Highlights Archive

Climate and Our Planet PBS LearningMedia Collection

This collection of supplementary digital media resources offers a range of options for engaging middle and high school students with key questions in climate science:

How do the interconnected systems of Earth drive its climate?
What are people around the world learning about how Earth’s climate is changing?
Who are the helpers creating a healthier future for our planet, and how can we join in designing and achieving climate change solutions?

These resources align with NGSS Earth and life science disciplinary core ideas and many offer opportunities for students to exercise STEM practices and place-based civic engagement skills.

In this collection:

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Elinor Wonders Why: Ms. Mole’s Glasses On-Demand

Elinor and her friends set out to return Ms. Mole’s glasses to her after she forgets them at school. Ms. Mole can’t see anything without her glasses! When Ms. Mole forgets her glasses at school, Elinor and her friends follow her to return them. Ms. Mole can’t see anything without her glasses! The kids travel throughout Animal Town, just missing Ms. Mole at every turn. During their travels, the kids realize Ms. Mole has been shopping and getting around using different senses. By the time they finally reach Ms. Mole and return her glasses, she’s got all her shopping done without them. Cool!

Education Resources for Video Story

Then in the second half of the episode, in Elinor Stops the Squish, Elinor and her friends want to bring Ms. Mole a cupcake for her birthday, but they’re worried it will get squished on the way to school. The kids find inspiration in nature when they observe how different animals/creatures stay safe using their shells as a defense mechanism. Elinor, Ari and Olive use this idea as inspiration to make a shell around the cupcake using a hard coconut. Because of the kids’ hard work and ingenuity, the cupcake makes it all the way to school without being squished, just in time for Ms. Mole to enjoy her present. Yum!

CREATE Showcase: Real Adventures • WXXI-CREATE

Let host Jeff Wilson be your guide for breathtaking and eco-friendly tours by rail and by road.

CREATE Showcase: Real Adventures airs Saturday, March 30 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday, March 31 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

Real Rail Adventures host Jeff Wilson takes you tours of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. He’s a lifelong traveler and an avid train buff, who delights in investigating grand historic stations and whistle-stops, and drinking in the sights as the world speeds by the train window.

With more than 25 years of home building and remodeling experience, Wilson jokes that he studied classical piano in college, receiving a music degree, because “it looked good on a resume.” In reality, that music degree kept him hard at work in the construction industry, making a living.

Photo provided by CREATE

Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s • WXXI-TV

Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s airs Monday, May 5 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

In Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s, three people navigate their lives with resourcefulness and determination in the face of a degenerative illness, Parkinson’s disease. An optician pursues deep brain stimulation surgery; a mother raising a pre-teen daughter becomes a boxing coach and an advocate for exercise; and a cartoonist contemplates how he will continue to draw as his motor control declines.

Photo from Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s – Independent Lens

Watch the Trailer:

Learn More: Film Website

This program is presented by Move to Include^TM, an award-winning national initiative to promote disability inclusion, representation, and accessibility in public media.

PBS Independent Lens: Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s

Caring Forward: Roadtrip Nation On-Demand

Meet Alma, Samuel, and Ryan—three young people eager to transform the healthcare landscape and find work worth doing—and follow them as they travel across their home state in search of fulfilling and inspiring career paths. See how they and other inspiring people are meeting the moment to provide holistic health care in new ways to those who need it most.

Watch On-Demand

More Roadtrip Nation Specials

Deconstructing Ableism: A Community Conversation On-Demand

A panel discussion with Disability Rights Activist Imani Barbarin.

Disability rights activist Imani Barbarin is joined by moderator and disability advocate Jeiri Flores and a panel of local community members to discuss their lived experiences of ableism and address some of the issues raised in Imani’s keynote from a 2023 virtual event hosted by Starbridge.

Watch On-Demand:

This program is presented as part of Dialogue on Disability, a partnership between WXXI and Al Sigl Community of Agencies – in conjunction with the Herman and Margaret Schwartz Community Series. Dialogue on Disability is supported by the Fred L. Emerson Foundation with additional support from The Golisano Foundation. The weeklong initiative runs January 22 through January 28, 2024.

