Earthtones is a television series focusing on environmental science taking place at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Environment Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Natural Resources Canada and Health Canada. The series aired on the Discovery Channel's @ discovery.ca between 1998 and 2001.
Video Player Help | Teacher's Guides
Advanced House | Natural Resources Canada |
Discover how your choices and actions as an individual, can save energy and help fight global warming (text and video).
Alien Bugs | Natural Resources Canada |
Learn about efforts to erradicate the Brown Spruce Longhorn Beetle, an alien species that has caused the deaths of red spruce trees in Halifax, Nova Scotia (text and video).
Alternative Fuels | Natural Resources Canada |
Discover how alternative fuel vehicles produce up to 30% less C02 than their gasoline counterparts (text and video).
Bioremediation - Video | Fisheries and Oceans Canada |
Find out how a bioremediation strategy based on nutrient enrichment was used to clean up over 100 kilometres of oil-contaminated shoreline (text and video).
Bird Migration | Environment Canada |
Discover how changing patterns of wind and severe weather resulting from climate change threaten the migratory patterns of birds (text and video).
Bottled Water | Health Canada |
Find out about efforts to ensure that bottled water does not contain harmful contaminants, such as bacteria (text and video).
Bottlenose Whales | Fisheries and Oceans Canada |
Venture to Sable Gully in Nova Scotia to learn about the northern bottlenose whale (text and video).
Campod and Videograb | Fisheries and Oceans Canada |
Discover how scientists are using state-of-the-art sampling equipment to add to our knowledge and understanding of the resources and natural wonders of our oceans (text and video).
Cherries | Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada |
Learn about the Stella variety of cherry, which transformed the sweet cherry industry by becoming the world's first self-fertile variety with high-quality fruit (text and video).
Chlamydia | Health Canada |
Meet Dr. Rosanna Peeling, a scientist at Health Canada who developed a test for chlamydia that can help make some of its long-term complications, such as infertility, a thing of the past (text and video).
Chlorinated Solvents - Vitamin B12 | Environment Canada |
See a demonstration of an innovative approach to cleaning up chlorinated solvents using vitamin B12 (text and video).
Cyclospora | Health Canada |
Learn about research done to reduce illness in consumers resulting from the increasing availability of exotic foods (text and video).
DDT (Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) | Environment Canada |
Find out why DDT was banned in 1972, and why this decision was one of the most important steps in protecting wildlife and people from the effects of pesticides (text and video).
De-Ice Bugs | Natural Resources Canada |
Learn about Pseudomonis putida, bacteria that degrades ethylene glycol efficiently to protect bodies of water from the deicing fluid used on the wings of planes (text and video).
Designer Pigs | Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada |
Discover how the diet of pigs can be adjusted to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus, two of the pollutants contained in pig manure (text and video).
Dr. John Amyot | Health Canada |
Explore the accomplishments of Dr. John Amyot, whose many contributions to the science of public health include the filtration and chlorination of water, production of vaccines and the pasteurization of milk (text and video).
Experimental Lakes | Fisheries and Oceans Canada |
Visit the experimental lakes area, where scientists are trying to replicate potential environmental risks, such as acidification and flooding that usually occur on a much larger scale (text and video).
Experimental Mines | Natural Resources Canada |
Visit a former working mine that is now dedicated to research for developing and testing safe, cost-effective mining equipment and systems (text and video).
Fallout | Health Canada |
Learn about fallout radiation in Canada’s North and how it can travel through the food chain to humans (text and video).
Fraser River Valley | Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada |
Find out what impact ground-level pollution, or smog, has on crop production in B.C.’s Fraser Valley (text and video).
Grass Grows Green on the Range | Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada |
Discover how deep-rooted perennial grasses, such as Rough Fescue, help protect prairie landscapes from drought and wind and water erosion (text and video).
