Popular Mechanics for Kids

This is for the birds! Elisha and Tyler take to the skies to examine man’s fascination with flight. Elisha defies gravity and learns how to steer as she free falls in a vertical wind tunnel. Tyler tests a human-powered airplane and learns how centripetal force lets an acrobat perform stunts on the wing of an airplane – without a harness.

Elisha travels to the North Pole to explore the 2000-year-old way of life of the Inuit people. She learns to handle a dog sled and leads an expedition near the North Pole. She builds an igloo that is stronger than a brick house, and when she’s done she invites friends over for a traditional feast – seal eyes and brains, anyone? At least there’s ice cream for dessert.

Who hasn’t dreamt of being James Bond for a day? Tyler and Elisha enter the cloak and dagger world of spies and detectives as they learn how to solve crimes with the high-tech gadgetry you see in the movies. Elisha learns how to collect evidence at a crime scene. And when they come under suspicion, they discover how difficult it is to fool a lie detector.

Eww, gross! Elisha and Tyler learn that disgusting things are useful. Tyler visits a plant where mountains of filth go through a fermentation tank and come out as animal feed. Miniature medical cameras take us on a tour of the human digestive system and we see what happens to the food we eat. And we learn how to make boogers out of sugar and protein. Yucky fun!

Tyler explores the fascinating world of oceans and ocean creatures – in scary, up-close way. He enters a steel cage to swim with sharks and learns that they would rather avoid humans – even as they bite at the bars of his cage. And in Iceberg Alley, Tyler learns how icebergs were formed thousands of years ago and why they are so dangerous to navigation.

Tyler and Charlie become police officers for a day. Tyler joins the L.A.P.D to learn how to handle a car safely in a high-speed chase and learns how to fire a gun in a reflex-testing “Fun House” chamber where cardboard people, good and bad, jump out at them – can he recognize the difference in time? Charlie discovers how to keep his bicycle safe from thieves.

Our co-hosts, Tyler and Elisha take up some demanding sports: word class snowboarding, surfing and hockey. Tyler trains with the Olympic snowboarding team and uses physics to figure out how to go faster. Elisha visits Hawaii to surf and learn how waves form. And she goes up against an NHL hockey player and learns how ice affects the game.

Elisha and Tyler enter the world of the movies to discover how they do all of those awesome tricks. At an animation studio Elisha learns how to fall off a building (safely, of course) and Charlie learns the principles of animation. Tyler learns how to add all of the sound effects needed in a movie and he performs in a martial arts sequence with a kung-fu expert.

Our co-hosts go up against the most powerful force ever – Mother Nature! Elisha hovers above the Kilauea volcano, close enough to feel the heat from its flowing lava. Tyler gets blown away by a tornado at Universal Studios and Charlie shows us how to make a fake hurricane. Next Tyler learns how scientists set off an explosion to create controlled avalanches.

Elisha and Tyler meet real life Doctor Doolittle who really communicate with animals. Elisha goes to Dolphin Habitat to learn how biologists use rewards to teach sea animals to perform stunts. Tyler explores the world of animal actors and learns how professional they really are. At an airport we learn that falcons are used to keep birds off the runways.

Co-hosts Elisha and Tyler light up the exciting world of the night. In Las Vegas, home of the neon sign, Elisha learns how to make neon lights out of different gases, bent glass and electrodes. Tyler is wired up in a sleep lab to learn how active our brains are during sleep. And Elisha discovers that bats are intelligent, good-natured creatures – not so scary after all!

When lives are at stake, every second counts, as Tyler learns. He goes on a recue mission to save someone buried in an avalanche. He joins a S.W.A.T. team during a real life hostage situation that ends when the team breaks down the door and arrests the suspect! He also learns how lifeguards perform daring rescues at sea, and Charlie shows us survival tips.

Co-hosts Tyler and Elisha run off to join the circus and learn how hard fun can be. Elisha tries walking a tightrope at Montreal’s National Circus School and flies through the air with the Cirque de Soleil. Tyler takes clown lessons at the Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Baily’s Greatest Show on Earth. Charlie gets in the act and learns to how to juggle.

Our co-hosts reach for the stars. Travelling to Hawaii’s Keck Observatory Elisha operates one of the world’s largest optic infrared telescopes. She experiences negative gravity and weightlessness riding the Power Tower. And our host learns that the closest simulation to of zero gravity is created in a swimming pool – and how hard it is to move when you are weightless.

Co-hosts Tyler and Elisha visit swamps and wetlands to learn about these fascinating eco-systems and how they are being depleted at an alarming rate. In the Everglades Tyler learns how alligators and other wildlife are disappearing, affecting the food chain. Elisha gets caught in quicksand in the Louisiana bayou and Tyler learns about alligators from a wrangler.

Elisha and Tyler get behind the wheel – of Mega Trucks. Tyler accompanies the driver of an 18-wheeler on a mission to deliver hundreds of thousands of cookies. Elisha helps drive city trucks – street sweepers, one that waters plants, a giant vacuum on wheels. And she goes to Alberta to drive the biggest dump truck in the world and watches it drive over another vehicle.

This is explosive! Elisha learns to set up and design a fireworks show, with its centuries of tradition; Tyler helps blast rocks at a quarry and learns how these materials are used to make skyscrapers, tunnels bridges and roads. We learn how huge explosions are safely set off for movies, and Charlie show how to experience a fun explosion – safely!

A fast track episode. Tyler goes to Atlanta to race against the fastest man in the world and to discover the attributes that made him so fast. In Philadelphia, he rides in a car powered by a jet engine and an afterburner whose special features keep it from becoming airborne. And our host checks out the F-22, the fastest fighter jet.

A collection of Tyler and Elisha’s best and most exciting adventures from episodes 23 – 40 of Popular Mechanics for Kids.

Tyler and Elisha discover what makes bugs both gross and fascinating. Elisha cleans a leech tank and learns why they are being used in medicine again. Tyler learns that cockroaches have survived for 300 million years and are the only creature that would survive a nuclear blast. Elisha walks into a swarm of bees and learns about their complicated society.

How monstrous! Tyler and Elisha explore the world of monumental machines. Tyler travels to Illinois to meet Magasaurus, a 50,000 lb., 3-story tall robot/truck/tank. He shows us all of this monster’s capabilities when he gets behind the controls. Its biting force of 15,000 lbs. means it can eat cars (or boats, and even houses) for lunch.

For the season finale, young viewers ask their own questions and Popular Mechanics for Kids goes on adventures to find the answers. Charlie performs one last experiment – sucking an egg into a bottle! It’s easier than it sounds.