Product Description

Flame-Broiled Adventure! Things heat up fast for a zany band of intergalactic adventurers on a red-hot tour of the earth's active volcanoes, Captain Rip Rayon and his crewman Squeege embark on a molecular transport mission that has them walking on 2,000F lava - yeow! They soon find out that there's more to volcanoes than scorched feet: You just can't outrun the fastest lava! Pillow lava is anything but soft! Why some 500 million earthlings live near volcanoes! All this hot stuff guarantees you a LAVA BLAST! - just one of the AMAZING PLANET adventures available from National Geographic Kids Video.

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This Amazing Planet video finds Captain Rip Rayon and his crew landing on Earth near an erupting volcano, and boy is it hot! As these intergalactic explorers tour volcanoes in the Hawaiian Islands, Pacific Ocean, Caribbean, and Iceland, they encounter orifices that blast ash and noxious gasses and others that ooze lava. Orb, a computerized crew member, explains the differences between these two types of volcanoes and also describes the Earth's three layers. She dispels the common misconception that lava comes from Earth's core, explaining that it actually comes from just beneath the surface in the mantle. Orb also discusses the movement of plates beneath the Earth's surface, magma chambers, and the different types of lava, and describes the study of volcanoes and our attempts to predict eruptions.

Fantastic footage of real eruptions is broken up with comic interludes such as a rap-style report to Admiral Lump and a "Bubble Zipple" commercial that Orb uses to liken the bubbles in soda pop to the pressure building within a volcano. Orb asserts that 500 million people live near volcanoes, explaining that they reap the benefits of rich, fertile soil and often build power plants to convert volcanic heat into usable energy. This is an informative and entertaining video that's very appealing to kids. --Tami Horiuchi