Kids can be in the news, too! Read these articles and interviews
that the media has published about Molly and the Aqua Kids.
You can do your own news research, too, and even be an Aqua Kids
Club Member in the News! Check out these cool activities you can do
to learn about the environment in the news.
1. Collect news articles
about environmental issues from magazines, newspapers and on-line
sources (with permission from your parent or teacher.) What
environmental issue are you most interested in? How many articles
can you find that talk about it?
Cut or print out your articles
and insert them into plastic sleeves, and place them in a notebook.
Label each one with the date of the article and the name of the
publication. Take a highlighter marker in your favorite color and
highlight the facts that are most interesting to you. Watch for news
stories on TV about your issue, and write down the main facts and
ideas from the stories. Include the name of the TV station and the
date the story aired on TV. Add those stories to your notebook.
Decorate the outside of your notebook in any way you like.
Questions to think about:
▪
Can you see how the opinions and information about your issue have
changed over time?
▪ Do
different articles or TV stories say different things about the
same issue? Why do you think that happens?
OPTION: Do a report for a school project on the
information you have found in your research.
OPTION: Be a reporter yourself! Write your own news
article in “news
journalist” style about any environmental issue that interests
you. Use it for a school project.
2. With your parents permission, start a blog page on-line
with your friends at school, to exchange the information you have
found about the oceans and the environment. What do each of you
think about that information?
OPTION: Ask your teacher if your class can start a
discussion group about an environmental issue and what they‘ve read
about it in the news. Each person can bring one fact or question
from their research on that issue to the discussion group. Remember
to use good manners when speaking about your opinions, and listen
quietly and carefully to others as they speak. Give each class
member 2 minutes to speak their views, and have someone keep time.
Ask your teacher to provide the issue to discuss, OR take turns in
your class in providing the issue to talk about.
Question to think about:
▪ Did your views about your issue change after participating in
the discussion group? Did you learn any new facts or ideas? What
did you learn? Record the new things you learned in your research
notebook.
3. Be an Aqua Kids Club Member in the News! Ask your local
newspaper or TV station to do a story on your class or club being “Eco-Heroes”
in your hometown. Does your group participate in stream cleanups?
Does your whole family help clear trash from your neighborhood as
you walk your dogs? Do you and your friends volunteer at your local
aquarium or zoo, or help take care of
the animals at the animal shelter in your neighborhood? Then you
deserve some recognition for being an
Eco-Hero, and you can be an Aqua Kids Club Member in the News!
If the newspaper or TV station in your area does a story on you and
your group, send it to us and we’ll send you a special
Eco-Hero prize. We’ll even post your
story on our website or show it on the air during one of our Aqua
Kids shows!
For printed news stories:
Send the complete article (or the entire newspaper page), and a
picture of your group or class if the article has no photo. Please
include a sheet of paper listing your first name, age and state;
your teacher or group leader’s name and the type of class or group;
the name of the newspaper; and the exact date when the article was
published. (Example - Brandy, 11 yrs. old from Baltimore, Maryland,
with Mr. Smith’s 6th grade Science Class, Baltimore Sunpapers, March
23, 2008.)
For TV news stories:
Record the complete story, along with the
news
anchorperson’s introduction of your story, from your TV when it
airs, and send us the tape. We can accept DVD and Mini-DV formats. Please include a sheet of paper listing your first name,
age and state; your teacher or group leader’s name and the type of
class or group; the name of the TV station; and the exact date when
the story aired. (Example - Brandy, 11 yrs. old from Baltimore,
Maryland, with Mr. Smith’s 6th grade Science Class, WJZ-TV Channel
13, March 23, 2008.)
NOTE:
Videos, articles and photos cannot be returned, so be sure
to keep a copy for yourself and for your class or family.
Send your video or
article and photo with your information to Aqua Kids in the
News, c/o Adventure Productions, 5910 York Rd., Lower Level, Baltimore, MD 21212.
4. Stage your very own Environmental Reporter newscast!
Get a group of friends together and decide on an environmental issue
to report on, and let each person do part of the job. Choose one
person to be the news anchorperson, one to research the story, one
to write it, and one to film your newscast with a camcorder. Be sure
to get an adult’s permission before using their camera equipment!
OPTION: Submit your environmental newscast for a school
project.
OPTION: Get your teacher and your entire class involved!
Enlarge your newscast project so everyone in your class can
participate. Send your finished newscast to your local TV station
and ask them to put it on the air. Also send a copy of it to the
environmental organization that works with the issue you have chosen
to talk about.
And don’t forget to send it to us, too! We may air it on a future
episode of Aqua Kids. Make sure to follow the guidelines described
above for sending TV news stories along with all your important
information.
Question to think about:
▪ Do you think people pay more attention to environmental
issues when they appear on TV? Why or why not?
