Cyberchase takes place inside the cartoon world of Cyberspace, a place where cooperation and good math skills combine to save the day.
Imagine sitting around your room when you are suddenly drawn through a portal into another world, one where everything and everyone seems to be made up of computers, geometric shapes or numbers. You, along with your two friends, have been asked to save Cyberspace by protecting Motherboard from the misguided Hacker (voiced by the classic Christopher Lloyd), a classic villain who is known for his chin, his reference to himself as “Thee Hacke,r” and his schemes for taking over the world, or at least the world of Cyberspace.
Along the way, the three kids, Mike, Jackie and Inez, get to travel to different planet-like sites that may resemble everything from prehistoric Earth to the American Old West. Each world has a different set of problems that must be overcome, most caused by Hacker. Along for the ride is the very helpful Digit, a sort of mechanical bird (voiced by Gilbert Gottfried), who usually has a treasure of measuring cups, memory chips and whatever else is needed to help the Earth child solve discrete mathematics.
The show and all of the activities are carefully designed to teach and support math education, using the standards set by the National Counsel of Teachers of Mathematics. Although the show is set in a fantasy world, children who watch are encouraged to seek out math in their everyday lives and put the concepts they are shown into real world situations.
Don’t worry. The kids won’t even realize that they are learning.
Cyberchase has inspired a love of math and building in my children. My oldest son first got the idea that he wanted to be an engineer from watching this show. My daughter got reaffirmation that math is for everyone, no matter your sex or your age. My youngest son took away the lesson that working as part of a team is important, especially when you may not have all of the pieces to the proverbial and literal puzzle yourself.
Check your local PBS station for this wonderful show.