Subject: So. Studies/Sciences: History

Timeblazers: History and More Series

"Highly Recommended. Each episode provides an interesting, engaging history lesson packaged in a kid-friendly format. Viewers can discuss what we can learn from history. What lessons have historical events taught us? How have things we take for granted today evolved over the centuries? Viewers can have fun looking at everyday things like clothes and computers and talking about where they got their start." -Common Sense Media
Timeblazers is an enlightening and entertaining series of programs produced to help pre-teens and teens better understand modern-day technologies and customs by traveling back in time to look at notable people and events in history. Here we meet 13-year-old Shakira (Jasmine Richards), who appears in the first 13 programs, and 12-year-old Alex (Stephen Joffe), who appears in the next 27 programs; each asks questions regarding the origin of certain things; then a pair of globetrotting, daredevil historians, Sam (Mike Ackerman) and Jen (Heidi Leigh), spin through the ages with them to bring the past to life. Each episode is a no-holds-barred ride as our heroes embark on a string of wild escapades throughout history, but don't let all the fun fool you, each program builds upon interdisciplinary social studies, including references to geography, science, and sociology, and pre-teens and teenagers will not only discover the value of history, but also will be motivated to learn more about each topic covered. A Coneybeare production distributed in association with CCI Releasing, Inc. Programs available on 40 individual DVDs, Digital Streaming Files or Videos; also in a 40-Disc Set. For pricing call in US: 800.876.2447/Intl. 603.434.9262 or e-mail

List of Titles

1. Home Security: The Keys to the Kingdom

Shakira (Jasmine Richards) forgot her key and is locked out of her house, which gets her wondering how the whole idea of locking things up started in the first place. Enter Sam (Mike Ackerman) and Jen (Heidi Leigh), a pair of globetrotting, daredevil historians, who transport Shakira through the Click for more

2. Transportation: Planes, Trains and Stagecoaches

When Shakira (Jasmine Richards) finds herself running late due to a broken down subway and a missed bus, she realizes that even with all the rapid modes of travel in the modern world, it's still easy to get stranded. Back in the old days, it must have been next to impossible to get from one place to the next. Click for more

3. Sanitation: The Great Stink

As Shakira (Jasmine Richards) cleans up the mess left after the raccoons upset the trash bins, she starts to wonder how one family could make so much garbage. Were human beings always this "gross"? Actually, they were, and even more so, as Timeblazers Sam (Mike Ackerman) and Jen (Heidi Leigh) are Click for more

4. The Wheel: The Mother of All Inventions

When a school science project has her stymied, Shakira (Jasmine Richards) starts to wonder where the big-time inventors - like Thomas Edison - got their inspiration. So, Timeblazers Sam (Mike Ackerman) and Jen (Heidi Leigh) decide to take the urban teen on a thrilling adventure through the ages Click for more

5. Fashion: The Emperor's Old Clothes

Shakira (Jasmine Richards) needs some new clothes for school, but she and her mom never seem to agree on the same clothes. Fashion is a funny thing; it's always changing and people never seem to be able to predict where it's headed. While Sam (Mike Ackerman) and Jen (Heidi Leigh) may not be able Click for more

6. The Police: The Good, the Bad and the Bread

Through her school's mentorship program, Shakira (Jasmine Richards) wins a chance to spend a day with a police officer. But she realizes that all she really knows about the profession is what she sees on television. According to Timeblazers Sam (Mike Ackerman) and Jen (Heidi Leigh), the concept Click for more

7. Advances in Cooking: A Feast Fit for a King

As Shakira (Jasmine Richards) plans the special dish she's going to make for her mom's birthday, she realizes that meal preparation must have been pretty complicated before the days of food processors, slicers and dicers. Until now, she really hadn't given much thought to what people ate in centuries past. On Click for more

8. Sports: Get Ready to Rumble

A natural athlete, Shakira (Jasmine Richards) already excels at the game of soccer. Now she's looking for a new challenge - a sport that will really push her to the limits. With the help of her globetrotting friends, Timeblazers Sam (Mike Ackerman) and Jen (Heidi Leigh), Shakira is about to find Click for more

9. Medicine: Leech a Cold, Bleed a Fever

Shakira (Jasmine Richards) is all stuffed up with a bad cold. She's been trying all sorts of cold remedies but, when nothing seems to work, she starts to question the wonders of modern medicine. Since these new fangled remedies don't seem to be helping, Sam (Mike Ackerman) and Jen (Heidi Leigh) Click for more

10. Money: Barter, Coins, Paper and Gold

Against her will, Shakira (Jasmine Richards) is stuck doing some extra chores around the house in order to raise a little extra cash for some new computer equipment. And, in her pursuit of a few extra dollars, she wonders what the world would be like without money - and just where the concept of currency came Click for more