WXXI and Al Sigl have been hosting Dialogue on Disability since 2005. In 2014, with the support of businessman and philanthropist Tom Golisano and the Golisano Foundation, Move to Include™ was formed. This initiative enables WXXI to present and develop programming that promotes inclusion year round.

Photo: Imani Barbarin l Credit: Maude Ballinger

A Brief History of the Future • Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV

This new six-part documentary series that explores innovative ways to think about the future.

A Brief History of the Future airs Wednesdays, April 3 – May 8 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

A Brief History of the Future will help you imagine – and work toward – a better tomorrow. Hosted by futurist Ari Wallach, the series challenges the dystopian framework embraced by popular culture by offering a refreshing take on the future exploring potential solutions to our existential threats. The program invites viewers to imagine a world that is full of discovery, hope, and possibility – inspiring each of us to understand our power to shape the future that future generations need us to so they can flourish.

The series weaves together history, science, and unexpected storytelling to expand our understanding about the impact that the choices we make today will have on our tomorrows. Each episode follows those who are working to solve our greatest challenges. The series also features valuable insights from a wide range of thinkers, scientists, developers and storytellers including French President Emmanuel Macron, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, sailor Dame Ellen MacArthur, musician Grimes, architect Bjarke Ingels, climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, legendary soccer player Kylian Mbappé, and more.

Episodes and air dates:

“Beyond the Now” Wednesday, April 3, 2024 at 9:00 p.m. (Series Premiere) Join Ari Wallach on his journey to seek the individuals and ideas that can shape a better, more sustainable future for each generation to build upon.

“Chaos & Complexity” Wednesday, April 10, 2024 at 9:00 p.m. Why are many of us feeling overwhelmed and afraid in this historically transformational moment in time? Ari Wallach explores how it offers unprecedented possibilities for new and needed futures we can create together.

“Once Upon a Time” Wednesday, April 17, 2024 at 9:00 p.m. How do stories shape the boundaries of belief about what is possible? Ari Wallach dives into the fundamental role storytelling plays in our lives and their potential to unleash the power of human imagination and creativity moving forward.

“Human” Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at 9:00 p.m. Ari Wallach investigates the human ability to increase empathy and compassion, what values we are instilling into artificial intelligence technologies, and creating a better world for human life to flourish on this planet.

“Together” Wednesday, May 1, 2024 at 9:00 p.m. Throughout history, humans’ unique capacity for cooperation has set us apart. Ari Wallach explores the internal changes we enact that have the potential to impact those around us, our broader communities, and societies.

“Tomorrows” Wednesday, May 8, 2024 at 9:00 p.m. Ari Wallach examines the ways we often see the concept of the future, the crucial need to think much, much bigger about what could come next, and how we all have more personal agency than we realize.

Journeys Through the Finger Lakes • WXXI-TV

Explore each season in the Finger Lakes region visiting each lake with stunning aerial videography.

Journeys Through the Finger Lakes airs Saturday, June 7 at 8 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

From Susan B. Anthony and the women’s rights movement, to Harriet Tubman and the underground railroad, to spotlighting a proud and resilient Native American culture, Journeys Through the Finger Lakes takes you on a journey through the vibrant history, lush topography, and seminal moments that make up this extraordinary place.

How was the region created and defined?  What effects did the landscape and weather have on the industry, agriculture, and community development? Who were the historical figures that influenced national issues in critical ways? And, who is continuing to create an innovative and diverse cultural landscape that has become synonymous with the region? 

These lakes form a broader region rich in meaningful history and unique culture. We journey through lush topography, singular institutions and meet the visionary icons that make up the rich tapestry of this extraordinary place.

Journeys Through the Finger Lakes is dedicated to John Adamski, who worked tirelessly on behalf of the Finger Lakes and the Finger Lakes Museum. Produced by WXXI in partnership with Finger Lakes Tourism Alliance with support from Finger Lakes Tourism Alliance and I Love NY; Saunders Foundation; Nocon & Associates, an Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. private wealth advisory practice; and The Jane K. and Robert C. Stevens Fund for New Programming.

To learn more, click here.