Best 5 Episodes of the Planet Earth Series

The Planet Earth series is an extraordinary and unprecedented set of documentaries that anyone interested in the natural world should not miss. The footage in Planet Earth was collected over the span of 3 years and offers in-depth unique views of the Earth's diverse flora and fauna. While each of the episodes is breathtaking it its own way, here are overviews of 5 of the most spectacular Planet Earth episodes.

1. Jungles

The Planet Earth episode entitled "Jungles" is a unique look at jungles and tropical rainforests in New Guinea, the Congo, and Uganda. The footage on New Guinea's birds of paradise is really quite spectacular. You will see colorful male birds attempting to attract female birds for mating purposes, and all of their elaborate and extraordinary dances and songs. The footage of the elaborate mating dance of the Six-Plumed Bird of Paradise is beautiful and awe-inspiring. Additionally, the time-lapse footage of bacteria and fungi that grow on the bottom of the jungle floors is really fascinating. Lastly, you will get a unique view of Pitcher Plants, carnivorous plants that lure insects into their large cavity with nectar, trap them, and slowly feed on them while they dissolve.

2. Deserts

Planet Earth's "Deserts" episode displays desert scenes from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, the Sahara Desert in Northern Africa, Egypt's White Desert, and others. You will learn that while these deserts are known for being hot and dry, the Gobi Desert drops around -40 degrees Celsius at times, forcing desert creatures to adapt to huge temperature disparities. This episode has neat thermal imaging depicting red kangaroos licking themselves to keep from overheating. Camels, reptiles, and insects must endure the sand and dust storms that tear across the Sahara-but rock structures cannot and are slowly chiseled away by the storms.

3. Caves

The episode "Caves" of Planet Earth gives viewers a really neat look inside the numerous caves in Mexico, Malaysia, New Zealand and the United States. Inside the caves are vast columns formed from stalagmites and stalactites. The episode shows glowworms inside of caves that hunt for food by dropping silk threads to catch insects for food. The views of limestone edifices and miles-long labyrinths are breathtaking.

4. Shallow Seas

Indonesia's coral reefs are shown in this spectacular episode of Planet Earth-reefs that contain the greatest variety of sea life on Earth. You'll get the best views of coral, algae, and sea creatures like crabs, octopus, and fish. At other shallow seas, you'll see dolphins grazing for food, massive great white sharks, and penguins.

5. Mountains

Planet Earth's episode "Mountains" has unbeatable footage of the largest glacier (43 miles long!) in the world. What makes this episode unrivaled is the amazing footage of puma hunts in the Andes. Pumas are rarely sighted and even less frequently photographed and recorded, so the footage in this Planet Earth episode is really quite unique. Other amazing footage includes that of the Grizzly bears in the Rocky Mountains and many other beautiful animals.

The Planet Earth Series can be purchased online at amazon.com for $47. If you are a teacher or a parent, I would encourage you to purchase or rent this set because it will provide hours of fascinating and stimulating education to you and your children or students.

To view clips of the different Planet Earth episodes, as well as access other educational information regarding our planet, go to the Planet Earth website.