C4 Tuesdays, 11.40am-noon A series for 14 to 16-year-olds putting computer technology to good effect to show the inner workings of the body. This week, we find out about immune systems: responses to infection, active and passive immunity, white blood cells, antigens, antibodies, antitoxins and allergies. Later programmes consider homeostasis, sensory systems and genetic engineering.

The Channel 4 website (www.channel4.comlearning) has further information on each programme, activities and details of how to obtain all five parts on video (pound;19.99).

Design and Technology: Design for Life

C4 Fridays, November 1 to 29, 11.25-11.40am The aim of this series is to make 14 to 17-year-olds aware of social and cultural factors in the design of products, to understand materials, to appreciate the importance of image and lifestyle in design, and to improve their own designs. The first programme, The Super Modern Wardrobe, is about fashion and shows how clothes designers may be influenced by the past as well as their concept of the future in choosing styles and materials. Next week, The Colour of Emotion, stresses the importance of colour and light; later, there are programmes on the role of design in improving daily life, and the series ends with Zen and the Art of Cycle Design, which follows two contrasting solutions to the problems of making a bicycle: should function dictate form, or is the primary aim to create a beautiful object?

Beginners’ Theme Night: Culture and Music

BBC2 Wednesday, November 6, 2-4am and Thursday, November 7, 2-4am The BBC overnight broadcast on November 6 is devoted to giving students over 11 a taste of cultural life in three European countries, with songs from the German and French series Hallo aus Berlin and Quinze Minutes Plus, then two music programmes from the Spanish series Revista. On the following night, a further eight programmes from Revista widen the scope to include interviews and features about how young Spanish people live. Resource packs, video packs and teachers’ notes are available for all the programmes.

Let’s Write a Story

BBC2 Tuesdays, November 5-19 (repeated November 26 to December 10), 11-11.30am This new three-parter that aims to help the seven to nine-year-old pen chewer with a bad case of writer’s block. We meet someone facing the challenge of a story-writing competition. He wants to enter, but where is he to find a plot and some characters? Eventually, his own surroundings provide the answers, and there are hints on how to tackle beginnings, middles and endings.

For full schedules: www.channel4.co.uklearningmainprogrammesautumn2002.cfmwww.bbc.co.ukscho olswhatsontvindex.shtml