Ice Age Death Trap

Ice Age Death Trap, a one-hour NOVA-National Geographic program about the fossil find, will premiere on WCVE PBS / WHTJ PBS Wednesday, February 1, 2012.  The television special follows scientists as they race against time to uncover this unique site packed with astonishingly well-preserved bones of mammoths, mastodons, and other giant extinct beasts, opening a vivid window into the vanished world of the Ice Age.

They unearth evidence that entire families of mastodons died as they grazed beside an ancient lake.  Patiently, clue by clue, the team reconstructs a macabre scenario in which the soil beside the lake liquefies, then hardens, swiftly trapping entire mastodon families.  Unable to move, the mighty tusked beasts slowly starve to death.

Featuring ingenious scientific work and spectacular fossils, Ice Age Death Trap reveals intimate secrets of the life and death of North America’s most exotic and extreme creatures.

Tune in February 1 at 9:00 p.m. on WCVE PBS / WHTJ PBS

SOL:  Science-K.1, K.6, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 5.7, ES.10, ES.12, BIO.7, BIO.8

Program Length:  1 hour