

Bill Nye: The Science Guy - Season 1

Disney Channel (ended 1998)



User Score: 256

Episode Guide

  • Flight
    Episode 1

    Things that fly need air. Even though we walk through it, breathe it, and sneeze it, air seems to be a whole bunch of nothing. But air is there, and it's powerful. Balloons inflate because air presses on the insides and outsides of the balloon. Air pressure in tires supports the weight of bikes, buses, trucks, cars, and planes. But air doesn't need to be inside something to exert pressure. Air that moves around pushes, too.
    What do birds, planes, kites, Frisbees, and helicopters have in common? They fly because moving air creates lift, or a push up. Airplane wings are shaped to push air down. The momentum of the air going down pushes wings up. Air above the wing gets going faster than the air underneath. Fast-moving air zips along, without pushing as hard side to side or up and down. The slow air pushes up from below harder than the fast air pushes down from above ... and you're airborne!
    Every flying thing, from the tiniest flying insect to the biggest airplane, uses momentum and these differences in air pressure to fly. The pressure force is called the Bernoulli Effect, named after the scientist who discovered it. Without it, we'd be grounded.
    So don't miss the "Flight" show -- where Bill Nye takes you up, up, and awaaaay.

  • Earth's Crust
    Episode 2

    Don't just go with the flow. Settle down on the crust.
    Imagine a world without any crust. There would be no pies, just goopy filling, no bread, no hamburger
    buns, and no you or me. That's right. You, and every living thing we know of, live on or in the Earth's crust.
    By carefully studying the Earth's surface, scientists have discovered that the Earth is made up of gigantic
    layers. At the center of the Earth, there is a core ï¿½ a big ball of solid metal mostly iron.
    The core is surrounded by a layer of liquid iron and other minerals. We usually just call it the outer core.
    The next layer, around the outer core is called the mantle. You may have seen a mantle above a fireplace.
    Well, the mantle is above the Earth's hot core places. The mantle is gooey hot nearly melted rock that
    flows the way asphalt does on a hot summer day. Scientists often say that the mantle is plastic. It bends.
    We call the mantle's nearly liquid rock magma. When magma flows onto the surface, on top of the crust,
    we call it lava.
    The Earth's crust is thin, only about 100 kilometers thick. If the Earth were the of a peach, the crust
    would only be as thick as the peach's skin (and not as fuzzy). If the Earth hadn't cooled enough for the
    crust to form on its surface, we wouldn't be here. Neither would any living thing we know of.
    Scientists have never been able to dig or drill down through the crust to the mantle. Driving 100 kilometers
    is easy. Drilling that far through solid rock is hard. Well, it's solid rock. But, we can study the inside of the
    Earth by observing volcanoes and geysers. The heat that melts rock into magma, and turns underground
    water into steam, comes from under the crust.
    We haven't even begun to scratch the surface. Watch Bill Nye the Science Guy to find out more about
    "The Earth's Crust."

  • Dinosaurs
    Episode 3

    We can dish the real dirt about dinosaurs, thanks to fossils - traces of theses astonishing animals.
    The only proof scientists have of dinosaurs is their fossils, especially bones. They would never have
    survived billions of years waiting for some human to trip over them. Luckily for paleontologists (scientists
    who study the past), now and then dinosaurs died, and their bones were covered by mud, or sand. As
    the bones sat protected from weather, they absorbed minerals from the soil around them. The minerals
    chemically worked their way into the bones. Millions of years later, we can find them and dig them up.
    Humans were not around to see what actually killed the ancient dinosaurs. Many scientists think a
    meteorite, or lots of meteorites, crashed into the Earth. When the space rocks hit the ground, they made
    big craters and kicked up a lot of dust and dirt. If enough dust flew into the air, sunlight couldn't get
    to Earth, and the plants died off. Without plants for food and oxygen, the dinosaurs died. The meteorite
    impact is just a theory, but a very, very good one. We may never be sure what really happened because,
    as this episode of Bill Nye the Science Guy points out: dinosaurs and humans did not live at the same

