Television & Streaming

Review the basics of television history and technology at How Television Works. Check out TV Pixels and Your Brain, TV Motion and Your Brain, How the Radio Spectrum Works, How Cable Television Works, How Digital TV Works, How Satellite TV Works, and How Internet TV Works.

Explain That Stuff: Television offers a concise description of the history and technology of television that you may want to share with interested students.

At Television History, learn about the origin and history of television along with biographies of television’s inventors and interesting facts.

Get answers to student questions about TV at How To Explain Television to Kids.

Take a look at a historical summary of discoveries that led to TV as we know it today.

Investigating Pictures and Code is a complete lesson plan for grades 3-5 where students investigate how a code can be used to make an image, and how the resolution of an image changes relative to the pixels in a grid.

Code to Picture includes an interactive tool for classroom use where students learn that a television screen is a grid containing many tiny pixels.

Electromagnetic Spectrum for grades 5 and up introduces the range of wavelengths that characterize different kinds of energy.

The Electromagnetic Spectrum: NASA explains how different electromagnetic waves affect our daily lives, including how radio waves are used in television broadcasts.

The Electromagnetic Spectrum Interactive is a tool that allows students to compare different kinds of electromagnetic radiation.

Electromagnetic Waves Are Everywhere! is a complete, hands-on lesson plan from TeachEngineering where 4th-5th grade students learn about devices (including TVs) that use electromagnetic waves.

Exploring the Electromagnetic Spectrum, also from TeachEngineering, is designed for middle school students.

Middle School science classes may want to use this electromagnetic spectrum resource that also includes an online quiz and worksheet.

Teaching TV is a series of lesson plans designed for the elementary classroom. Take a look at Television Techniques, Television Production, and Learning With Television.

Take a look at these lesson plans and teaching resources to assist students in exploring careers in television production.

Direct your students to these student-friendly resources for independent research or to learn more about the science of television:

• Kiddle Encyclopedia: Television Facts for Kids
• Britannica Kids: Television (grades 3-5) 
• Britannica Students: Television (grades 6-8) 
• DK Find Out: Television
• Curious Kids: How TV Works

Kids Work! Television Station is a fun site from South Carolina’s public television station where kids can learn about the history of TV, the jobs of television professionals, and the inside workings of a TV studio. Then, interactive activities allow them to take on the roles of TV engineers and producers.

In the world of digital television, students need to learn how to be good digital citizens and smart consumers. See Science Trek's Computers teachers’ page to find resources to help teach students to be thoughtful and safe in their use of media.

To help parents be informed about monitoring children’s screen time, you may want to share Healthy Habits for TV and How TV Affects Your Child from Kids’ Health.