It took us a while, but we managed to put together a list of every single EFT we've ever done. Now that we have, this list will give you the background information you need to decide if you're interested in watching them again. You're welcome to scroll to the bottom of the page and check out some of our early shows, or you can see the archived broadcasts all the way up to the most recent EFT.
African Americans have served in the military since colonial times, but it wasn't until 1866 that black men could enlist in the Regular Peacetime Army. Native Americans called these men "Buffalo Soldiers" because their hair resembled the matted cushion that is between the horns of the buffalo.
These men were stationed at a number of frontier posts. They escorted mail and stagecoaches, built roads and telegraph lines, and engaged in battle with Apaches, Comanches, and other Indian
groups.
The Buffalo Soldiers, like their white counterparts, endured harsh living conditions, difficult duty, low pay and prejudice as soldiers. They were not only subjected to civilian prejudice because they were soldiers, but they were also subjected to racial prejudice because of the color of their skin. Yet the men who served in the black regiments gained a reputation for dedication and bravery.
After the Indian Wars ended in the 1890s the black regiments continued to serve, participating in the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, The Mexican Expedition, World War I, World War II, and the Korean Police Action. Some African-American soldiers served as the first park rangers at Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park and General Grant (Kings Canyon) National Parks.
Many decades later, African-American regiments were integrated into the regular army. However, for some the term "Buffalo Soldier" became a proudly worn "badge of honor" which signified courage and patriotism.
This Electronic Field Trip, designed for grades 6-9, will originate from Fort Davis in Fort Davis, Texas. Fort Davis was a key post in the defense system of western Texas and southeastern New Mexico and was home to both black infantry and cavalry troops. Fort Davis, now a National Historic Site, is considered one of the best remaining examples of a post-Civil War military post in the American Southwest.
This EFT will take a look at the timeless song, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” written by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer a century ago. Today, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” is synonymous with a baseball game’s seventh-inning stretch, but the song was actually written to be performed on home pianos and the vaudeville stage.
Broadcast LIVE from Brooklyn, NY, this EFT will explore not only the song’s history, but also how the song has been performed in various musical genres (waltz, swing, jazz, and modern) for the past 100 years. How have these musical styles reflected the way people enjoyed entertainment and family life?
“Baseball’s Greatest Hit: 100 Years of Musical History” is designed for students in grades 3-8 and will offer standards-based curriculum in language arts, music, history, and technology. Music teachers will find the content of this EFT particularly applicable to their classrooms, but classroom teachers are also encouraged to participate. Baseball is a great springboard to teach many other subjects!
In celebration of Earth Day and National Park Week, the EFT team will be traveling to Everglades National Park in Florida for a special live Electronic Field Trip. This broadcast will look at native vs. invasive species, plant health and habitat restoration, and stewardship of our national parks. Students will also be challenged to “turn over a new leaf” and make a difference in their own communities.
Earth Day is especially significant in the Everglades, where exotic (introduced, not native) species threaten to displace native plants and animals. Other effects of human interaction, such as pollution, will also be discussed. The message will not be negative, however. Students will be encouraged to think about positive ways that they can affect the environment, including planting native plant species, as they are doing in the Everglades. Kids will receive lots of great ideas for taking care of the earth, no matter where they live.
This Electronic Field Trip is being sponsored by Ball State University, Macy’s, and the National Park Foundation.
The Smithsonian Kite Festival is a spectacular event that is traditionally part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Kite flyers attend from the U.S. and all over the world, filling the skies around the Washington Monument with color and beauty. Classroom students will be witnesses to the pageantry as they create their own kites, learning about math and science concepts along the way. A particular emphasis will be on the power of wind and weather. This EFT is specifically geared toward younger students, suitable for grades K-5.
Every fall, gray whales migrate from cold nothern seas near Alaska all the way south to warmer waters off the shores of Mexico. This 6,000-mile journey is the longest migration of any mammal, and it provides a spectacular scene for visitors. In this EFT, we'll also get up close and personal with these giant mammals who range from 40-50 feet long and can weigh up to 73,000 pounds. We will learn about migratory patterns, life cycles, dangers faced by gray whales, ecosystems, research, and how we can protect these majestic mammals.
The first day of school is always filled with great anticipation. You're enrolled in what some architects have called the most beautiful high school in America. As you make your way toward Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, you become aware of an angry mob that has gathered across the street from the high school. In fact, the governor has called out the National Guard to maintain order, but every time you attempt to enter the school the guardsmen block your way. This is the scene that greeted "the Little Rock Nine," as they were called by the media, in September 1957.
Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, was the first important test for the implementation of the U.S. Supreme Court's historic Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision of May 17, 1954. The Little Rock controversy was the first test of the national resolve to enforce equality in public school education in the face of massive Southern defiance during the period following the Brown decision.
Many individuals and organizations in and around the city took up the cause for civil rights, such as Mrs. Daisy Bates, who helped the students gain access to the high school. On May 27, 1958, Ernest Green (one of the "Little Rock nine") became the first African-American to graduate from Central High School.
Central High School National Historic Site commemorates the events that surrounded the crisis of 1957. It has been 50 years since the desegregation of Central High School. Join the rangers and other special guests of this national historic site to examine the issues and compelling stories that have evolved from the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School.
Few landscapes in the world are as striking and memorable as Grand Teton National Park in northwestern Wyoming. The mountains, valleys, lakes, river and skies are home to an amazing variety of animal communities. In this EFT, we will focus on the Grand Teton's intact temperate ecosystems and the animals that inhabit them, including wolves, bears, buffalo, antelope, and many others. Come along as we explore this majestic national park and study its amazing inhabitants.
Native people have lived on the lands and waterways along the North Pacific Coast for more than 10,000 years. Their stories and traditions link them to the natural world in which they live. Through songs, dances, and ceremonies, the Native people of the North Pacific Coast honor their past and celebrate their present.
Start your visit at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. where you will hear stories of eleven different Native communities from the North Pacific Coast. See how they present their own stories and give voice to their own world views through the museum’s collection.
The next stop on The EFT Express will be on the brickyard of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. At this stop you will explore Sir Isaac Newton’s First Law of Motion that states an object usually stays in motion with the same speed unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
Imagine being forcibly relocated from your home, your school or your family to a bleak prison surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards. This was not a nightmare from Nazi Germany but an American injustice endured by nearly 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry living in the United States following the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Thousands of innocent Japanese Americans were forced into isolated internment camps because of racial prejudice and wartime hysteria. Remarkably, they created courageous communities where patriotism prospered, loyalty to the U.S. did not falter, and they played baseball to sustain their pride and morale.
Awaiting you discovery is the fascinating world of active volcanism, biological diversity, and a legacy of Hawaiian culture at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. Here, your students will get to see lava up close and learn of it's impact and eruption into the sky!
Learn about our nation's firsts, as we make our first stop aboard the EFT Express in historical Philadelphia! Discover the sights 'The City of Brotherly Love' has to offer as we visit Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and many more prominent landmarks where pivotal events took place in the assembly of the good ol' U.S.A.!
What good are caves? In a practical sense, they are nature’s plumbing system and homes to many animals. For people with various needs, values and levels of curiosity, caves provide places for adventure, shelter, and cutting-edge research. Discoveries made in caves offer us a glimpse into the past and the future and continue to lead us into future exploration. The National Park Service protects 81 sites that contain over a thousand limestone caves and lava tubes.
When Dr. Jess Parker, head of SERC’s Forest Ecology Lab, walks through a forest, he looks up. The forest canopy is a microclimate of its own, one that absorbs sunlight and rain, removes particles like dust and pollen, and even affects the pH of rainwater as it makes its way down to the forest floor. The forest ceiling houses the machinery of photosynthesis, controls the growth of the entire forest, and provides habitat for many organisms.
The World Year of Physics, Space Center Houston, and NASA have teamed up to bring the weightless world to the classroom. Fly inside NASA's vomit comet, the C-9, a plane that does a roller coaster ride in the sky. See how the astronauts train and conduct experiments during this wild ride. Take an inside peek at weightless research, a journey granted to only a select few! Learn about and explore the C-9 plane itself as we study it from the inside, miles above the earth and live from its hanger at Johnson Space Center, as well.
The fine art of sports is portrayed in broad brush strokes across the canvas of American culture. From advertising to motion pictures and literature to the lyrics of a Top 40 song, ours is a nation endowed by an uncommon creativity found on the field of play. Through the paintings and sculptures of America’s best-known talents – such as Warhol, Rockwell and Neiman – our social history comes alive in a colorful palette of fastballs, fashion and folk art.
Every day, thousands of cargo ships around the world are busy loading and unloading their cargo. In addition to their intended cargo, however, these enormous vessels also ship other, unintended cargo. Hidden in the ships' ballast water - water used to stabilize the ships when not carrying a load - and stuck to the ships' hulls, millions of tiny plants and animals are also making their way around the world. These non-native organisms are released with ballast water into a new port during loading and unloading of cargo or are scraped off the hull. Though not all survive the big trip, some do, and even adapt well to the environment. Some do so well that they out-compete local species, and others introduce diseases that quickly spread through the ecosystem.
