Zula Patrol Strikes Out

In general., I love PBSkids.  They seem to be making a big push on science.  Zula Patrol is one of the shows that is all about science and I have been very impressed with it, usually.  But today, in "Hey Kids, Amazing Space Monkeys!", they disappointed me.

Centripetal Motion is a tricky subject and I find I have to do a lot of careful unpacking of what students think they already know happens when you travel in a circle.  In this episode, the Zula Patrol explains that a "centrifical [sic] force pushes stuff out" when you travel in a circle.  No no no!  Centrifugal forces push things out and they don't exist when you are going in a circle - a centripetal (center seeking) force pulls you in while your inertia wants to carry you out - along a tangent straight line!

Getting this wrong just hammers in the everyday  incorrect perception of what is happening.  Later in the same episode, they go down to the molecular level trying to explain with nice visuals what is happening when a solute is dissolving in a solute.  How hard would it have been to show an overhead shot of things spinning out of the circle along a tangent line and making the lesson about inertia rather than force?

It's like saying someone was "deported" from the country when they really were just leaving on a business trip.