Aqua Kids gearing
up for 7th season Saturday September 10, 2011 - Originally posted
here
on WDBJ7.com
It's a new season and a new look for the Emmy- and
Telly-award winning program Aqua Kids. The environmental and
educational program focuses on protecting and preserving the marine
and aqauatic environment.
The Aqua Kids visit different aquatic habitats and
meet scientists who talk about the environment and the animals in
which live there.
Clark DeHart is from Southwest Virginia who will
be featured on season 7 of the show. He's majoring in Wildlife
Conservation at Virginia Tech.
Clark says his favorite part of the new season so
far was working with the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Florida
helping to rescue and rehabilitate sea turtles.
You can catch the 7th season of Aqua Kids every
Sunday morning at 7:00 a.m. on MY19.
(FOX Providence) - Aqua Kids is a labor of love
for creator and executive producer George A. Stover III.
Stover, now in his fourth decade in the TV
business, created a pilot for the show at a time when nobody was
interested in buying it.
"We had kids learning about sharks when we shot
the pilot in the Bahamas," Stover said. "It was right after the big
shark attacks and nobody would touch us."
But years later, a couple of networks would come
calling, asking to buy a show that only had that one episode in its
repertoire. Stover rushed the show back into production, and Aqua
Kids was off and running.
Now, as Aqua Kids enters its seventh season this
fall, the show has become a success, seen all over the country and
even overseas. Stover and company have won two Emmys and a pile of
Telly Awards for children's programming.
The Rhode Show caught up with the Aqua Kids on a
recent trip to New England.
Heading out on a boat to learn about seals in
Block Island and Long Island sounds, the cast asked questions both
on and off camera of Lauren Rader, Chief Instructor with Project
Oceanology.
Stover makes a point of saying that it really is
the scientists that come on Aqua Kids as guests that make the show
special.
"The one thread that goes throughout is just how
much the science folks really care," Stover said. "That's the key.
They truly believe in what they're doing, and they're truly trying
to save the planet.
For the cast, the excitement lies in getting up
close and personal with the animals whether it's New England's seals
or manatees in Florida.
"We got to go snorkeling with manatees," Aqua Kid
Isabelle Boehling said. "It was the coolest thing. You get down
there, and they are just so cuddly, like puppies."
And Stover thinks that the excitement he and his
cast share about the experiences they have shooting the show,
translates to excitement for the viewers.
"Our main goal is to get kids interested in saving
the marine and aquatic environment because it's worthwhile to save,"
he said smiling.
You can watch Aqua Kids every Saturday morning at
9 a.m. on FOX Providence.
Aqua Kids at the Tennessee Aquarium
August
04, 2010 - Aqua Kids
at the Tennessee Aquarium
We were honored to have the Aqua Kids cast and crew at the Tennessee Aquarium recently. The Emmy-Award winning television program showcases organizations that are inspiring tomorrow's environmental stewards. The fun, fact-filled shows encourage young people to take an active role protecting and preserving aquatic environments and animals.
While in Chattanooga, the Aqua Kids explored both Aquarium buildings, visited the Animal Care Facility, learned about TNACI's conservation efforts and cruised the Tennessee River aboard the River Gorge Explorer.
Episodes from the new season, including the Tennessee Aquarium, will begin airing nationwide in September.
Friday June 4, 2010 - Originally posted
here By
Kristin Pitts, staff writer, Daily Advance
CURRITUCK — When Andrew Treadway sent an e-mail to
the host of an internationally syndicated television show, he
thought the most he’d get back was a belated, and probably canned
response.
Instead, he not only got answers to his questions, he received an
invitation to be a part of an episode of “Aqua Kids,” an educational
program designed to boost youngsters’ interest in marine and aquatic
environments.
Looking back, Treadway, 15, remembers reading the e-mail from “Aqua
Kids” host Molly McKinney over and over, wondering if it was real.
“I was shocked at first,” Treadway said.
But that shock soon turned into nervous excitement as he prepared
for his first experience in front of a television camera.
Last Thursday, Treadway visited the Virginia Living Museum in
Newport News, Va., where he fed nurse sharks, snakes, and various
other creatures in front of a television crew.
It was an opportunity of a lifetime for the J.P. Knapp Early College
High School student, who has had an interest in marine biology for a
while. Although he’s planning to go into either law enforcement or
the military after school, Treadway also has interests in biology,
scuba diving and animals.
So when McKinney visited Treadway’s science class a while back, her
career piqued the Early College student’s interests. That interest
prompted him to write her an e-mail, which not too much later landed
him on the set of “Aqua Kids”— holding a boa constrictor.
McKinney said that Treadway was a standout student during her
presentation at J.P. Knapp.
“He asked really excellent questions and was clearly interested in
environmental studies,” she said.
Later, when McKinney and her crew began preparing to film for the
show’s fall season, she had Treadway in mind.