Take a front row seat on the wooden bleachers of a windsweptfield where baseball provides a virtual view of our country's character. Journey back in time to discover a young land as its enterprising soul comes of age in the villages and towns of 19th century America. follow the exploration of a western frontier after an anguishing Civil War to see how natives and naturalized citizens forge a familiar pastime while learning each other's customs and cultures.
Families everywhere collect and pass on stories to preserve their traditions. For many Native American communities, these stories represent a unique perspective on history and culture.
During the electronic field trip, students visit the National Museum of the American Indian - where stories are brought to life through dances, music, baskets, weavings, and other objects of everyday use.
During this electronic field trip, experienced museum educators will use the artifacts and stories in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's permanent exhibition, The Holocaust, to help students explore the Nazi rise to power and how countless individuals, traditionally relied upon to uphold the public good, became the active participants in civil rights violations and mass murder. Through the lens of history, students will then be asked to explore the consequences of their own daily decision making, both on their immediate environment and the world at large.
What an exciting time we live in! Just as one President inspired a generation to dream about going to the moon, so has President Bush called for a new generation to take the next step. Imagine what your students will see in their lifetimes - mans return to the moon, more exciting rovers to Mars and beyond, and the first human to set foot on another planet! Inspire the next generation of explorers by taking an out-of-this-world look at planetary exploration. Enliven you students with information about exploration vehicles from experts at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Grand Canyon is considered the finest example of arid-land erosion in the world; however, it is more than that. A significant portion of Earth's history is revealed within the exposed rock layers of the canyon, five of the seven life zones in North America are represented within the park and it has been home to humans for nearly 10,000 years. Come explore some of the 1,217,403 acres of Grand Canyon National Park - hike into the canyon with Park Rangers, investigate fossils of animals that lived 270 million years ago, learn about the diversity of plants and animals that inhabit this semi-arid environment and explore the ruins of ancient inhabitants.
Grand Canyon is considered the finest example of arid-land erosion in the world; however, it is more than that. A significant portion of Earth's history is revealed within the exposed rock layers of the canyon, five of the seven life zones in North America are represented within the park and it has been home to humans for nearly 10,000 years. Come explore some of the 1,217,403 acres of Grand Canyon National Park - hike into the canyon with Park Rangers, investigate fossils of animals that lived 270 million years ago, learn about the diversity of plants and animals that inhabit this semi-arid environment and explore the ruins of ancient inhabitants.
This electronic field trip is a 6:30pm family broadcast chronicling stories from the Grand Canyon.
For two days, the Nation's Capitol will be turned into one of the largest classrooms in the country. Join Members of Congress, lobbyists, government officials, and your fellow students as we explore a national issue, discover the legislative process, and maneuver the forces that shape national policy.
For two days, the Nation's Capitol will be turned into one of the largest classrooms in the country. Join Members of Congress, lobbyists, government officials, and your fellow students as we explore a national issue, discover the legislative process, and maneuver the forces that shape national policy.
Join us on a trip through time as we continue the celebration of the first hundred years of flight with a visit to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's newest facility, the Steven F. Uvdar-Hazy Center.
Have you ever wondered about those raised red, cotton stitches on a baseball? Sure, they hold the cowhide cover together, but did you know they also teach an interesting lesson in aerodynamics? What goes up must come down; that's why velocity, air temperature, gravity, and altitude are all fascinating factors in a batter's ability to launch a longball. Catching up to a pitch hurled at 100 miles per hour and sending it into orbit is a surprisingly scientific feat. Join us in Jupiter, Florida, where spring training 2004 becomes both classroom and clinic to explore physics and nature through our National Pastime.
Join the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum for an anniversary like no other. Celebrate the occasion by visiting the Museum's new exhibition: The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age.
Join Smithsonian scientists and explore coastal ecosystems in Central America, along the coast of Belize. Here thousands of small islands, called cays (pronounced keys) lie in the lagoon between the mainland and barrier reef. Mangrove forests dominate this coastal zone, along with sea grass beds and coral reefs. Discover how these three ecosystems are inextricably linked, and how the distribution of mangroves parallels the distrubution of coral reefs worldwide.
Join Smithsonian scientists and explore coastal ecosystems in Central America, along the coast of Belize. Here thousands of small islands, called cays (pronounced keys) lie in the lagoon between the mainland and barrier reef. Mangrove forests dominate this coastal zone, along with sea grass beds and coral reefs. Discover how these three ecosystems are inextricably linked, and how the distribution of mangroves parallels the distrubution of coral reefs worldwide.
