3-2-1 Contact

  • Premiered: Jan 1980
  • Episodes: 225
  • Followers: 0
  • Ended
  • PBS
  • Unknown
  • Children Family

Seasons:

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Season 1
1x1
Noisy/Quiet: Production & Processing of Sound
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 14, 1980
A sixty-second tease introduces the cast and previews some of their scientific adventures. This is followed by a four-minute film showing the recording of the 3-2-1 Contact theme. (See .. show full overview
1x2
Noisy/Quiet: The Ear
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 15, 1980
Same 60-second tease as in first episode precedes an invasion of noises into Marc's world. Knowing that "noise annoys," Marc illustrates (with a decibel reader) that loud noises can .. show full overview
1x3
Noisy/Quiet: How People & Animals Use Sound
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 16, 1980
Lisa goes to Hawaii to see how dolphins use sonar. Another segment sees sonar of bats. Trini sees an ultrasound apparatus at work. The Bloodhound Gang finds a wrinkle in "The Case of Princess Tomorrow."
1x4
Noisy/Quiet: Music
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 17, 1980
Dizzy Gillespie shows off his jazz talents. Trini checks out the behind-the-scenes work at a Kiss concert. The Bloodhound Gang cracks "The Case of Princess Tomorrow."
1x5
Noisy/Quiet: Range of Vibration
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 18, 1980
Lisa, Marc, and Trini are given a puzzle. They hear a bell ring and, as instructed, put the bell in a closed jar and take out some of the air with a vacuum pump. Since they don't hear the ringing, they begin to wonder: Is the bell broken?
1x31
Hot/Cold: People's Temperatures
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 21, 1980
Trini has been standing in the freezing cold, threatening to become almost as sick as Marc. Lisa gives a demonstration on feeling hot and cold. But the biggest surprise comes when Lisa .. show full overview
1x32
Hot/Cold: Animal and Plant Adaptations
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 22, 1980
The desert and polar regions demonstrate how plants and animals react to extreme heat or cold. The Bloodhound Gang unlocks "The Case of the Secret Message."
1x33
Hot/Cold: How Hot or Cold Can It Get?
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 23, 1980
Marc and Trini relate temperature to each other as they make ice cream and candied apples respectively. Lisa demonstrates extreme cold temperatures with liquid nitrogen. A "volcano .. show full overview
1x34
Hot/Cold: Heat and Work
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 24, 1980
Lisa is bitter over her cold. As Marc and Trini try to warm her spirits, Lisa thinks back to her visits with the motorcyclist and the hot-air balloons. The Bloodhound Gang must work quickly to crack "The Case of The One-Ton Jewel."
1x35
Hot/Cold: Temperatures on Earth/In Space
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 25, 1980
A solar astronomer explains how the sun produces the seasons. He tells Marc that the sun is closer to Earth in winter than in summer, but the angle of sunlight is far .. show full overview
1x16
Fast/Slow: Speed Up, Slow Down
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 28, 1980
Trini and Lisa stage a surprise birthday party for Marc. It revolves around a tape recording which Marc must play at various speeds. Features Harry Blackstone's complex magic acts .. show full overview
1x17
Fast/Slow: Rhythms of Nature
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 29, 1980
Lisa gets some instructions on rhythms from a professional drummer and witnesses the wicked tides at the Bay of Fundy. Trini examines migratory birds. Marc learns about human .. show full overview
1x18
Fast/Slow: Lifetimes
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 30, 1980
Recycled from Episode 12: Lisa arrives at a hospital to see treatment for a premature baby. A make-up artist transforms Marc into an old man, explaining human aging along the way. In a .. show full overview
1x20
Fast/Slow: Time and Time Again
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 01, 1980
REHASHED FROM THE PREVIOUS FOUR EPISODES: Lisa checks out a professional motorcycle racer (filmed Oct. 1979) and witnesses the wicked tides at the Bay of Fundy. A make-up artist .. show full overview
1x26
Food/Fuel: Animal Food
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 04, 1980
Trini decides to bring a pet to the workshop, but she didn't count on a friend bringing a wolf. At the Bronx Zoo, Lisa goes on the rounds with a young veterinarian feeding baby .. show full overview
1x27
Food/Fuel: Human Food
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 05, 1980
Marc illustrates the truth about calories while baking a pizza. A group of school kids at Staten Island learn about nutrition. Lisa's cousin, a lumberjack, visits the workshop to .. show full overview
1x28
Food/Fuel: Growing and Processing Food
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 06, 1980
Lisa, Marc, and Trini have been invited to a canoe trek in Maine. They have difficulty at first trying to decide what food to bring. Marc learns about the growth of corn and pigs at .. show full overview