11. The Justice System: Off With His Head

When Shakira (Jasmine Richards) angrily and automatically jumps to the conclusion that her missing bike has been stolen, Timeblazers Sam (Mike Ackerman) and Jen (Heidi Leigh) decide to give their friend a first-hand glimpse at crime and punishment through the ages. For the most part people throughout Click for more

12. The Story of Communications: Message in a Bottle

In Shakira's (Jasmine Richards) world, there are limitless ways to communicate - e-mails, pagers, faxes, cell phones. But even these fail sometimes, and it gets her to wondering what people did 200 years ago - or 2000 years ago. In true competitive spirit, time travelers Sam (Mike Ackerman) and Jen (Heidi Click for more

13. Rumbling and Romance: A Look at Love and Marriage

As Shakira (Jasmine Richards) prepares for her aunt's wedding, she wonders how the whole business of modern-day romance got to be so complicated. It's the topic of magazine stories, movies, songs, books and TV shows; and where, she wonders, did all those wedding rituals come from - like the bridal registry, Click for more

14. Child Labor: Kid Jobs

Alex (Stephen Joffe) knows that a lot of people think he's strange - a 12-year-old boy starting his own "national" newspaper. But the way he sees it, kids can do just about anything. Enter Timeblazers Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman), who mistakenly believes kids' jobs were easy in the Click for more

15. The Pioneers: Home on the Range

Alex (Stephen Joffe) has decided to camp out for a couple of weeks to find out what life was like for his European ancestors. But what he can't figure out is why they would leave their nice cozy homes for the North American wilderness in the first place. Timeblazers Sam (Mike Ackerman) and Jen (Heidi Click for more

16. The Stars and History: Lost in the Stars

Alex's (Stephen Joffe's) science teacher has told the class something big would happen in the sky tonight. As Alex checks out the stars through his telescope, Timeblazers Sam (Mike Ackerman) and Jen (Heidi Leigh) show up to tell him a story that's as old as the sky, and that how people looked at Click for more

17. Education: Learning About Schools

Alex (Stephen Joffe) has a dream that his school disappears, which leads to the question, where did schools come from in the first place? Enter the Timeblazers, Sam (Mike Ackerman) and Jen (Heidi Leigh), who take Alex back to prehistoric times, the primitive days of mankind, when children learned Click for more

18. Wonders of the Maya: From Temples to Hot Chocolate

Alex (Stephen Joffe) has an idea to set up a hot chocolate stand to make some extra money. Because the hot chocolate at the store is expensive, he figures he can make it from scratch. This is a cue for Timeblazers Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman) to clue Alex in on the discovery of chocolate Click for more

19. Ancient History: The Romans

What civilization is no longer around us but what they did is all around us? Timeblazers Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman) travel back in time with Alex (Stephen Joffe) to ancient Rome to help him solve this riddle. First, he learns how Greeks and Romans believed in similar gods, but Romans Click for more

20. Heroes: Hercules, Joan of Arc, Robin Hood, Annie Oakley

Alex (Stephen Joffe) has this idea of becoming a "Mighty Dude" superhero; so Timeblazers Sam (Mike Ackerman) and Jen (Heidi Leigh) suggest they go back in time where he can get some serious inspiration from some other heroes of the past. First they travel back to Ancient Greece around the year Click for more

21. News Through the Ages

Timeblazers Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman) travel back in history with Alex (Stephen Joffe} to show him that getting the news out is a major part of the history story. Many people don't realize that a marathon as we know it today is a race of a little over 26 miles, which comes from Click for more

22. Revolutions (British, French and American)

Alex (Stephen Joffe) wants to run for school president, because he has new, some may say "revolutionary" ideas. Timeblazers Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman) think that's a great idea and take this perfect opportunity to introduce him to three of the most important revolutions in European Click for more

23. Who is Marco Polo?

Timeblazers Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman) drop in on Alex (Stephen Joffe) to take him back in time to learn about Marco Polo, the most famous trader of all time. At 17, in 1271, Marco, his father and uncle left Italy to travel along the Silk Road, which is what people called the route Click for more

24. Farming: Down on the Farm

Alex (Stephen Joffe) loves spaghetti and wants to create his own spaghetti sauce from scratch. Enter the Timeblazers, Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman), who shuttle him back in time to the year 8000 B.C., where he learns that without farming, history would have never got going in the first Click for more

25. Legends - Real or Not Real?

Alex (Stephen Joffe) is digging for buried treasure, when the Timeblazers, Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman), stop by to tell him that his pirate's map is a fake. To help Alex better understand fact from fiction, they first head back to ancient Greece and Plato, who made up the story of Click for more