Green Golfing | Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada |
Picture a golf course as a microcosm of the urban environment to find out how waste can keep a fairway green. (Text and video)
Hibernia Drill Wastes | Fisheries and Oceans Canada |
Discover how researchers are determining the potential environmental damage caused by offshore oil drilling (text and video).
Ice Cores | Natural Resources Canada |
See how studies of ice cores are helping to decipher past environmental change (text and video).
Insects | Natural Resources Canada |
Learn about the threat that alien insect species can pose when they make their way into Canada (text and video).
Integrated Pest Management / Peaches | Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada |
Learn about Integrated Pest Management to find out how scientists are able to reduce both the numbers of fruit tree pests as well as the use of pesticides (text and video).
Level 4 Laboratory | Health Canada |
Find out why researchers have built a Level Four containment lab to bring to Canada some of the deadliest diseases known to humanity (text and video).
Lior Typing | Health Canada |
Meet Dr. Hermy Lior, who was instrumental in developing research tests and methods to distinguish different types of the bacteria E. coli and Campylobacter (text and video).
Loons and Mercury | Environment Canada |
Find out what factors may have led to the high levels of mercury found in Nova Scotia loons in 1995 (text and video).
Marquis Wheat | Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada |
Learn how Charles Saunders developed Marquis wheat, a crop that flourishes under Canadian weather conditions (text and video).
Massasauga Rattler | Environment Canada |
Meet Ontario’s only poisonous snake, the Massasauga Rattler, and find out about efforts to understand and protect this threatened species (text and video).
Meteorological Pioneers (weather) | Environment Canada |
Find out how Dr. André Robert revolutionized meteorology by creating the first Canadian computerized simulations of weather patterns (text and video).
Methane Emissions | Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada |
Find out how changes in a cow’s diet could reduce its methane emissions, making these animals more environmentally friendly (text and video).
Mold Vaccine | Health Canada |
Meet Dr. Hari Vijay, a research scientist at Health Canada who has developed internationally recognized research on the standardization of mold allergens (text and video).
Muriel's Marsh | Environment Canada |
Visit one marsh that provides an example of the value of wetlands, the diverse life they contain and consequences of their loss (text and video).
Peregrine Falcon Recovery | Environment Canada |
Find out how Canadian biologists used a captive breeding program to bring back Anatum Peregrine Falcons after DDT caused their disappearance from North America (text and video).
Pythium and Tomatoes | Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada |
Learn about pythium, a fungus that threatens indoor farming of tomatoes (text and video).
Seabed Mapping | Fisheries and Oceans Canada |
Learn about Canadian technology for mapping the seafloor, and find out how it was used in recovery efforts following the crash of Swiss Air flight 111 (text and video).
Shepody Potato | Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada |
Learn about the Shepody potato, which has been adapted for Canada’s short growing season and is becoming one of the most popular potato varieties for French Fries (text and video).
Spartan Apples | Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada |
Learn about the mysterious parentage of the Spartan apple and the science behind breeding better apple species (text and video).
Storm Surges | Government of Canada |
Learn about the impact of storm surges and rising sea-levels, both of which are likely to increase as a result of climate change (text and video).
Tree DNA | Natural Resources Canada |
Discover how DNA analysis may soon be used to catch tree thieves (text and video).
Vehicle Emissions | Environment Canada |
Find out how looking at the smallest particles of vehicle exhaust helps scientists to understand the effects of pollution on human respiration (text and video).
Volunteer Climate Observers | Environment Canada |
Meet the volunteers who assist atmospheric scientists by taking time every day to monitor and report on the weather (text and video).
Whale Fin ID | Fisheries and Oceans Canada |
Find out how the field study of killer whales was revolutionized through the innovative technique of photographic identification of natural markings on individual whales (text and video).
Wheat Breeding | Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada |
Find out how wheat, the single most important source of plant protein in our diet, has been crossbred to adapt to Canadian climate and disease conditions (text and video).
Worm Watch | Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada |
Learn about the Worm Watch program and discover more about the important contribution of earthworms to soil ecology (text and video).