1x19
Fast/Slow: Speed and Racing
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 07, 1980
Marc and Lisa give Trini a psychological boost prior to Field Day. Lisa checks out a professional motorcycle racer (filmed Oct. 1979). Marc gets a lesson on tennis serves from Arthur .. show full overview
1x29
Food/Fuel: Fueling Machines
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 07, 1980
True fuel is discussed in this episode, first with the 1980 phenomenon "gasohol" and with real gasoline at a motorcycle race. The gasohol segment takes Lisa to a rural factory where .. show full overview
1x30
Food/Fuel: The Sun Makes Everything Go
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 08, 1980
RECYCLED FROM THE PREVIOUS FOUR EPISODES: Gasohol, Baker's Akers, baking bread. Another sequence believed to be in this episode is a race of fuel efficiency between a school bus and a .. show full overview
1x61
Crowded/Uncrowded: Human Crowding
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 11, 1980
The workshop welcomes a guest to discuss the human psyche of crowding. Film inserts: Building a skyscraper; the Gui people of Africa do a little minor socializing; New York City .. show full overview
1x62
Crowded/Uncrowded: Optimum Populations in Nature
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 12, 1980
A wildlife expert visits the workshop to extoll on the impact humans have had on animals such as the wolf. FILM INSERT: Kudzu takes over parts of the South. The elephant struggles for .. show full overview
1x63
Crowded/Uncrowded: Contrasts in Densities of Materials
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 13, 1980
Trini pilots around New York City in the Goodyear blimp. Lisa gets to ride a hot-air balloon. The Bloodhound Gang gets an eyesight-full in Part Two of "The Case of the Cackling Ghost." (Concludes in next episode.)
1x64
Crowded/Uncrowded: Down Among the Atoms (Liquids & Solids)
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 14, 1980
Marc adds too much food coloring to the frosting on a birthday cake for his sister, starting a discussion of molecular density in solids and liquids. The Bloodhound Gang solves "The Case of the Cackling Ghost."
1x65 Season finale
Crowded/Uncrowded: Human Survival/Controlling Densities
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 15, 1980
REHASHED FROM PREVIOUS FOUR EPISODES: Lisa rides a hot-air balloon. FILM INSERT: The elephant struggles for survival in Africa. ADDITIONAL: The black hole.
1x36
Light/Dark: The Sun
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 18, 1980
Marc wants to set up a model solar system. To simulate the sun, he and the others get the largest light bulb they can buy. Only after they blow a fuse do they learn (from a guest) that .. show full overview
1x37
Light/Dark: Adaptation of Plants/Animals
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 19, 1980
Lisa, Marc, and Trini all wonder what can be done to recover a plant that had been kept from windows. The Bloodhound Gang cracks "The Case of the Missing Bloodhound."
1x38
Light/Dark: Electromagnetic Spectrum
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 20, 1980
Trini follows the crew that sets up the lighting on a Kiss concert (recorded during their 1979 tour). At the workshop, Trini uses a prism to split white light into the color spectrum. .. show full overview
1x39
Light/Dark: The Eye
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 21, 1980
Everyone celebrates Trini's birthday with a piñata. Marc visits a visually-impaired boy navigating around his school and neighborhood. Trini discovers a boy whose vision was improved .. show full overview
1x40
Light/Dark: Light Sources
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 22, 1980
Marc proposes to burn a hole through a piece of cardboard using a magnifying glass and the sun. It doesn't harm the cardboard, but Lisa and Trini get the message. REHASHED FROM THE .. show full overview
1x56
Big/Small: Animal Sizes/Scaling
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 25, 1980
At the Bronx Zoo, Lisa goes on the rounds with a young veterinarian feeding baby animals. Marc visits Miami Seaquarium to see whales trained.Film insert: Leaf-cutter ants; flea .. show full overview
1x57
Big/Small: Animal Habitats
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 26, 1980
Everyone is perplexed when they find bugs living on just about everything. Trini examines a salt marsh. (Continues in Episode 59.) A guest biologist discusses water and food .. show full overview
1x58
Big/Small: Dinoaurs
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 27, 1980
Trini is convinced she has discovered a dinosaur bone. A visit to a American Museum of Natural History shows that she actually has the femur of a horse. Also at the museum, a young .. show full overview
1x59
Big/Small: Volume & Efficiency
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 28, 1980
At an aquarium, Lisa and Trini learn about volume. Marc and Lisa head out to see a supertanker. Trini stakes her case about oil spills. This includes an extension of Trini's visit to .. show full overview
1x60
Big/Small: How Big is Big?
