Dogstar - DVD & novel

In the year 2347, on a voyage from Old Earth to New Earth, a freak accident causes the Dogstar – a giant space ark containing all of the world's dogs – to become lost to mankind.

This fascinating scenario sets the scene for the heroes of the story, the Clark kids, to find the Dogstar and return the dogs of Earth to their owners. Throughout this journey, they meet strange alien races, unusual phenomena, puzzling conundrums, perplexing paradoxes and startling challenges. And that's before they even go outside. They have a personal responsibility to locate Hobart, their adorable pet, but in a broader sense they are saving the Earth from the evil genius Bob Santino and his army of Robogs.

As the story unfolds, the Clark kids are confronted with many problems concerning Earth's environment, sustainability, toxic contamination and the darker side of technology. They meet people who are attempting to clean up the world and save the planet but who are hampered by the enormity of the problem resulting from centuries of pollution and mismanagement. The series is humorous, engaging and positively brilliant in its use of Flash to achieve rich and intense animation.

The Dogstar teaching kit includes:

• compilation DVD of nine selected episodes from the Dogstar series that relate to the online teaching resources
• Dogstar book (Penguin)
• free online teaching resources in The Learning Centre (http://actf.com.au/education/learning_centre)
• interactive Dogstar Club (http://www.dogstar.tv) website featuring games, trailer and clips, production information and episode synopses

This resource would be most suitable for use in Years 4–9 in the curriculum areas of Arts (Drama, Media, Visual Arts), Design and Technology, English and Science.