Rough Science, Series 3: New Zealand Gold Rush

Synopsis

A series in which five scientists follow in the footsteps of the original prospectors from 1860 and undertake an epic journey on the rugged west coast of New Zealand’s South Island to hunt for gold. Kate Humble joins the team of Mike Bullivant, Ellen McCallie, Mike Leahy, Kathy Sykes and Jonathan Hare and sets them challenges.

Series

Rough Science, Series 3

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of release

2003

Year of production

2002

Notes

Broadcast in weekly parts on BBC2 from 25/10/2002

Subjects

Science

Keywords

glaciers; heat energy; measuring instruments; seismology; gold prospecting

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 2 PAL

Price

£15.00

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

180 minutes

Year

2011

Sections

Title

Gold Rush

Synopsis

First episode of the series in which five modern-day scientists go prospecting for gold

Duration

30 mins

Distributors ref

XS010/AIP01/01

Title

Shakers

Synopsis

Presenter Kate Humble struggles with the team as they battle to extract enough gold to make a souvenir by the end of the series. To add to the half a gram they extracted in the first week, they adopt increasingly bizarre methods to get rich and solve science puzzles.

Duration

3 mins

Distributors ref

XS010/AIP02/01

Title

Quakers

Synopsis

Ellen McCallie helps make a waterproof tent to keep Mike Bullivant and Mike Leahy dry on their overnight expedition in search of gold-bearing rock. And Kathy Sykes and Jonathan Hare make a seismograph using alarm clocks to measure earthquake activity in the area.

Duration

30 mins

Distributors ref

XS010/AIP03/01

Title

Ice

Synopsis

The Rough Scientists take time off from their quest for New Zealand gold and divert their attention to measuring the speed and melt of the Franz Josef Glacier. In addition, the scientists have to keep themselves warm on the ice without lighting any fires, which involves building an ice lens and generating chemical heat. With just a basic toolkit and the island’s natural resources at their disposal, the team must draw on their pooled ingenuity and scientific knowledge to complete the tasks.

Duration

30 mins

Distributors ref

XS010/AIP04/01

Title

Treasure Hunt

Synopsis

The Rough Scientists step up their search for gold as the deadline looms for them to find and extract enough gold to make a souvenir of their stay in New Zealand’s south island. They are set three tough challenges - to extract gold from rock and sand, to build an altimeter and to use it to find buried gold from a treasure map.

Duration

30 mins

Title

Big Smelt, The

Synopsis

It’s D-Day for the Rough Scientists who must build a furnace and bellows so they can try to smelt the gold they have collected. To turn their powdered gold flakes into a solid nugget they have to reach a white-hot 1062 degrees Celsius.

Duration

60 mins

Distributors ref

XS010/AIP06/01

Production Company

Name

Open University Production Centre

Distributor

Name

Open University Worldwide

Web

http://www.ouw.co.uk External site opens in new window

Phone

+44 (0) 1908 274066

Address

Walton Hall
Milton Keynes
MK7 6AA

Notes

NB. As of May 2016 Open University Worldwide are no longer distributing DVDs. They have posted this message on their website: ‘Unfortunately Open University Worldwide Limited has decided that product sales are no longer viable given the reduced funding to Higher Education institutions and diminishing demand for the products we have traditionally stocked. At present the Open University Students Association (OUSA) will continue to sell the "Good Study Guide", and we are in discussion with other possible distributors to continue to make The Open University’s products available for purchase. As soon as we have any information on other channels of distribution we will update this notice’. Some products are still available via second hand dealers on Amazon.co.uk

Online Retailer

Name

Open University Bespoke DVD - Clips & Bits

Web

http://www.ouwcb.co.uk/index.html External site opens in new window