26. Geniuses: Copernicus, Shakespeare, Franklin, Da Vinci

Alex (Stephen Joffe) wants to join an after-school club, but it's difficult to make a decision when you're interested in everything. What he needs is a system to find out what he'd be really good at, so Timeblazers Sam (Mike Ackerman) and Jen (Heidi Leigh) take him along to check out some geniuses Click for more

27. Explorers: Age of Discovery, Illnesses, Lewis & Clark

Alex (Stephen Joffe) has a project on how to help the environment, and his idea is to find some land to save as a nature preserve. He has the misconception that the early explorers had it easy when they discovered the Americas; enter the Timeblazers, Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman), who Click for more

28. Tyrants: Nero, Ivan, Louis XVI and Napoleon

Alex (Stephen Joffe) has just been made the hall monitor, giving him some power, which he thinks is really cool. Enter the Timeblazers, Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman), who take him back in time to meet up some powerful tyrants, leaders with power who went too far. First they stop in Click for more

29. A Soldier's Life (Centurions, Vikings and the British Red Coats)

Timeblazers Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman) travel back in history with Alex (Stephen Joffe) to learn what things were like for soldiers in real life. First they travel to the year 114 BC, when Rome was as the height of its power, and Roman legions were the strongest military in the world. Click for more

30. Amazing Women (Cleopatra, Elizabeth I and Mary Shelley)

Timeblazers Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman) travel back in time with Alex (Stephen Joffe) to let him meet some key women who played important roles in history. First, they meet Cleopatra, who in 48 BC conspired with Rome's Julius Caesar to become the most powerful woman in Egypt by taking Click for more

31. Mapping: The Flat Earth Society

Alex's (Stephen Joffe) teacher has suggested that kids shouldn't be afraid to challenge accepted truths about history, but when Alex questions the idea that Christopher Columbus discovered the Earth, his classmates burst into fits of laughter. Enter the Timeblazers, Sam (Mike Ackerman) and Jen (Heidi Click for more

32. Fun and Games: From Dominoes to Hopscotch

Alex (Stephen Joffe) has ideas of inventing a new board game, but really has no idea how to start. Enter the Timeblazers, Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman), who first take him to Valley of the Kings in Egypt, where in 1921 Howard Carter made the greatest archaeological discovery of all Click for more

33. History's Biggest Mistakes

Alex (Stephen Joffe) feels horrible about missing a shot in a basketball game and losing the game. Enter the Timeblazers, Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman), who work on picking up his spirits by looking at some of history's biggest goof-ups. First to the days of Christopher Columbus, who Click for more

34. The History of Bikes

Alex (Stephen Joffe) has a problem; his bike is broken, which gets him to wondering where did bikes come from in the first place. Enter the Timeblazers, Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman), who take him back in time first to reveal that contrary to popular thought, Leonardo da Vinci did not Click for more

35. Who Discovered North America?

The Timeblazers, Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman), take Alex (Stephen Joffe) back in time to help solve the question, who did discover North America. Heading back to the early 15th century, we see that the Silk Road to China was a long and treacherous journey for many traders, as were Click for more

36. Archaeology: Can You Dig It?

Alex (Stephen Joffe) is digging in his garden at home when he finds a mysterious object. Enter the Timeblazers, Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman), who inform him that he's discovered a Native American arrowhead, which leads them to travel back in time, before the Europeans discovered America, Click for more

37. The History of Flight

Alex (Stephen Joffe) had a dream about flying and the Timeblazers, Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman), explain that people have been dreaming about flying for thousands of years. First they go back to ancient Greece, around 1600 BC, and explain the myth of Icarus and Daedelus, who used feathers Click for more

38. Great Disasters (Dinosaurs, Pompeii, Great London Fire and the Titanic)

Alex (Stephen Joffe) is like a lot of kids, who sometimes overreact when they think that things are going wrong. This kind of thinking brings Timeblazers Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman) in, to help Alex keep things in perspective by looking at some real disasters, and some silver linings. Click for more

39. Solving the Mystery of the Dark Ages

Alex (Stephen Joffe) has to write a mystery for the school paper. Enter the Timeblazers, Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman), who take him back in time to learn about one of history's great mysteries, the Dark Ages. Our heroes head back to about the year 700, in western Europe, and learn Click for more

40. Timeline: A Short History of Time

Timeblazers Jen (Heidi Leigh) and Sam (Mike Ackerman) travel back in time with Alex (Stephen Joffe) to help him get the big picture about time and history. First Alex learns that dinosaurs existed about 63 million years before the first primitive people appeared on Earth; so people and the great Click for more