Rough Science - Series 5: Zanzibar Science for the Shipwrecked (6 Parts)

Synopsis

1) SHIPWRECKED - In the first of a new series of Rough Science the team are taken to the tropical island of Zanzibar to test their wits and ingenuity against the Indian Ocean. Frustration builds as the scientists struggle to complete a set of marine challenges without the help of modern technology. With only a few bits of basic kit to help them and a remote beach-side workshop as their base, the team’s first test is to mount an expedition to find and explore a shipwreck off Zanzibar’s west coast. They have just three days to build an underwater spy plane which will send images back to their local fishing dhow and they have to call on all their knowledge and skill just to get a clean drink of water.

2) LOST AT SEA - The scientists’ challenge is to equip Kate with everything she’ll need when she’s lost at sea: They have three days until Kate will be in the water, in the dark and putting their creations to the test. Mike has the task of making a distress flare that will pinpoint her position out in the dark. Meanwhile Ellen and Kathy have to make a life jacket it’s got to stay together and keep Kate afloat until the team can get to her. Jonathan’s job is to design a beacon something that will help the team spot her from the rescue boat. The trunk is very bare and this week the pressure is on. The team have no choice but to rely on the natural resources of the island. Mike goes hunting for an explosive ingredient in the local bat cave and Ellen and Kathy get sticky at the island’s rubber plantation. Jonathan, meanwhile, tries to make light from sea water.

3) CALL OF THE WILD - This challenge is to find a way of eavesdropping on the sounds of the reef and also to have a look at what’s making all the noise. But the island is also home to some less desirable wildlife including mosquitoes so they also have to find a way of making a successful repellent. Mike and Jonathan are given the task of making a hydrophone, or underwater microphone that can pick up the sounds of the fish down on the reef. Kathy’s job is to come up with a contraption that will enable the team to spy on the world beneath the waves. Meanwhile Ellen is in charge of keeping them all a mosquito-free zone. Mike and Jonathan come up with an ingenious design for their microphone which involves them growing a very special crystal. Meanwhile Mike’s chemistry skills are also in demand from Kathy who decides to make a periscope and wants to turn some glass into a mirror. It’s a difficult process with one very smelly raw material. And Ellen decides that the only way to prove her repellent really works is to raise her own mosquitoes, from larvae, and test their bites on Kate.

4) TO THE LIGHTHOUSE - This week’s challenge is to build a lighthouse on the uninhabited island of Bawe. It is an hour’s journey from the mainland, is covered by dense tropical forest and there’s no electricity. Ellen and Mike need to make a light that will be visible from far out to sea. Jonathan and Ellen have the job of making the lighthouse structure and inventing a mechanism to make the light flash and Kathy has the job of making it turn. She decides to rely on rock power but her ideas don’t quite go to plan.

5) THE REEF - This week the scientists have to work out how to protect a coral reef from fishing boats and passing ships by inventing some sort of system which can alert boats that they are entering a protected area. The team come up with an unusual solution - possibly the world’s first coral reef burglar alarm! Mike and Jonathan have the task of making an alarm system to warn the boats. Chumbe is an eco-island so any power they need has to come from a renewable source - batteries are out. Meanwhile Ellen and Kathy have the job of anchoring the system in place.

6) BENEATH THE WAVES - This week the four scientists try to build an underwater breathing device. It needs to be sophisticated enough to give Kate the freedom to explore beneath the waves and survive the pressure of the ocean above her. But they only have access to the simplest tools and materials. The team have only three days in their beach-side workshop on Zanzibar’s west coast to come up with the goods before they put their creation to the ultimate test in the Indian Ocean.

Series

Rough Science Series 5, Xs015

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of release

2005

Year of production

2005

Notes

Open University series XS012. Broadcast on BBC2 from .

Documentation

Related website: www.open2net/science/roughscience

Subjects

Science

Keywords

applied science

Credits

Contributor

Kathy Sykes

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 2 PAL

Price

£15.00

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

280 minutes

Year

2011

Production Company

Name

BBC Open University Productions

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