Damn fascinating -- this finally solves a mystery I've grappled with since elementary school. My 4th grade year (in the mid-early 2000s) was themed heavily around... whales. We watched the first season of "The Voyage of the Mimi" over the course of the year and learned all other sorts of whale facts. This was in a public school outside of Philadelphia; I had just transferred from a private Quaker school and was thoroughly confused. Somewhat by the whole public school experience, but mostly by the focus on whales. By the time we were watching it the curriculum had lost all focus on math, science, or computers; the original software materials were probably totally out of date at that point, so it makes sense.

Thanks for posting this @curtis; I had no idea that it was funded by the Department of Education.