  • Skin
    Episode 4

    Learning about skin science is no sweat.
    It's gigantic. It's gargantuan. It's your skin. It's your body's biggest organ. If you could lay your skin out
    the water evaporates, it takes some of the heat with it, and you're cooler. When you're too cold, your skin
    muscles start twitching. Shivering makes your body warm up.
    Without skin, you wouldn't be able to feel the difference between a sheet of paper and a wool blanket.
    send information about the remote's temperature, thickness, and feel of the buttons to your brain. Your
    brain makes decisions about what to do with the remote control. But here's hoping your brain would never
    tell you to turn the channel while the Skin show is on...right?

  • Bouyancy
    Episode 5

    A hot-air balln ride and a trip to the aquarium help Bill Nye explain why things float

  • Gravity
    Episode 6

    Next time you throw a ball in the air, and it doesn't fly off into outer space, thank gravity.
    Right now, you and everything in the room where you are, is getting pulled down by gravity. If you don't
    believe it, push a book of your desk. It will go plummeting toward the center of the Earth. It's gravity. The
    Earth's mass, the stuff it's made of, creates gravity. It's pulling down on you and every other object you
    can see; it's even pulling down on the air and the ocean. Not only that, you and every atom of every thing
    around you has gravity. So, the objects and atoms are all, ever so slightly, pulling up on the Earth!
    Without gravity, there would be no weight. When you step on a bathroom scale, the scale is getting
    squeezed between you and the Earth. The scale measures how strong this mutual attraction is. Gravity
    makes a force that pulls objects together.
    Not only is gravity pulling on every atom and molecule of everything around us, it pulls over huge, gigantic
    distances. The planets are held in the orbits around the Sun by gravity. The Sun's mass and the mass of
    the Earth create enough gravity to hold us in orbit, even though we're 150 million kilometers away. The
    gravity for the Earth, all the other planets in our Solar System, and all the stars and galaxies in the Universe
    has been pulling steadily for billions of years.
    Since gravity only pulls, and since gravity pulls on every speck of matter, when there's enough matter in
    one place like a planet or moon, gravity makes them form into a ball or sphere. The reason the Earth, the
    Moon, the Sun, Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto are all round is that their own gravity pulls evenly in all directions
    at once.
    Bill Nye pulls you into this showï¿½ with Gravity!

  • Digestion
    Episode 7

    Take time to digest this show.
    They say that your food is no more inside you than a pencil is inside a donut, when it's poked through
    from your food. You get these vital chemicals through a process called "digestion." Your body breaks
    food down and grabs all the nutrients you need from it. Then, your body gets rid of what's left over.
    there, the chime goes into your intestines, and that's where your body starts to absorb the nutrients you
    some work. So take care of it. Then, you'll have energy to play.

  • Phases of Matter
    Phases of Matter
    Episode 8

    Bill Nye is going through a phase - a phase of matter. Check out the "Phases of Matter" episode
    to find out about rock-solid solids, liquidy liquids, and gassy gases. It's phase-tastic!
    There are liquids like water, honey, and juice. And there are gases, we breathe air and the helium in
    balloons. The main difference between the three phases is how fast the matter's atoms move.
    All atoms move around because they have energy. The more energy that's in something, the faster the
    atoms move. Atoms in an ice cube don't move very much - they're frozen in place. The atoms in liquid
    water slip and slide around - that's why you can pour it and spill it. Water vapor atoms are moving pretty
    fast - that's why they float around in air (a mixture of other gasses). Changing an object's phase of matter
    is just a matter (ha, ha) of adding energy to atoms or taking it away.
    Heating adds energy to atoms, and cooling takes energy away from atoms. If you fried an ice cube in a
    pan on a stove, you would see all three phases of matter - ice cube, liquid water, and water vapor.
    Watch the "Phases of Matter" show and your science will be solid!

