Mr. Know-It-Owl's Video School was a series of videos released on videocassette and is hosted by a purple owl puppet. The Mr. Know-It-Owl series was copyrighted by Apollo Educational Video (the home video arm of AIMS Media). Aimed at younger children, Mr. Know-It-Owl (a play on "know-it-all

Know-it-all

A know-it-all or know-all is a person who believes that he/she has an accurate comprehension of a topic and/or situation when in reality, his/her comprehension is inaccurate and limited. This belief may or may not be outwardly expressed. The German word Besserwisser is also used in some languages,...

"), attempts to educate children in safety

Safety

Safety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be...

, health

Health

Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...

, grammar

Grammar

In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...

, and the three Rs

Three Rs

Three Rs , can refer to:*The three Rs, a widely-used abbreviation for the basic elements of a primary school curriculum: reading, ’riting , and ’rithmetic ...

. There were over 10 videos released. The main characters were Phineas (a bee), Scooter McGruder (a puppet

Puppet

A puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by an entertainer, who is called a puppeteer. It is used in puppetry, a play or a presentation that is a very ancient form of theatre....

 child with red hair), and of course, Mr. Know-It-Owl (the purple owl

Owl

Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...

 with glasses).

Main characters

Mr. Know-It-Owl

Mr. Know-It-Owl mostly has purple feathers but has shiny blue ones over his chest area and wears yellowish circular glasses. He lives inside a tree hollowed out to be his home. It includes a bookshelf with several books. He also has a globe, on which the bee perched from time to time. A chalkboard appeared in one episode. While teaching a lesson, Mr. Know-It-Owl uses "the window of knowledge," which is a round window near the top of his tree that opens up before the video tutorial begins.

Scooter McGruder

Scooter is a curious young boy with red hair, green eyes, and a yellow shirt with the letter "E" on it in red. He is often the one that is instructed by Mr. Know-It-Owl.

Phineas

Phineas is a honeybee that lives with Mr. Know-It-Owl in his tree.

Videos

Over 10 videos of the Mr. Know-It-Owl series were made. The following video titles are listed below, along with their summaries.

• "African Animals (Animals of Africa)"

• "All About Animals"

• "Arithmetic for Kids"

• "Dinosaurs and Strange Creatures" (1988)

In this video, Mr. Know It Owl introduces dinosaurs, using stop-motion animation dinosaur figures. Among the dinosaurs shown are Coelophysis

Coelophysis

Coelophysis , meaning "hollow form" in reference to its hollow bones , is one of the earliest known genera of dinosaur...

, Ankylosaurus

Ankylosaurus

Ankylosaurus is a genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur, containing one species, A. magniventris...

, Monoclonius

Monoclonius

Monoclonius was a ceratopsian dinosaur from the Judith River Formation of Late Cretaceous Montana and Canada. It is often confused with Centrosaurus, a similar genus of ceratopsian . Monoclonius was described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1876...

, Styracosaurus

Styracosaurus

Styracosaurus was a genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur from the Cretaceous Period , about 76.5 to 75.0 million years ago...

, Triceratops

Triceratops

Triceratops is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsid dinosaur which lived during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period, around 68 to 65 million years ago in what is now North America. It was one of the last dinosaur genera to appear before the great Cretaceous–Paleogene...

, and Tyrannosaurus rex. Afterwards, is a segment about prehistoric mammals. Once again, stop-motion animation figures are used. Some of the creatures which are shown are Eohippus, Diatryma, Platybelodon

Platybelodon

Platybelodon was a genus of large herbivorous mammal related to the elephant . It lived during the Miocene Epoch, about 15-4 million years ago, and ranged over Africa, Europe, Asia and North America...

, Baluchatherium, Glyptodon

Glyptodon

Glyptodon was a large, armored mammal of the family Glyptodontidae, a relative of armadillos that lived during the Pleistocene Epoch. It was roughly the same size and weight as a Volkswagen Beetle, though flatter in shape...

, Megatherium

Megatherium

Megatherium was a genus of elephant-sized ground sloths endemic to Central America and South America that lived from the Pliocene through Pleistocene existing approximately...

, Smilodon

Smilodon

Smilodon , often called a saber-toothed cat or saber-toothed tiger, is an extinct genus of machairodonts. This saber-toothed cat was endemic to North America and South America, living from near the beginning through the very end of the Pleistocene epoch .-Etymology:The nickname "saber-tooth" refers...

, and the Wooly Mammoth. Finally is a segment about various animal adaptations, including anteaters, and chameleons.

• "Dragons and Sailboats"

• "Grammar as Easy as ABC"

• "Learning As We Play"

• "Letters, Colors, and Ducks"

• "MacDonald's Farm"

• "Make Your Own Toys - Toys At Your Fingertips"

• "Nature's Systems"

• "Health Tips" (1986)

The following videos are shown. "The Junk Food Man," which lasts 10 minutes. "Nutrition: Try It, You'll Like It," runs for 11 minutes. "Magic Weapons For Healthy Teeth," lasts for 15 minutes, and finally, "Ear Care," lasts for 9 minutes. The total running time for this video is approximately 45 minutes.

• "Safety Tips" (1986)

When Scooter moves, Mr. Know-It-Owl gives him several important safety tips. A total of four short videos are shown. The first one ("Emergencies: What Would You Do?" (1977)) deals with handling emergencies like drowning, ingesting chemicals, bleeding, and falling. The second one features "Roscoe's Rules (1973)," in which a drumming bear toy offers tips on how to avoid strangers. The third one is called "Hush Puppy's Bright Idea" (1976), and in this one, the puppets emphasize the importance of wearing reflective materials and being careful at night. The fourth and final video ("Electrical Safety: A to Zap" (1970)) was an animated spiel about a naive housecat who receives a long lecture from a pink mouse about electrical safety.

• "Under the Sea"

• "Weather" (1987)

Mr. Know-It-Owl's tutorial involves weather and how nature acts to cause the various weather patterns. It is 32 minutes long.

External links

• http://www.ccsu.edu/library/nadeau/Bibliographies/Nutrition.htm
• http://web.ccsu.edu/library/nadeau/videolist2001/videofivehundred3.htm
• http://www.henry.k12.ga.us/cur/mybodjbh.htm
• http://www.videolearning.com/S0705.HTM
• http://dbweb.nebo.edu/zz1/IMC/lookup.php?PHPSESSID=&catalog=40530&new=0
• Apollo Educational Video and AIMS Media