Many Americans are surprised to learn that women once played professional baseball in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) from 1943-1954. Founded by Chicago Cubs owner Phil Wrigley in order to entertain Americans - and keep ballparks full - during World War II, the league provided unprecedented opportunity for young women to play professional baseball, see the country, and aspire to careers beyond the traditional roles of teacher, secretary, nurse, librarian, or housewife.
Join Space Center Houston and NASA as we experience the underwater adventures of training for space walks, also known as Extravehicular Activities or EVAs. During this electronic field trip, students will have the opportunity to meet the astronauts and other men and women behind the scenes at NASA who make these very dangerous and important missions a reality.
Explore where the salt water from the ocean and the fresh water from the rivers meet and mix. This unique occurrence produces a semi enclosed body of brackish water known as an estuary, and the Chesapeake Bay is the nation's largest and most productive. Join Smithsonian scientists and educators as the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) as they investigate the physical and biological environment of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystems, focusion specifically on the Rhode River, a subestuary of the Bay south of Annapolis, MD.
Untold Stories
Baseball and the Multicultural Experience
BROADCAST DATE: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2002
Many students are familiar with the feats of Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Mickey Mantle, but what about the accomplishments of baseball stars such as Minnie Minoso, Sam Jethroe, and Masanori Murakami? Their courage as Latino, African-American, and Asian athletes helped make baseball one of the first great melting potsin professional sports. As a result, diversity and athleticism remain time-tested teammates on the field of excellence.
Join the staff at the world famous Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City to experience the works of renowned African-American artist Jacob Lawrence. For more than 65 years, Jacob Lawrence was both an impassioned observer and storyteller who explored the diverse aspects of the African-American experience.
Join us as we take a trip to the "Home in Space" - The International Space Station (ISS). During this electronic field trip, students wilil meet engineers, scientists, and astronauts who have played an important role in the development and continuing research on the ISS.
If you let your imagination wander back to a moment in time 67 million years ago, you can almost hear the echoing roar of an ancient beast. The 7-ton, 42 foot-long, Tyrannosaurus rex was ruler of the domain. This electronic field trip, from the Field Museum in Chicago, IL., is a six hour EFT that features the unveiling of SUE.
Africa's dynamic culture has always been fuled by the movement of people, things, and ideas. Africans use cultural traditions as a starting point for new innovations. In friendship, conversation, daily life, and university classrooms, African artists learn traditional techniques and develop the latest ideas.
From the emergence of human life through the liberation of South Africa, Africans have tackled life's challenges as they have faced failure and success, tragedy and triumph. Since the 19th century, Africans around the world have seen themselves as united by a common struggle against oppression and injustice. While these struggles have taken different forms in different times and places, many Africans and people of African descent see them as an essential part of their history.
As airplanes fly, they push air out of the way and force it into taking different paths. That pushed air must go somewhere, so it "squeezes' between the wings and surrounding air. Explore the concepts of Air, Bernoulli, Wings and airplane design. Students will be taken through the "How Things Fly" exhibit at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
Presidential campaigns are different now. People no longer come to the candidate's home. Instead, the candidate comes to the homes of the people; his picture and message are beamed into millions of bedrooms and kitchens. The notepad and pencil are gone, replaced by computers and phone lines, video cameras, and satellites. The most important thing has not changed. This year, as every four years from the beginning of the republic, cadnidate and press will be joined - often suspiciously, sometimes in hostility - but always from the necessity as essential partners in the quadrennial dance of democracy.
These fascinating reptiles have been around since the age of dinosaurs, but threats from humans endanger their continued existence. Their ability to migrate thousands of miles and need to nest on land's edge pose interesting dilemmas for the scientists trying to save them. They also present unique opportunites to study their natural behavior. Follow along with scientists as they track the migration of sea turtles and try to protect them throughout their long-distance journey.
Written in Israel between the years of 250 BCE and 68 CE, the first Dead Sea Scroll fragments were discovered in 1947 by a Bedouin shepherd looking for his lost sheep in a cave. This electronic field trip, from the Field Museum in Chicago, IL, will examine the scrolls alongside eighty artifacts from the Qumran.
What is it like to discover, prepare, and exhibit a dinosaur? Follow fossil hunter Sue Hendrickson as she shares the fascinating story of her discovery-Sue, the largest, most complete T-rex ever found. Students will also go behind-the-scenes at the Field Museum in Chicago, IL to see the scientific process of fossil preparation.
Discover a whole new world beneath your feet and under the prairie. Based on the exhibit, “Underground Adventure” from the Field Museum in Chicago, IL, this program allows students to watch museum staff shrink to a half-inch tall and walk through a soil environment and stand face-to-face with the organisms that live there.