  • Biodiversity
    Episode 9

    Ecosystems are areas where things live. Ecosystems that are biodiverse are home to a variety of
    plants and animals. A healthy ecosystem is one with a lot of biodiversity.
    Imagine if humans could only eat one kind of food, say corn. We'd be in big trouble if all the corn
    disappeared. Besides not having anything to munch on at the movies, we'd have nothing to eat at all.
    Luckily, our ecosystem covers a big part of the Earth, and there are lots of different plants to eat. Ecosystems
    are not as simple as one living thing eating another, as the corn example. The lives of animals and plants
    are intertwined - what happens to one animal can have an impact on all sorts of living things.
    As humans, we have a big effect on the other living things around us. We are the only animals to leave
    lots of stuff around, such as houses, cars, and malls. It's important for us to think about the choices we
    make and how they will affect the other living things around us. Remember: The Earth is not just our home,
    it's home to all living things. Without those other living things, there would be no you or me.

  • Simple Machines
    Simple Machines
    Episode 10

    Learning about science can be hard work, but simple machines can make it easier. Let Bill Nye
    push and pull you around ramps, levers, screws, and pulleys.
    Simple machines simply make work easier by directing forces over distances. Instead of lifting a heavy
    box upstairs, you can hook it to some ropes and pulleys and pull it up. Or you can get a ramp and slide
    it upstairs. Either way, it's less sweat to use the pulleys or the ramp than it is to lift the box straight up
    by yourself because the force you need is more spread out. Levers, ramps, screws, wheels, wedges, and
    pulleys are all simple machines designed to direct forces.
    With simple machines we don't have to push or pull as hard, but we have to push or pull over a longer
    distance. It's easier to walk up a long set of stairs to the top of the Empire State Building than it would
    be to climb a ladder to the top, but the set of stairs would be much longer than the ladder.
    Simple machines are simply scientific.

  • Moon
    Episode 11

    Let the moon master Bill Nye teach you the ancient and not-so-ancient secrets of the Moon.
    Wax on, wax off. The Moon grows bigger (waxes) and smaller (wanes) every 30 days or so. The word
    "month" comes from the word "moon". The Moon is the closest thing in space to Earth, and it's one of
    the most well-studied orbs in our solar system. We know that Moon rocks are rich in calcium and aluminum,
    that the Moon has no atmosphere, and that there are over a million craters on the Moon's surface. The
    Moon doesn't glow on its own, it reflects sunlight.
    Watch the Moon every night for a month as it grows, shrinks, and at one point disappears. The Moon
    doesn't actually change it's shape. It's the way the sun shines on the part of the Moon we see that makes
    the phases change. The Earth moves around the Sun, the Moon moves around the Earth. As the Moon
    moves through its orbit, the Sun shines on bigger or smaller portions of it. If you were looking at the Moon
    from the Sun, it would always be full, as long as the Earth weren't in the way.
    Bill Nye and the Moon - it's lunar lunacy.

  • Sound
    Episode 12

    Listen up, scientists. Bill Nye is here to make some noise in the "Sound" episode.
    sends waves of sound through the air. It's a lot like the ripples you see when you drop a rock into a pond.
    to your brain about the sound you're hearing.
    molecules moving and more energy than soft sounds.
    Sound is much more than music. It's not just noise...it's science.

  • Garbage
    Episode 13

    Bill Nye explains garbage and how it is a growing concern. He also demonstates ways of reducing the amount of garbage produced.

  • Structures
    Episode 14

    Are you tense? Need some structure to your life? Then tune in to Bill Nye the Science Guy as he
    explains the science of structures.
    All structures give support or create a shape. You can find structures everywhere. Bridges, buildings,
     chairs, shoes, plants, spiderwebs, tables, and even your own body are all structures. A structure's shape,
    and what it's made of depend on what the structure does and how strong it needs to be.
    When structures give support, they either experience a pull (tension) or a push (compression). Structures
    in tension, such as ropes, cables, or blimps are made from stuff that is good at pulling. The materials in
    tension are usually thin. Structures under compression, such as elephant legs and courthouse columns,
    are made from hard stiff stuff. Compared to structures under tension, structures under compression are
    much thicker. When it comes to structures, form (the and shape) depends on function (what it does).
    Build support for Bill by watching the "Structures" episode.