“I had an opening, and Andrew was the person who really stood out
from this area and had a clear-cut interest in environmental
studies,” McKinney said.
Prior to the show, Treadway hadn’t had much exposure to unusual
animals. He’d always had a few household pets, and seen a few common
snakes in the backyard. But on the show, Treadway interacted with
pelicans, screech owls and a number of other animals.
Holding the boa constrictor proved to be Treadway’s favorite and
most nerve-wracking part of the day.
“When you held the snake, the muscles were just amazing,” he said.
“The muscles just wrapped around you and you could feel the strength
of the animal.”
According to the show’s Web site, “Aqua Kids” is broadcast in the
Hampton Roads area on the Cox Communications cable system on
Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. and on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. and
4 p.m.
The episode featuring Treadway will air sometime this fall.
Treadway admits he’s a little nervous to see himself on television.
But just like he was when he first set foot on the set, his
excitement is outweighing his nerves.
Immersed in Education:
The Aqua Kids focus on protecting aquatic environments
By Katie Warchut
Staff
Writer
The Groten
Times
June 10,
2009
The group gathered on Project Oceanology’s EnviroLab boat are actors
in a television show, but more importantly, they’re kids with a
natural curiosity about marine life.
They asked how to tell a male from a female lobster, how females
carry the eggs, and why lobsters from the ocean aren’t so red—all
without following a script.
“If you have questions on camera, kids at home probably have the
same questions,” explained host and associate producer Molly
McKinney.
Known as the Aqua Kids, the group is featured in a television show
by the same name, an educational series that airs locally on
Saturday mornings.
In the Groton episode, Project O Director Thaxter Tewksbury
explained that one can determine the sex of a lobster by the first
pair of “swimmerettes” on its underside: females’ are soft and
feathery and males’ are hard and bony.
The group hauled lobster traps up from the boat off the coast of
Avery Point. They contained a female carrying eggs, attached to her
swimmerettes. Tewskbury said lobsters are only red after they’re
cooked, when proteins have been destroyed by the heat.
UConn-Avery Point professor David Avery also taught them about
zooplankton.
Three cameramen and a sound technician recorded the lesson,
interrupting periodically.
“I want somebody else to answer that,” said George A. Stover III,
the show’s creator and producer, giving the other kids—James,
Isabelle, Jillian, and Katie—a chance to have a line.
They have to cut when someone mentions Red Lobster— “We can’t say
that,” Stover warns—and sometimes do a couple takes.
The group later filmed segments on horseshoe crabs and light in the
ocean.
The idea for the show started in the 1990s, when Stover said he
decided, “If we’re going to save the environment, we have to do it
through children.”
The pilot, however, didn’t take off, nor did another attempt in
2000.
Five years later, interest suddenly surfaced, and Stover had to make
seven episodes in eight days. With the help of a syndicator, the
show can now be seen in most states.
Stover said he and his wife funded the show and spent a long time in
debt, but are now starting to make money.
“It’s growing by leaps and bounds,” he said.
McKinney was just 9 years old when she first auditioned and is still
with the show 13 years later, also serving as associate producer.
They film 26 episodes each year in various locations, with a varying
cast of kids. They try to do the majority of their work during the
summer so kids don’t have to miss much school. They always try to
get one local kid to be an Aqua Kid.
“I feel most kids don’t know what’s in their own backyard,” Stover
said.
In Groton, that kid was Katie Mulligan of Ivoryton, who had written
an essay about the show. The local show was done in conjunction with
Connecticut Sea Grant, Project Oceanology, and the UConn Department
of Marine Sciences.
Kids who e-mail in their story about what they’re doing to preserve
and protect the waters and the wildlife that lives there can be
featured on the show.
McKinney also does presentations about the Aqua Kids and their
efforts at schools.
VIRGINIA BEACH
James Dorman, 14, leaned closer to the green pit viper sitting
behind the glass as the cameras rolled. Molly McKinney, 22, Jennifer
Fasano, 13, and Lauren Asosta, 14, kept their eyes focused on the
snake, too.
"Look at the eyeball," said George A. Stover III, director and
founder of the TV show "Aqua Kids." "That's terrific."
Cut.
The show's viper segment was finished.
On to the fat-tailed scorpion and, later, the Komodo dragon.
The cast and crew of "Aqua Kids" descended on the Virginia Aquarium
on April 21 to film segments for an episode to be aired nationwide
in the fall.
"Aqua Kids," a half-hour show in its fourth season, educates young
people about the importance of protecting marine environments and
the animals that live in them. Host McKinney, along with several
co-hosts, travels to various locations to film the show. They've
explored the degrading coral reefs in the Bahamas and invasive
species including sea grasses and algae with students at the
University of Connecticut.
