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Peg + Cat begins Oct. 7 on WV PBS

PEG CAT_Key_Image.jpg
Credit Courtesy of © 2013, Feline Features LLC.
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Watch Peg + Cat weekdays on WV PBS at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.; also on weekends at 8 a.m.

PBS KIDS’ newest animated preschool series Peg + Cat is coming to WV PBS. The multimedia property follows the adorable, spirited Peg and her sidekick, Cat, as they embark on adventures, solve problems and learn foundational math concepts and skills. Peg + Cat (pronounced Peg plus Cat) premieres Monday, Oct. 7 at 9 a.m. on WV PBS with a special one-hour broadcast of two back-to-back episodes, along with integrated online and mobile content. The series airs daily following the premiere.

Peg Cat program and digital resources focus on problem-solving and foundational math concepts and skills for children ages 3-5.

Peg + Cat is a production of The Fred Rogers Company. Each episode features two 11-minute stories in which Peg and Cat encounter an unexpected challenge that requires them to use math and problem-solving skills in order to save the day. Their adventures take viewers from a farm to a distant planet, from a pirate island to a prehistoric valley, from Romeo and Juliet’s Verona to Cleopatra’s Egypt to New York’s Radio City Music Hall. While teaching specific math lessons, the series displays the value of resilience and perseverance in problem-solving.

Peg + Cat is a multi-platform media experience  for 3-5 year olds that includes interactive mobile and online content. The property offers games and other resources online at pbskids.org/peg.

The program’s curriculum is grounded in principles and standards for school mathematics as established by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics for kindergarten and first grade. This curriculum comes to life through music, lovable characters, hilarious escapades, and imaginative problems that engage children and stimulate their learning. Responding to several critical needs, Peg + Cat will help children begin exploring math and get them interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) as early as possible. The program will also help dispel the myth that success in math requires a special “math gene.”

Download these activities and coloring sheets:

Color sheet 1      Color sheet 2     FloppyHop Flipbook     

SortySort Flipbook     BigJig Flipbook     DIY Flipbook

Inside Appalachia- Sept. 21, 2013

New environmental regs, coal a tourism draw in southern W.Va, an historic clock in downtown Lexington Ky. restored and Big Stone Gap Va. gets a taste of…

New environmental regs, coal a tourism draw in southern W.Va, an historic clock in downtown Lexington Ky. restored and Big Stone Gap Va. gets a taste of Hollywood.

WVU Professor on EPA Regulations: With the proposed regulations targeting new coal-fired power plants, one West Virginia University law professor is predicting new challenges for the region’s coal industry.

Coal Tours: Coal mine history is providing a tourism boost to southern West Virginia. A tour guide company that specializes in the mine mars has been showing guests through the region for three years now.

Historic Clock: For eight decades, a clock in front of Skuller’s Jewelry Stores on Main St. helped Lexington, Ky., residents measure their day.   But, over time, the clock became erratic, until finally its hands stood still.  Now, after a facelift and significant repairs, the clock is again ready to keep time.

Sounds of Fall: The first day of fall is upon us, and the season brings visions of the brilliant foliage- but what about the sounds of fall? West Virginia Public Radio’s Jim Lange reflects on the symphony fall brings, both manmade and natural. 

Big Stone Gap Movie: Big Stone Gap, Va., is getting the big screen treatment. The governor’s office says a film version is being made of author Adriana Trigiani’s novel of the same name.  In 2011 Trigiani spoke with West Virginia Public Radio about her career as an Appalachian writer.

 

The sound of the cicada

Yes, the cicada announces the season’s change like no other. I wanted to know more about cicadas and their cacophonous songs. I spoke with entomologist Dr. Tracy Leskey.

So, what exactly are cicadas?

Dr. Leskey: Well, you know cicadas are insects that belong to what we call the order Hemiptera which is the order of insects to which the true bugs belong. Not all insects are bugs, but there are a group of insects that are literally referred to by entomologists as bugs and cicadas are one of those.

Are they special in any kind of way?

Oh yeah. Cicadas are really interesting. Cicadas are conspicuously known because of their interesting developmental attributes and one of these, in the case of our annual or dog day cicadas, is their very conspicuous emergence during the later part of the summer.

The cicadas actually have a really interesting life history-sort of how they grow up. In that the juvenile stage of adult cicadas, the nymphs, live in the soil, but what’s interesting is those nymphs that are in the soil, they actually spend two to five years in the soil completing their development. So, you know some of the dog day cicadas that you see emerging literally are the same age of some of our kindergarteners going to school this year.

And how do they make that sound?

Well, that’s the adult stage and so in this case, it’s the males that make the sound. The females do not make those sounds. The males have what we would call almost a pair of built-in drums in their abdomen and we refer to these as tymbals. And these tymbals produce the sound based on this very tiny ribbed membrane that is there on their abdomen and then it is powered by muscle contractions. So, those muscles contract and relax and as they do that, it creates a sound. The other piece that’s interesting is the male’s abdomen is nearly hollow and so this allows the sound to be amplified.

These are males calling to females? Why are they doing this?

So, yeah, the males are doing this literally to find a mate. They are trying to attract females to their location. So, it may sound like a bit of a cacophony to us, but you know it’s sweet music to a female cicada. (laughter)

So, while we hear this…

(Sound: cicada buzzing)

Female cicadas might be hearing this…

(Music: Sinatra/Jobim- Baubles, Bangles and Beads)

Credit William P. Gottlieb / Wikimedia Commons
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Wikimedia Commons
Frank Sinatra at the microphone, 1947

Theater fans statewide mourn loss of Theatre WV

Some fans of the stage are already feeling the loss of one of the state's largest theaters. With the loss of Theatre West Virginia, state theater buffs…

Some fans of the stage are already feeling the loss of one of the state’s largest theaters.

 With the loss of Theatre West Virginia, state theater buffs are already feeling the pain. A former employee says he’s going to miss what it brought to Southern West Virginia.

Jim Stacy is a Morgantown lawyer, and Beckley native, who spent several years going to shows at Theatre West Virginia.

He even worked on its house staff for a short time. He says upon hearing the news the program is closing its doors, one emotion immediately came to mind.

“It genuinely made me sad. Living there, being a kid who started loving theater early, that was the first place I saw there. It was a very special place to see theater, because of the setting. That beautiful outdoor backdrop. To see that end, takes a little piece of me away, I think,” he said.

Stacy says it brought a great deal to not only fans of theater, but to all southern West Virginians.

“We have to be able to think about what’s going to be able to boost the culture of a state, of the region, of the nation, it’s the arts that always do that,” said David Beach, an English professor at West Virginia University and a director at M.T. Pockets Theatre in Morgantown. It’s a community theater company.

Theatre West Virginia flourished in the Beckley area for more than 50 years.
 

Clifftop – the Appalachian String Band Music Festival.

  A documentary look at the Appalachian String Band Music Festival -aka Clifftop – where many of the participants are musicians. Each night at any given moment,there are literally a hundred jam sessions going on. The documentary  also explores the evolving concepts behind Old Time. Also featured are interviews and performances of legendary West Virginia fiddler Lester McCumbers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03lusDmD_v4

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