Futures with Jaime Escalante
Module 6: Government and Civil Engineering

FUTURES was designed to motivate interest in mathematics by showing students that math is the language of the future--and a passport to creative and rewarding jobs.

Check out a preview from FUTURES with Jaime Escalante:

Statistics - Statisticians work in some of the most exciting careers there are. A specialist with the US Bureau of the Census talks about the daunting task of counting 250 million people in 160 million households. Political scientist Chris Arterton explains the role of statistics in politics. From statistician Dave Tuttle of the L.A. Dodgers and Billboard Magazine chart manager Terri Rossi, the message comes home that a solid understanding of statistics is the best way to succeed in business. Classroom guest: Arnold Schwarzenneger.

Water Engineering - Cities and farms need millions of gallons a day. How do you contain it? Move it? Filter it? Conserve it? Civil engineer Bernard Daly takes viewers through the huge underground valve chamber that regulates the flow of water into New York City. Civil engineering assistant Michael Deas and associate Suzanne Rowghani explain the workings of the massive California Aqueduct. Director James Cameron (Titanic) relates how he stored, heated and moved 7.5 million gallons of water for the movie The Abyss. Also featured are irrigation specialist Margarita Engle and CA Chief of Urban Water Conservation Keith Watkins. Classroom guest: James Cameron.

Advanced Transportation - A look at some of the best and the worst transportation systems in the US, focusing on the people who work to create innovative transportation solutions. Examples are James Powell and Gordon Danby, designers of a Mag-Lev train that travels noiselessly at 300 miles an hour on a cushion of air; and mechanical engineers Derek Hamilton and Kitty Rodden, working on a car that travels at 65 miles an hour on less power than it takes to run a hair dryer. Classroom guest: astronaut Guy Bluford.

Future Habitats - A fascinating introduction to the planetary scientists, architects, aerospace engineers, doctors and even artists who are working out ways to make life possible-and pleasant-on other planets, asteroids and the moon. Featured locations include the Space Studies Institute at Princeton, the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture, Rockwell International Space Systems Division, and the NASA-Ames Research Center. Classroom guest: Star Trek's Leondard Nimoy.

Futures with Jaime Escalante (Individual Modules):

Module 1: Environmental Sciences
Renewable Energy - Energy can come from windmills spinning in the desert wind, changes in ocean temperature, steam generated deep in the molten core of the earth, or even from burning vegetation.
Environmental Science and Technology - Some of the most promising careers of the future will solve the pollution problem.
Meteorology - How hard will the winds blow? Where will the lightning strike? Predicting the weather is the science of meteorology.
Ocean Exploration - Oceans cover 70 percent of the Earth's surface-yet only a tiny fraction of the ocean has been explored or studied.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Module 2: Applied Arts
Graphic Design - Professionals include people who create posters for movies, and paintbox computer graphics artists at MTV.
Industrial Design - Telephones, refrigerators, watches, chairs-almost everything we use every day was conceived by industrial designers.
Cartography - From a remote peak where the US Geological Survey measures the angles and distances of distant ranges, to the powerful computers at the Environmental Systems Research Institute, cartographers collect and collate data about our environment, and find creative ways to present their data in two-dimensional and three-dimensional images.
Fashion - Art meets business in this fascinating look at the world of fashion, where viewers will meet some of the industry's hottest designers, retailers and buyers.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Module 3: Design and Engineering
Aircraft Design - There's no question about it: human beings love to fly!
Putting Man in Space - In this award-winning program on space exploration, intertwined with dramatic scenes of astronauts weightless inside the Shuttle, "spacewalking", and magnificent spacescapes, are interviews with professionals.
Automotive Design - Viewers learn that the Penske Racing Team includes 105 people, and a range of careers that few people know about.
Architecture & Structural Engineering - Shapes. Once you start looking for them, they're everywhere.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Module 4: Life Sciences, Sports and Fitness
Sports Performance - Whether it's football, basketball, hockey, skiing, baseball, gymnastics or snowboarding, amateur and professional athletes depend on a host of behind-the-scenes professionals.
Fitness and Physical Performance - For every world-class athlete or dancer, there is a team of doctors, trainers, physical therapists and nutritionists who make sure he or she is in top shape.
Agriculture - How do you feed the world with more and more people and less and less farmland?
Animal Care - Cheetahs slink around a field biologist as she makes entries about their behavior on her laptop computer.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Module 5: Communications
Personal Communication - Fiber optics, digital transmission, two-way video conferencing, wireless communication via satellite-much of the technology developed for the space program is being used on Earth.
Mass Communication - Taking an idea, packaging it with sound and pictures and then transmitting it to millions of people at a time-that's mass communication.
Optics - Scanning the night sky for new constellations or capturing a moment of life in a photograph, mankind seeks to expand its vision through the use of lenses and light.
Sound Engineering - At a rock concert, Billy Joel is at the piano, but what comes out of the speakers is controlled by sound engineer Brian Ruggles.