Building Big: Bridges

Starring:Building Big
Studio: Wgbh Boston
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Description
Discover the world's greatest spans and the people who created them. What enables a simple arch bridge to support such great weight? What holds up a suspension bridge? Bridge the world with award-winning author-illustratorand captivating storytellerDavid Macaulay (The Way Things Work) and meet the brilliant designers who dared to extend roads and railways with ingenious but sometimes flawed designs. From the Golden Gate Bridge to some of the world's groundbreaking spans, you'll explore dozens of monumental engineering feats through historic film footage, fascinating photographs, illustrations and dramatic recreations.

- Discover why the Brooklyn Bridge's hard-working and humorless chief engineer never lived to see the completion of his masterpiece

- Tower above the clouds on top of the Golden Gate Bridge and discover its controversial history, and see how its formidable suspension design handles brutal winds, tides, traffic, and earthquakes

- Visit Scotland's Firth of Forth Railway Bridge and learn how a deadly tragedy inspired the creation of this incredibly strong (and expensive) cantilevered steel design

- Bonus activity! Build your own mini-bridge using only straws, straight pins, masking tape, scissors, and a baseball

David Macaulay hosts Building Big, the five-part series that brings you the amazing truth behind the greatest manmade wonders of the world. From the top of the Golden Gate Bridge to inside the Hoover Dam, Building Big travels the world exploring Bridges, Tunnels, Dams, Skyscrapers and Domes in unforgettable, really big adventures.

Description

Award-winning author-illustrator—and captivating storyteller—David Macaulay (The Way Things Work) goes to extremes with five really big adventures that explore the greatest manmade wonders of the world. The series introduces the courageous creators and builders and reveals the deadly disasters and personal triumphs behind these breathtaking structures. Spectacular film footage, dramatic recreations and David's unique illustrations excite, explain and entertain in a big way. • Tower above the clouds on the Golden Gate; build the Brooklyn Bridge; and explore Europe's groundbreaking spans in • See how dams change not only the course of rivers, but the course of history as well, in an adventure that reaches from the top of the Hoover Dam to the banks of the Nile in Dams; Discover 2000 years of architectural wonders as Domes explores the Houston Astrodome, St. Peter's Cathedral, the geodesic domes of Buckminster Fuller, and more • Go to the top of the skyline for tall tales about Skyscrapers including Chicago's Sears Tower, New York's Empire State Building and Malaysia's record-setting Petronas Towers • Be a "mole" in Boston's "Big Dig;" explore the "Chunnel;" and go deep under New York's Hudson River for a wild look at Tunnels • Bonus Activities! Join Kenny and Caroline from the PBS kids' show ZOOM and other kids and their parents as they build five scaled-down structures using only common household items like straws, masking tape, and newspaper

Customer Reviews:

Good and informative.......2007-01-10

The videos kept my attention and that of my gifted middle school students. Good explanations and visuals to help make material comprehensible.

Brain-building entertainment.......2004-09-02

This set of five videos by artist/architect David Macaulay provides many hours of insightful entertainment and a great introduction to science and technology on a practical level. Each themed film - Bridges, Skyscrapers, Tunnels Domes and Dams - provides an in-depth historical treatment of the particular structure, interesting stories and overviews from famous structures and basic scientific principles involved in each project.

The set features lots of great location shoots with David Macaulay narrating interesting stories and pointing out details of each site.

To give you an idea, "Tunnels" covers aqueducts and water-carrying tunnels of Ancient Rome, early canal and train tunnels of the 19th century (particularly in England and the U.S.), archaic and modern methods of tunnel digging (particularly under rivers), issues involving tunnel safety (both during the project and during use afterwards) with a special emphasis (in all areas) on the building of the Channel Tunnel in the 1990s between England and France. Each video also includes a "Building Small" segment and pamphlet so that families can tackle simple science projects at home that demonstrate principles of architecture.

Our family has really enjoyed these movies - from the four year old all the way up to Mom and Dad. The material is substantial, but easy to understand (particularly with the excellent use of computer graphics and artistic sketches).

My only caution would be that there were a few photos from an airplane crash into the Empire state Building in the 1940s that are a little graphic for young children. I was very excited to learn that these are coming out on DVD this fall.

Average customer rating:

Building Big: Bridges
Starring: David Macaulay
Director: Larry Klein
Manufacturer: Wgbh Boston
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

Science & Technology | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Special Interests | Genres | DVD | Video

WGBH Boston | Television | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Educational | Genres | DVD | Video

Science & Technology | Educational | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Instructional | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Building Big: Skyscrapers
Building Big: Dams
Building Big: Tunnels
Building Big: Domes
Bridges: Amazing Structures to Design, Build & Test (Kaleidoscope Kids)

ASIN: B0002XVSDI
Release Date: 2004-10-26

Description

Discover the world's greatest spans and the people who created them. What enables a simple arch bridge to support such great weight? What holds up a suspension bridge? Bridge the world with award-winning author-illustrator—and captivating storyteller—David Macaulay (The Way Things Work) and meet the brilliant designers who dared to extend roads and railways with ingenious but sometimes flawed designs. From the Golden Gate Bridge to some of the world's groundbreaking spans, you'll explore dozens of monumental engineering feats through historic film footage, fascinating photographs, illustrations and dramatic recreations.

- Discover why the Brooklyn Bridge's hard-working and humorless chief engineer never lived to see the completion of his masterpiece

- Tower above the clouds on top of the Golden Gate Bridge and discover its controversial history, and see how its formidable suspension design handles brutal winds, tides, traffic, and earthquakes

- Visit Scotland's Firth of Forth Railway Bridge and learn how a deadly tragedy inspired the creation of this incredibly strong (and expensive) cantilevered steel design

- Bonus activity! Build your own mini-bridge using only straws, straight pins, masking tape, scissors, and a baseball

Includes bonus hands-on building activity designed for kids.

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