New 3D Film Explores What Lurks in Your Backyard

When you think of wildlife, do visions of elephants and giraffes on the plains of Africa come to mind?

You're not alone.

That's why Emmy Award winning and Oscar nominated filmmakers Andrew Young and Susan Todd want you to learn about appreciating wildlife in your own backyard.

The husband and wife team got the idea to create the film "Backyard Wilderness 3D" after witnessing their own kids ignore nature and instead fixate on their smart phones and tablets.

The cinematography is breathtaking, no doubt in part due to the California Science Center's impressive IMAX 3D theatre. Children at the media screening of the film were seen reaching out and trying to grab falling birds and 3D frogs that appeared to be jumping right off the screen.

Young and Todd also released an app kids called SEEK, which coincides with the release of this film, that kids can use to identify critters in their own backyards using their phones. You can download it for free here.

After learning about ecosystems from the film, visitors can get a hands-on experience by exploring the Ecosystems Exhibit and the California Science Center. It includes touching sea stars, seeing a real kelp farm, and witnessing a flash flood in a desert ecosystem (Be ready to get wet in the splash zone!).