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 29, 1980
REHASHED FROM THE PREVIOUS FOUR EPISODES: Trini is convinced she has discovered a dinosaur bone. A visit to a American Museum of Natural History shows that she actually has the femur .. show full overview
1x41
Near/Far: Seeing Isn't Always Believing
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 03, 1980
Lisa and Trini enter an Eames Room to play tricks on Marc. Marc gets an up-close look at things through a scanning electron microscope. The Bloodhound Gang is called on to observe an .. show full overview
1x42
Near/Far: Mapping and Navigating Near Home
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 04, 1980
Marc visits a researcher determining how bees communicate. Then, in a segment previously used in Light/Dark: The Eye, Marc watches a visually-impaired boy navigate around his .. show full overview
1x43
Near/Far: Mapping and Navigating Over Earth
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 05, 1980
For the bulk of the show, a guest at the workshop is Willis Brown, a transcontinental pilot who discusses air travel. Trini examines homing pigeons. Marc goes on a sailing .. show full overview
1x44
Near/Far: Space Travel
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 06, 1980
This program goes to Houston to observe the space shuttle. The Bloodhound Gang has to stop a swindle in "The Case of the Educated Pig."
1x45
Near/Far: Knowing Where You Are
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 07, 1980
RECYCLED FROM THE PREVIOUS FOUR EPISODES: Marc sees a sailing ship chart its return course and observes how a blind boy finds his way around; astronauts training for navigating the space shuttle.
1x11
Growth/Decay: Sex and Seeds
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 10, 1980
Marc learns about the growth of corn and pigs at the Bakers Akers farm. Trini sits in on an expectant mother's ultrasound. At the Bronx Zoo, Lisa goes on the rounds with a young .. show full overview
1x12
Growth/Decay: Human Growth
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 11, 1980
Lisa arrives at a hospital to see treatment for a premature baby. Trini and others at Staten Island discuss adolescent changes. ANIMATIONS: Einstein images; Human from conception to .. show full overview
1x13
Growth/Decay: Decay
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 12, 1980
Lisa ventures into a sewage treatment plant in Chicago.Film inserts: Msima Spring in Kenya houses a massive food chain, and it all centers around hippos; the recycling of aluminum cans; .. show full overview
1x14
Growth/Decay: Human Cultures/Land Forms
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 13, 1980
Lisa sees a volcano that is almost ready to erupt. Marc demonstrates a model volcano. Trini joins a group of young archaeologists uncovering fossils along the Illinois .. show full overview
1x15
Growth/Decay: Cycles Upon Cycles
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 14, 1980
REHASHED FROM THE PREVIOUS FOUR EPISODES: Lisa sees a volcano that is almost ready to erupt. Marc learns about the growth of corn and pigs at the Bakers Akers farm. ANIMATION: One .. show full overview
1x21
Communication: Human Communication
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 17, 1980
Marc and Lisa discover too late that Trini is stranded in the desert with an empty gas tank, setting the stage for three episodes. At Shea Stadium, Marc observes the Mets' signals. .. show full overview
1x22
Communication: Animal Communication
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 18, 1980
Trini is still lost in the desert, despite several attempts to get messages across. Marc illustrates his expertise on bugs. He visits a researcher determining how bees communicate. .. show full overview
1x23
Communication: Machinery of Communication
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 19, 1980
After two days and contact, Marc sends out the Goodyear Blimp for Trini. Marc visits Bell Laboratories to see a computer that is programmed to speak (intermixed with portion of Human .. show full overview
1x24
Communication with Other Species
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 20, 1980
Trini returns from the desert. She gets in her first segment of the week, visiting the University of Tennessee, where an ape named Chantek learns sign language. Trini also checks out a .. show full overview
1x25
Communication: Feedback
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 21, 1980
Trini recounts her attempts to send distress signals from the desert. Lisa and Marc remind her that her messages had to reach somebody for a good response. REHASHED FROM THE PREVIOUS .. show full overview
1x6
Forces and Motion
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 24, 1980
Trini becomes concerned when and where a hurricane is projected to strike. Marc visits Six Flags Great America to learn the mechanics and design of roller-coasters and talks to .. show full overview
1x7
Forces and Fields
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 25, 1980
Hurricane Rufus is turning inland, heading toward the workshop. This prompts Trini to give a brief description of a hurricane. Jerome Barkum of the New York Jets visits the workshop to .. show full overview
1x8
Forces: Buoyancy and Gravity
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 26, 1980
Hurricane Rufus is now abutting the workshop. Trini prepares herself with a lifeboat. She proves to Marc and Lisa that boats will float because of their shape. Trini gets a lesson in .. show full overview
1x9
Forces and Machines
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 27, 1980
Hurricane Rufus strikes the workshop. Calmer discussion of the Earth's forces are seen at a circus, in the paths of satellites, and at the Bay of Fundy. The Bloodhound Gang teams up to solve "The Case of the Flying Clock."