  • Earth's Seasons
    Earth's Seasons
    Episode 15

    Coincidence? No way.

  • Light and Color
    Light and Color
    Episode 16

    Lighten up. It's the "Light and Color" episode.
    Without light, we wouldn't be able to see. It would be like living in a room with no windows, doors, or
    lamps. There's an old saying, "We don't see things; we see light bouncing off of things." We see things,
    and colors, when light bounces off things and into our eyes. White light, like the light from the Sun, is
    made up of all the different colors of light blended together. When white light hits something white, almost
    all of the light bounces into our eyes, and we see the color white.
    Things are different colors because some light bounces off and other light gets absorbed.
    An orange is orange because it absorbs all different colors of light except orange light.
    Grass is green because it absorbs all different colors of light except green light.
    Bill Nye's lab coat is blue because it absorbs all different colors of light except blue light. All colors,
    including black, are made in the same way. It's just a matter of reflecting or absorbing light.
    Science will "color" your world with Bill Nye the Science Guy.

  • Cells
    Episode 17

    You can't see them, but they're everywhere even inside Bill Nye. This is not science fiction, it's the
    science of cells.
    All things that live are made from cells. You can't see them, but every part of your body, including everything
    inside your body, is made from cells. Cells eat, they grow, and they make more of themselves (what
    scientists call replicate).
    There are millions of different types of cells. Dog cells are different from fish cells. Bird cells are different
    from your cells. And inside your body, there are many different cells, each one doing a different job to
    keep your body going.
    Cells may be tiny, but without them, we'd be nothing.

  • Electricity
    Episode 18

    It's time for Bill Nye to shed a little light on electricity.
    Electricity might seem mysterious, but once you understand the science the light goes on (so to speak).
    You flip a switch, and the lights turn on. You push the play button, and your personal stereo starts playing
    music. When you flip the switch or push play, you start a flow of electrons. Electricity is the flow of
    electrons, and electrons are very tiny charged particles. Electrons are found in atoms, the tiny pieces that
    all stuff is made from. We can make electrons flow in two ways. Batteries make electricity by mixing up
    chemicals -- making a chemical reaction that forces electrons to move in a path from the battery to the
    personal stereo and back to the battery. Electricity that turns on lights in your home is made by power
    plants. Most power plants use big machines called generators to make electrons by twirling wire in a
    magnet. The magnet makes electrons in the wire move around, creating electricity. Electrons really know
    how to go with the flow.
    Electricity sure gets Bill charged up, so be sure to watch the show!

  • Outer Space
    Outer Space
    Episode 19

    The show is way out there, way far away. After all, it's in Outer Space.
    than you could count. And, they are way out there. They are very, very far away. It's about the hardest
    thing to imagine about space. Let's talk about the nearest star to us, the Sun. If somehow outer space
    without stopping to sleep or get gas out in the near nothingness of space. That's just to the Sun. To get
    Bill might seem a little far out in this episode. Maybe he's getting spacey.

  • Eyeball
    Episode 20

    Look no further ... Bill Nye is on the ball - the eyeball.
    For their small your eyes do an important job. By working with your brain, your eyes can tell the
    difference between thousands of different colors. They can follow a fast-moving hockey puck across the
    ice. They are even sending messages to your brain about what you're reading right now. Eyes work a lot
    like a camera. They take in light, focus light, and make images. With help from the brain, your eyes help
    understand the world around you.
    Light bouncing into your eye passes through an opening called the pupil. If you look in the mirror, your
    pupil is the black area in the middle of your eye. The pupil can open or close, depending on the brightness
    of the light. After passing the pupil, the light is focused onto the back of your eye by the lens, a thin layer
    of cells. On the back of your eye are special cells called rods and cones that are sensitive to light. These
    cells send electrical messages to your brain through your big optic nerves. Having two eyes lets us look
    at the same features from two slightly different angles. We can see how far away things are. Then it's up
    to your brain to decipher what exactly you're looking at.
    The "eyes" have it -- Bill Nye's "Eyeball" episode is outta site!

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