The show featuring Virginia Aquarium will look at the planning,
construction and acclimation of a $25 million renovation project
"Restless Planet." It will be the first time the Emmy award-winning
show has centered on how an aquarium plans and builds habitats.
BUFFALO, NY (2008-04-22) The Buffalo Zoo's river otters are getting
their fifteen minutes of fame. Actually, about 24 minutes. The
national, children's environmental TV show, "Aqua Kids" filmed the
otters Monday for a future episode.
The show will feature the successful conservation of river otters in
Western New York. The zoo built its Otter Creek exhibit in 2004 to
highlight the importance of their recovery story. The exhibit
features the natural habitat of otters, complete with a stream and
waterfall. The otters were only too happy to dive right into action
for the cameras.
Molly McKinney is a SUNY Fredonia student and host of "Aqua Kids."
She says Buffalo's exhibit lets kids can see up close the importance
of conservation.
McKinney says it helps too that the otters are so cute and playful.
She says the experience lets kids have fun and feel connected with
their new furry friends. She says that's the goal of the show that's
geared toward children between the ages of seven and fourteen.
‘Aqua Kids’ highlights
Buffalo Zoo and Aquarium of Niagara Falls
April 22,
2008 -
Originally posted
here By Jay Rey NEWS STAFF REPORTER
TV show’s hostess is a senior at Fredonia State
Molly
McKinney, 20, hostess of the nationally syndicated television series
“Aqua Kids,” works on an episode Monday at the river otter exhibit
at the Buffalo Zoo. More Photos
Molly McKinney goes to class and studies just like any other
Fredonia State College student.
That is, when she’s not swimming with wild spotted dolphins in
Bimini.
Or keeping tabs on Caribbean reef sharks in the Bahamas.
Or releasing rehabilitated sea turtles back into the wild.
The senior at Fredonia is also hostess of “Aqua Kids,” a nationally
syndicated children’s program that educates young people about the
importance of protecting marine life and habitat.
"Aqua Kids", Children’s
TV Goes Exploring in the Everglades
Feb 8,
2008 - Originally posted
here by Jhuber (Subscribe)
Naples,
FL
With television’s February Sweeps Week approaching, Everglades
restoration at the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD)
will benefit from the attention as three TV episodes of Aqua Kids
air on Florida stations. Aqua Kids is a half-hour program showing
young people taking action across the United States to preserve
aquatic environments and wildlife. The Everglades episodes will
start airing after February 11, 2008. Camera crews and six students,
including two from North Naples Middle School, filmed the segments
last fall with assistance from SFWMD staff.
James Dorman of Webster
has played a featured role in an educational TV show called Aqua
Kids
Sat Oct
06, 2007 - Originally posted
here By Tori Uthe, staff writer, Webster Post
Webster,
NY
Instead of doing his homework on the weekends, James Dorman of
Webster is writing skits, asking questions, petting manatees and
making appearances across the country on television.
“I just have a couple cups of coffee to stay awake for my homework,”
said James.
The 12-year-old recently joined the cast of the nationally
syndicated television show Aqua Kids, devoted to highlighting ways
to protect marine life and habitats.
“My thought is that if we are going to save the oceans and marine
aquatic environments we have to reach the kids,” said George Stover,
creator and producer of the show.
The show which is now entering its third season might not be
available on television stations in the Rochester area, but has
expanded to nearly 80 percent of the country, and now is branching
out into other countries like Egypt, according to Stover.
Student
is host of syndicated children’s television program
Thursday, October 25,
2007 - Originally posted
here by SUNY Fredonia News Services
Molly
McKinney, a senior Television/Film Production major, hosts a
syndicated children’s television program. Here, she prepares to
gather documentary footage at Canadaway Creek near the SUNY Fredonia
campus.
Diving among sharks off the Caribbean coral reef -- at feeding
time, no less -- could easily be someone’s worst nightmare. But it’s
the ideal day job for Molly McKinney, a Television/Digital Film
Production major at SUNY Fredonia.
That was one of dozens of assignments that the Fredonia senior,
whose 125-pound frame is easily dwarfed by 300-pound sharks, has
completed in her dual roles as host and associate producer of “Aqua
Kids,” a nationally syndicated children’s television program.
The program, whose pilot episode won a pair of Emmy Awards,
teaches children, ages 8 to 12, about the diversity of marine life
and importance of preserving aquatic environments, Ms. McKinney
explained. Episodes are not taped in studios, but on assorted
locations ranging from tropical paradises to massive aquariums.
Molly
McKinney, 20, hostess of the nationally syndicated television series
“Aqua Kids,” works on an episode Monday at the river otter exhibit
at the Buffalo Zoo. More Photos
Naples,
FL
Webster,
NY 
Molly
McKinney, a senior Television/Film Production major, hosts a
syndicated children’s television program. Here, she prepares to
gather documentary footage at Canadaway Creek near the SUNY Fredonia
campus.