Take a trip out west to the Jurassic Morrison Formation with paleontologist Peter Laraba. This expedition will start on day one with a dinosaur dig at a working quarry in Colorado. Students will explore the excavation process and then day two head to famous Dinosaur National Monument in Utah to uncover the rich dinosaur treasures that lie along the banks of a large river system.
Take a trip out west to the Jurassic Morrison Formation with paleontologist Peter Laraba. This expedition will start on day one with a dinosaur dig at a working quarry in Colorado. Students will explore the excavation process and then day two head to famous Dinosaur National Monument in Utah to uncover the rich dinosaur treasures that lie along the banks of a large river system.
From the Field Museum in Chicago, IL, this electronic field trip takes you through five million years of human evolution so you can picture our beginnings and imagine our future. During the program you will experience seven fossil stations that highlight a different human ancestor at a particular moment in time.
Smithsonian scientists reveal how rocks, volcanoes, and earthquakes tell us about plate tectonics, the fundamental geological process that runs the planet Earth.
Explore the living and nonliving components of marine ecosystems. Scientists compare and contrast two unique marine ecosystems - a tropical coral reef and a temperate rocky coast.
A cosmic story unfolds in the Moon, Meteorites, and Solar System Gallery as Smithsonian scientists explain how space "artifacts" help us understand the origin and shape of the Earth, moon, and solar system.
Scientists unravel the mysteries and misconceptions surrounding precious gemstones. Learn about the chemistry, physics, and geology of gems and crystals. Recorded in the Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
Find out how news flows, grows, and explodes - those who control news, those who would free it, and those who would use it to mislead or enlighten. Recorded at the Newseum in Arlington, Virginia.
Explore the living and nonliving components of marine ecosystems. Scientists compare and contrast two unique marine ecosystems - a tropical coral reef and a temperate rocky coast.
A cosmic story unfolds in the Moon, Meteorites, and Solar System Gallery as Smithsonian scientists explain how space "artifacts" help us understand the origin and shape of the Earth, moon, and solar system.
Scientists unravel the mysteries and misconceptions surrounding precious gemstones. Learn about the chemistry, physics, and geology of gems and crystals. Recorded in the Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
Get ready to "push the envelope" with this program on the historical and social significance of many flying records. Follow Charles Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic. Join Chuck Yeager's battle with the sound barrier and explore more modern flight challenges.
Have you ever dreamed about being a dinosaur hunter, traveling to exotic locations, and discovering the remains of huge beasts that lived millions of years ago? Broadcast from ‘Dinosaurland” in Grand Junction, CO, this electronic field trip takes you to the dinosaur-rich quarry in west central Colorado.
The deadly triceratops, the sleek pterodactyl, and the dreaded tyrannosaurus rex. For decades, people have been fascinated with dinosaurs-and now you can take a behind-the-scenes look at one of the world’s greatest fossil collections! Students will explore the dinosaur laboratories at the Field Museum, Chicago, IL during this electronic field trip.
Students will be taken through 20 years of Indiana history by participating in “town board meetings” in Heartland, Indiana-a fictional community representing a compilation and composition of various real Hoosier cities of populations between 25-45,000.
Explore the living and nonliving components of marine ecosystems. Scientists compare and contrast two unique marine ecosystems - a tropical coral reef and a temperate rocky coast. Recorded at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
Students will be transported through the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras and look at the vastness of time spanning these three eras. From the Field Museum in Chicago, IL, this electronic field trip will also focus on the “Life Over Time” exhibit.
This electronic field trip, from the Walsworth Publishing Plant in Marceline, MO, will look at how a publishing house takes an idea and turns it into a printed publication. Students will learn about the process, the technology, and the careers involved in a printing facility.
The Wright brothers made their historic flight on the coast of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903. In the years since then, people have gained much more "Insight to Flight," leading to modern aviation. The Academy of Model Aeronautics brings you this program to cover the principles such as lift, thrust, and drag.
Urban historian Lewis Mumford once stated that cities were “symbols of the possible.” As Urban areas rose, collapsed, and were reborn, exciting prospects for living, work, and culture unfolded. This electronic field trip, from the Jane Addams’ Hull-House Museum in Chicago, IL, focuses on the forces that influence the process of urbanization.
Ever wonder how a jet airplane gets off the ground? Or how gliders can stay aloft for hours, defying gravity? Join the Academy of Model Aeronautics to find out the answer to "Why Does it Fly?" This program for grades 3 through 8 will explore the relationships between model- and full-scale flight.
Solve the mystery of the dinosaur bone found at a dig site during this electronic field trip from the Chicago Field Museum. Students will become time spies to help solve the mystery of the bone and take a journey through the “Life Over Time” exhibit.
