where a special guest greets them—it’s Gabriela’s Mom, Dr. Rosalinda Cordova! She is a marine biologist, and tells the kids about her exciting job SCUBA diving with whales. Completely enthralled, Sid wants to know if scientists investigate other kinds of animals too? Dr. Cordova uses a video connection so we can meet a real wildlife biologist studying pandas at the San Diego Zoo! This leads the rest of the kids to ask about science fields they’re interested in. We meet a robotics engineer working on a 20-foot tall robot at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a chemist investigating stretchy ice cream in a kitchen lab, and an astronaut who builds things in space!

Sid is super excited, because teacher Susie announced that today is full of surprises—healthy surprises! First the class walks to a local park where they get to run around and play outside in the fresh air! Susie teaches the kids how to do yoga, and when it’s snack time, the kids get another special surprise—they get to pick fresh vegetables from a community garden! Yum! Next, Susie teaches the kids her favorite childhood game—Red Light, Green Light! It’s a great way to move your body, and it’s fun! Back home, Sid tells his Mom about his amazing day, and Mom is inspired to plant a garden in the backyard. Sid then comes up with a new family tradition—taking a walk every day together! It’s easy to do and it’s a fun, healthy way to move your body!

It’s Halloween time and Sid and his friends have dressed up in the spookiest and scariest costumes possible. Sid is a bat with big fangs. May is a spooky black cat. Gabriela is a furry, yucky spider. And Gerald is a super spooky skeleton that goes boo! Susie (dressed as a silly mad scientist) loves their costumes, and helps the kids discover that Halloween can be spooky and scientific! The kids investigate how bats are helpful creatures that catch mosquitoes, spiders are expert engineer web builders, cats are leaping aerial acrobats, and skeletons help hold up our body frames! At the Halloween party, the kids also investigate how to make icky, gooey green slime. Susie then ends the day with a special “Halloween Parade” song so the kids can march around and show off their spooky and scientific costumes!

Sid is very excited because he’s going to babysit Grandma’s dog Philbert for the weekend. This is a great way for Sid to show his parents that he’s ready to take care of his own puppy. But there’s only one problem…how exactly do you take care of a pet? Sid heads to school to investigate more, and is delighted to see the special guest. It’s Gabriela’s Mom, Dr. Rosalinda Cordova! She brought the class their very own pet…a praying mantis! And now the kids have to learn how to take care of it. That means investigating what the praying mantis needs to eat, drink, and what kind of home it needs. As Sid quickly discovers, taking care of a pet is a big responsibility!

Sid is ready to stay up all night so he and his stuffed animals can pretend to fly into space on a rocket ship! When his Mom insists that he can’t stay up, Sid ventures to school to investigate more. He and friends explore how the body needs sleep to properly function, and most important, we need sleep to grow and stay healthy! Understanding that sometimes we feel too excited to sleep (like before an adventure into space), Susie presents a special Super Fab Lab where the kids practice calming down, and preparing their bodies for sleep. Susie lowers the lights, turns off all the sounds in the room, and teaches the kids how to breathe slowly to relax…and sleep!

At breakfast, Sid discovers seeds in his apple, and decides that seeds really get in the way when you’re trying to eat the apple! This leads Sid to investigate seeds with his friends at the Science Center, where they learn that many living things grow in life cycles. And while many fruits start out as seeds, many animals start out as eggs. The kids investigate frog eggs, butterfly eggs, and chicken eggs, and then see the fully-grown animals they grow into. The kids are elated and empowered with their newfound knowledge about life cycles, and can’t wait to get back to school so they can plant Sid’s apple seed and watch it slowly grow into an apple tree!

Sid wakes up and can’t stop sneezing. He makes his way into the kitchen where he finds his Dad in the middle of a similar sneeze attack. Sid soon discovers that just like his Dad, he might be allergic to pollen! This leads Sid on a mission to learn more about allergies. Mom can think of someone who knows a lot about allergies…Grandma—she’s a nurse! At school, Grandma helps the kids discover that sometimes our bodies can react strongly to something we touch, smell, or eat, so our bodies try to fight it off—and that’s an allergy. Gerald tells everyone that he has a food allergy--he can’t eat strawberries. Wanting to help their friend, Sid, May, and Gabriela decide to make their class a Strawberry-Free-Zone! Gerald is touched, and Susie suggests a special Super Fab Lab survey to discover if other people they know also have allergies.

Sid is thoroughly amused as he watches his parents. Every time their computers “ding” Mom and Dad run to check their computer, so Sid wants to know what all these computers do! Mom volunteers to show Sid’s class how a computer works, which helps Susie demonstrate the amazing way scientists use computers as a science tool! In a special Super Fab Lab, the kids make discoveries with their magnifying glasses, then use the computer to share their discoveries by sending information back home to their parents. They’re just like real scientists using a computer to share discoveries with other scientists!

While surfing the Internet on the computer with his Mom, Sid finds a funny picture showing that the moon is made of green, glowing, cheese! Sid thinks this is amazing, and when he goes to school, he relays his newfound moon information to his friends, who are equally enthralled. When they tell Susie what they learned, Susie explains something very important—not everything you find on the computer is true! And someone that really understands that notion is visiting today, it’s Gabriela’s Mom! Dr. Rosalinda Cordova is a marine biologist so she does lots of research on the computer, but it’s not the only thing she uses. She tells the kids that when she does research, she reads books at the library, makes observations, asks experts, and looks at websites with good information. Then she gives the kids their very own research project, where they break into two teams and investigate all the living things they can find around the school.

In his backyard, Sid shows off his homemade cardboard wings. He’s wearing them because he wants to fly, just like the bird he has been watching all morning. When his flight plans don’t work out, he heads to school to investigate. Susie announces that the class is going to visit the Science Center to check out a special exhibit about FLIGHT! Sid and his friends are thrilled to discover how people learned how to fly by observing birds in nature, just like Sid did! They explore a special exhibit showcasing gliders, flying contraptions, and jet planes. And in live action, we see kids investigating real flying machines at the world famous Smithsonian Air & Space Museum!

Sid has a big, big, big problem! He’s trying to grab a cereal box located way up high on the kitchen shelf, but he just can’t reach it. He tries using a stool, but he still can’t grab it. He wants to know, how is he ever going to grab that cereal box??? At school, Sid and his friends encounter another problem. They need to get a ball down that got stuck in a tree. Susie has an idea. If they have a problem, it’s time to “engineer a solution.” The kids work as a team, brainstorm some ideas, draw pictures of their ideas, and then try building their ideas. And to make the day even more exciting, Dad visits school and volunteers to help the kids build a special “grabber” to get the ball down from the tree!