1x10
Forces: A Spectacle of Forces
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 28, 1980
REHASHED FROM THE PREVIOUS FOUR EPISODES: Roller coaster design; stuntman; orbiting satellites. Also: what forces propel a bicycle.
1x46
Order/Disorder: Regular Patterns
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 31, 1980
Lisa is looking for a quilt design, which she can't quite place. Trini suggests that Lisa use a computer to create a new quilt design. Marc sees ordinary objects look extraordinary .. show full overview
1x47
Order/Disorder: The Body – An Ordered System
Episode overview
Air date
Apr 01, 1980
A student of neuropharmacology visits the workshop to discuss the order of the human body and all its systems. Marc observes how a pacemaker works. Trini seeks how a doctor could .. show full overview
1x48
Order/Disorder: Social Order
Episode overview
Air date
Apr 02, 1980
Animals keep a semblance of order, whether they are bees in a hive or people in the Kalahari Desert searching for melons. Music and games are also part of social order, as we shall see. .. show full overview
1x49
Order/Disorder: Disordered
Episode overview
Air date
Apr 03, 1980
Marc, Lisa, and Trini become helter-skelter at the beginning, but they calm down and devise plans. In the process, Lisa finds a pattern for her quilt. On location, Lisa sees a sewage .. show full overview
1x50
Order/Disorder: Sum of Its Parts
Episode overview
Air date
Apr 04, 1980
A composer visits the workshop to discuss writing music. Marc sees the specialized work of honey bees. Trini gets the full story on setting up a rock concert.
1x51
Surfaces: Protection
Episode overview
Air date
Apr 07, 1980
Clothes are humans' number-one source of protecting the skin. Trini finds out what clothing works best when climbing a mountain. The Bloodhound Gang is confronted with "The Case of the Missing Bloodhound."
1x52
Surfaces: Shapes and Functions at the Surface
Episode overview
Air date
Apr 08, 1980
Field locations include cacti in the Arizona desert, a Zamboni, and a scanning electron microscope. The Bloodhound Gang decodes Mr. Bloodhound's whereabouts in "The Case of the Missing Bloodhound."
1x53
Surfaces: Surface Tension and Bubbles
Episode overview
Air date
Apr 09, 1980
Lisa rides a hot-air balloon and gets tips from a glassblower on making goblets. A film insert discusses bubbles and how they are used. The Bloodhound Gang is kidnapped in Part One of .. show full overview
1x54
Surfaces: Surface of the Earth
Episode overview
Air date
Apr 10, 1980
A geologist appears in the workshop for a discussion on the three types of Earth rock. In Hawaii, Lisa sees a volcano and takes a novice surfing lesson. Film insert: Searching for oil; .. show full overview
1x55
Surfaces: The Atmosphere – Skin of the Earth
Episode overview
Air date
Apr 11, 1980
ANIMATION: What does permeable mean? REHASHED FROM PREVIOUS FOUR EPISODES: Trini learns about protecting the human body from the cold while climbing a mountain. Marc witnesses amazing .. show full overview

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