Top 7 Educational Documentaries For High School Kids

We often spend hours on Amazon Prime and Netflix to get some entertainment. But have you thought of them as a source of education? Turns out both these services have some pretty informative shows that teenagers can learn a lot from.

Here’s a list of the top educational documentaries for high school kids:

1. Our Planet
   Year of release: 2019
   Duration: 50-minute episodes
   Our Planet showcases the immense beauty of Mother Earth and tells us how climate change affects all of its living beings. There is nothing quite like Sir David Attenborough’s legendary narration. And when they are combined with captivating visuals, it is a match made in heaven. But it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows of late. The documentary also shows us the gloomy picture that global warming has started painting. High School kids must know that we all must take care of nature. Our Planet won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction series in 2019.
2. Disneynature: Wings of Life
   Year of release: 2011
   Duration: 81 minutes
   It’s common knowledge that we get honey from honeybees. But Albert Einstein once stated that humanity would go extinct within four years if they suddenly disappeared from the Earth. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Turns out that pollination accounts for about 80% of crop plants in the world. Although flowers are primarily known for being visually pleasing, they also have the male organ of a flower. Bees, birds, and bats play an essential role in pollination by carrying the pollen to the female part of the plant. The documentary shows a bat, bee, butterfly, and hummingbird unknowingly helping the process of pollination.
3. Waterschool
   Year of release: 2018
   Duration: 67 minutes
   This documentary follows six girls from different parts of the world. They have one thing in common – they all live close to one of the world’s major rivers. These six girls are taught about water, its sustainability, and the various ways in which it affects the planet’s health. The girls then apply all they’ve learned in their local communities along the Amazon, Nile, Mississippi, Danube, Ganges, and Yangtze rivers. You’ll learn a great deal about water and its conservation.
4. Last Chance U
   Year of release: 2016
   Duration: 60-minute episodes
   Last Chance U explores the struggles of several collegiate athletes. All of them are talented football players trying to get over their troubled pasts. They all are trying to get themselves together so that they secure admissions to distinguished college programs. While the first season focused on the East Mississippi Community College, the docuseries has now moved its attention to another junior college. High-schoolers will understand that it is possible to recover from setbacks and make it big in life.
5. Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things
   Year of release: 2016
   Duration: 77 minutes
   We are all running the rat race working day in day out to keep up with the Joneses. Because of advertisements, we end up spending just to stay in touch with the latest trends. But are our lives just about that? Minimalism shows how the American Dream has changed drastically. It shows us the need to take control of our lives. It tells us to ditch the materialist life to take control of our time and money. Only after doing that will we be able to focus on things that matter. High-schoolers must know that it is more convenient to build a happy life on such foundations.
6. Dream Big: Engineering Our World
   Year of release: 2017
   Duration: 42 minutes
   This documentary describes in detail the role engineers play in shaping the world as we know it. It is a brilliant watch if you are trying to get your high-schooler interested in STEM subjects – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The topic is as dull as they come, but the filmmakers have made it compelling. If a high-schooler has not made chosen any career path yet, this documentary could turn him/her towards a STEM career.
7. In the shadow of the moon
   Year of release: 2007
   Duration: 100 minutes
   Manning the moon is considered one of mankind’s best achievements. In the shadow of the moon is all about NASA’s moon missions. This documentary takes you behind the scenes with interviews of the outstanding astronauts that were part of those moon missions. Whatever you know about moon missions, you’ll learn something more about them through this documentary.