Where Am I?

Gr 8 Up—This installment of the CBC's series explores the wide-ranging impact of how humans find their way around from practical, cultural, and cognitive perspectives. Narrator David Suzuki considers not only the essential tools and perspectives needed for successful human navigation but also demonstrates the power of orientation through vivid examples from the insect world, ants and bees, in particular. A host of prominent specialists from a range of disciplines (neurology, biology, psychology, and robotics) tie this essential activity to the most current research in brain functioning and development. There is also a thorough consideration of indigenous orientation methods. This rarefied knowledge is uniquely contrasted with the contemporary overreliance on technological aids such as GPS. Where Am I?? also attends to the cultural constructions of gender in relation to navigation skills, and it reinforces the understanding that there are no biological limitations in our capacity to explore the world.