Educators routinely ask the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for content on the ocean-weather-climate connection, so we created this project in response.
Scientific literacy among children is critical for building a society equipped to address environmental challenges, including climate change. However, communicating the intricacies of weather and climate in a way that resonates with children has been a hurdle. Traditional educational tools often lack the humor, creativity, and relatability needed to capture young viewers’ attention. NOAA needed a fresh approach to explain these topics and inspire action.
Additionally, raising awareness about NOAA’s work is critical for maintaining public support for federal science initiatives. Therefore, we created a product that showcases NOAA’s high-tech tools and groundbreaking research to foster public appreciation for the agency’s role in safeguarding lives and property.
We aim to have a lasting impact, encouraging students to pursue careers in science and fostering a greater appreciation for NOAA’s role in safeguarding our planet.
NOAA Ocean Today developed the project in collaboration with staff from multiple NOAA offices.
During pre-production, a diverse educator review board reviewed scripts, animatics, and advised on the project. Series co-star and co-writer Tom Di Liberto, a NOAA climate scientist and communicator, was instrumental in brainstorming and scripting the video series.
While kids’ TV and digital series typically have dozens of illustrators and animators working on them, we created our entire video series with three in-house animators, only one of whom does animation as their full-time job at NOAA. NOAA animation/design specialist Michael Pai illustrated the 2D characters and created 3D animation of Teek’s spaceship BARY using Maya software. The other two animators brought the 2D characters to life using Adobe Character Animator and After Effects.
Additionally, to keep costs down, all of our voiceover—with the exception of the main character Teek—was done entirely by NOAA staff. We also filmed on location at NOAA facilities for our live action sequences, bringing scenes to life with a combination of practical and digital effects.
The National Ocean Service Education Coordinator worked with a master educator to create two formal lesson plans to accompany each episode. We designed the five videos and ten accompanying lesson plans to align with the Next Generation Science Standards, Common Core Math and Common Core English and Language Arts Standards at the fourth-through-sixth-grade level.
A cross-line team of communications professionals and scientific experts developed a comprehensive communications strategy, including a national press release coinciding with the launch encouraging interest from news outlets, including The Weather Channel. The launch included a dynamic website, social media campaign, and future plans to engage media outlets to expand the reach of the series. The series was also provided to NOAA’s largest distribution of more than 120,000 educators via email.
The project was promoted at National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) conferences via postcard distribution, a preview screening, and a lesson plan workshop to garner feedback.
Teek and Tom represents a groundbreaking approach to science communication. The integration of live-action performance with animation, combined with humor and storytelling, sets a new standard for engaging educational content from NOAA. In fact, it’s our first ever animated series! Teek—an extraterrestrial with a fresh perspective on Earth—adds a unique narrative device that captures children’s imaginations. And Tom’s ability to bridge the gap between expert and entertainer ensures the series resonates with its audience.
The response is overwhelmingly positive. Early feedback from educators indicates that the series will become a valuable classroom tool. Museums and other learning venues have asked to show the series to school groups and use the lessons as part of their professional development programming. NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad lauded the series as one of the agency’s most effective communication tools to date.
Since our Dec. 3, 2024 launch, the project’s webpage has had over 4,000 views, making it the most visited page on the NOAA Ocean Today website since launch. The lesson plans have been downloaded nearly 1,000 times. A Facebook post with the trailer and a link to the series had a reach of 7,400 and watch time of 460 minutes, our second highest reaching post and third highest watch time of 2024. On X, the trailer had 19,000 views, also one of our top performing posts.
