The Education Network Best Ten List Articles
Netflix has made some of its most popular documentaries available for free, perfect for remote learners and their teachers.
They’ve put 34 documentaries (some documentaries have multiple episodes) on YouTube for free at the request of teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. They’ve always allowed teachers access to educational documentaries via Netflix for free (so they can show students in the class), but now teachers are having to move classes online. Very commendable to see a global big fish putting education before making an extra buck! Well done Netflix!
All 10 of the free documentaries are available on Netflix’s YouTube channel, and neither a Netflix nor a YouTube account is required to start streaming. The documentaries are all in English, but subtitles are available for more than a dozen other languages.
Here’s a complete list of the free documentaries that Netflix has posted on its YouTube channel:
#10. Our Planet (TV series, all eight episodes)
The entire eight-episode run of the David Attenborough-hosted Our Planet is now streaming for free
NetFlix Our Planet – Planet Diversity
In the following episode witness the planet’s breathtaking diversity — from seabirds carpet-bombing the ocean to wildebeests eluding the wild dogs of the Serengeti.
NetFlix Our Planet – Frozen Worlds
In this episode: On the unforgiving frontier of climate change, polar bears, walruses, seals and penguins find their icy Edens in peril.
NetFlix Our Planet – Jungles
In this episode: Jungles and rainforests are home to an incredible variety of species like preening birds, intelligent orangutans and remarkably ambitious ants.
NetFlix Our Planet – Coastal Seas
In this episode: From fearsome sharks to lowly urchins, 90% of marine creatures live in coastal waters. Protecting these habitats is battle humanity must win.
NetFlix Our Planet – Coastal Seas
In this episode: Cameras follow desert elephants seeking sustenance, bison roaming North American grasslands and caterpillars living the good life underground.
NetFlix Our Planet – High Seas
In this episode: Venture into the deep, dark and desolate oceans that are home to an abundance of beautiful — and downright strange — creatures.
NetFlix Our Planet – Fresh Water
In this episode: The need for freshwater is as strong as ever. However, the supply is becoming increasingly unpredictable for all manner of species.
NetFlix Our Planet – Forests
In this episode: Examine the fragile interdependence that exists between forests’ wide variety of residents, including bald eagles, hunting dogs and Siberian tigers.
#9. Chasing Coral (feature film)
Chasing Coral taps into the collective will and wisdom of an ad man, a self-proclaimed coral nerd, top-notch camera designers, and renowned marine biologists as they invent the first time-lapse camera to record bleaching events as they happen.
Unfortunately, the effort is anything but simple, and the team doggedly battles technical malfunctions and the force of nature in pursuit of their golden fleece: documenting the indisputable and tragic transformation below the waves.
With its breathtaking photography, nail-biting suspense, and startling emotion, Chasing Coral is a dramatic revelation that won’t have audiences sitting idle for long.
#8. 13th (feature film)
The title of Ava DuVernay’s Oscar-nominated documentary refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which reads, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.” DuVernay lays out the progression from that second qualifying clause to the horrors of mass criminalization and the sprawling American prison industry.
Combining archival footage with testimony from activists and scholars, director Ava DuVernay’s examination of the U.S. prison system looks at how the country’s history of racial inequality drives the high rate of incarceration in America. This piercing, Oscar-nominated film won Best Documentary at the Emmys, the BAFTAs and the NAACP Image Awards.
#7. Knock Down the House (feature film)
Four female candidates — each driven by personal experience and hardship — enter the 2018 race for Congress, challenging powerful incumbents for a spot at the table and a voice in government. This emotional documentary follows their campaigns.
#6. Period. End of Sentence (short subject)
In rural India, where the stigma of menstruation persists, women make low-cost sanitary pads on a new machine and stride toward financial independence.
#5. The White Helmets (short subject)
As daily airstrikes pound civilian targets in Syria, a group of indomitable first responders risk their lives to rescue victims from the rubble.
#4. Zion (short subject)
Born without legs and stuck in foster care for years, teen Zion Clark finds his calling when he pursues competitive wrestling. A documentary short.
#3. Explained (TV series, select episodes)
In partnership with Vox Media Studios and Vox, this enlightening explainer series will take viewers deep inside a wide range of culturally relevant topics, questions, and ideas.
Each episode will explore current events and social trends pulled from the zeitgeist, touching topics across politics, science, history and pop culture — featuring interviews with some of the most authoritative experts in their respective fields.
Music
When does sound become music? Why are humans so uniquely able to master musicality? Researchers talk rhythm, octaves and the magic of song and dance.
World’s Water Crisis
The global water crisis is at an inflexion point. How do we price our most valuable resource, while also ensuring access to it as a human right?
The Stock Market
Does the stock market accurately reflect the status of the economy? Finance specialists discuss market history, valuations and CEO incentives.
Abstract (TV series, season 1)
Step inside the minds of the most innovative designers in a variety of disciplines and learn how design impacts every aspect of life.
In this episode: From New Yorker covers to Instagram sketches, illustrator Christoph Niemann plays with abstraction and interactivity — and questions authenticity.
#1. Babies (TV series, select episodes)
From nature to nurture, this docuseries explores the groundbreaking science that reveals how infants discover life during their very first year.
Babies – Love
The biology of bonding unravels to reveal how caregiving, social interaction and stress can physically change both parent and newborn.
Babies – Crawling
From how they grow to how they go, three scientists find out that crawling is much more than just a transitional phase.
Babies – First words
In this episode: Experts examine the rhythm and flow of language and explore how babies break down linguistic beats before they know how to speak.
Babies – Sleep
In this episode: Researchers delve into sleep, dynamic time for babies, with studies on twitching, apps and naps.
Babies – First steps
In this episode: Scientists venture into the ways that walking changes a baby’s world and unveil findings on neonatal reflexes, skeletal development and talking.
Conclusion
You do not even need a Netflix account. Just select the documentary you like and start watching them here on Ten.info or on Youtube
Besides the documentaries themselves, Netflix is offering educational supplements to go along with the films and TV shows, including discussion guides for students and links to related online resources. Netflix said it will also be serving up Q&A sessions with the filmmakers.
