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Young people can be motivated to learn science using the power of various entertainment media. The author states the need to recognise that they are accessing science through informal learning outside school. With children saying they have learnt from cartoons such as Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants, it would seem that entertaining animations can also be useful learning resources (Swann, 2013). Children understand what is real based on 'modality judgements' (Chandler, 1997): if what they see on a programme and real-life perceptions are very different, the programme has a weak modality. In this study the author states that young people can learn science from entertainment programmes, as they are relaxed and engaged by novel content and believable situations. They feel that programmes and films can be both entertaining and educational, and content is more important to them than format. It is also valuable for us as educators to know that children can pick up accurate science from many sources of popular culture.

Sai Pathmanathan writes in this article that, over the years, her experience working with early-years children (ages 3-5) has taught her that learning it is not about whether the children get the answer right, but more about nurturing their curiosity, encouraging play and learning through hands-on activities, promoting motor skills, group work, and nurturing creativity and observation. The accuracy can come later. She does express that, whatever the age, children do need to engage in science for themselves, and there is a wealth of science in the popular films that children watch that provide many engaging formats for the discovery of science. This article describes a "Portal to the Past" week at Windhill Primary School, Hertfordshire, nursery and reception classes (ages 3-5) in which the children participated in some "Ice Age" Science activities, beginning with watching some clips from the film "Ice Age". The purpose of the activity was to encourage children to focus on the learning in an engaging manner. The article demonstrates how engaging young children in the use of popular entertainment media, combined with hands-on learning activities, can help young children demonstrate science understanding well beyond their years.