Thursday, April 26, 2012

To the Arctic



Today I'd like to introduce you to Sunny Stella, she will be sharing with us her adventures in San Diego. She is an educator who shares her love for nature, art and literature with her two sons by planning fun outings where they can expand their learning tools and perspectives.

Some of their favorite places to go are museums, tide pools and the zoo! She enjoys traveling and finding new places to explore and reminds herself everyday that her kids are her best teachers!

And today she shares with us all about the new IMAX film at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center: 








To the Arctic, a new IMAX film about arctic animals and global warming, opened at the Reuben H. Fleet Theatre on April 20th. My 7 year old son and I had a wonderful time watching the film, which begins with a dramatic shot of a polar ice shelf and the spectacular waterfalls that, ironically, are the consequence of warming climate change. 







It depicts the way in which global warming affects the lives of mothers and their young as climate changes change their habitat. My son’s favorite part of the movie was when the narrator, Meryl Streep, made the point that polar bear mothers are willing to die for their young, just as a fleeing mother bear turned to ward off a male aggressor bear seeking to eat her cubs.





This is excellently juxtaposed with the idea that the bears, caribou, and other arctic animals affected, are least able to control that which threatens their young most—the loss of ice, which damages their feeding and birthing grounds. The film has wonderful photography, an easy to follow story line, and funny elements that made us laugh throughout. 




Alongside wonderful shots of the majestic polar bears playing, swimming, and exploring there is some harsh footing of blood on the ice and the polar bears’ mouths after a seal meal, which is something to consider when taking young children. However, its strength is the humanizing effect projected upon the bears, whose only habitat is the ice that is dwindling. As an Inuit man in the film put it--we can adapt…the bears cannot. 

This film is both educational and enjoyable and we highly recommend it!

To the Arctic is now playing at the Eugene Heikoff and Marilyn Jacobs Heikoff Dome Theater in the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park. For more information on show times click here to purchase tickets online click here 






No comments:

Post a Comment