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Some Assembly Required

What’s the Story?

Reviewed by Melissa Camacho

SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED is an educational series that shows how everyday products are created and mass produced for the consumer public. In each episode, humorist Brian Unger and University of Virginia physics professor Lou Bloomfield work alongside people on factory floors in order to learn how to make items like guitars, lip balm, and hurricane-proof windows. The pair shows how the featured products are created from start to finish, while offering some historical background and scientific explanation about how each thing works.

Is It Any Good?

3

While the series is very informative, it lacks some of the spark needed to make it fun viewing for kids who don't already get a kick out of science. Its focus on almost every step of the product-assembly process sometimes makes it a little tedious. But the uncomplicated scientific explanations give interested tweens and teens a real chance to learn the physics behind how the products we use every day actually work.

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