Media Menu, June 26, 2010

Here are home viewing suggestions for the week, selected from online advanced TV program listings and aligned with the state and national K-12 academic standards available online.
Please consult local listings also, since actual broadcast times may vary. The Websites cited in the “Log on“ box below the tv listing provide further details about the show’s topic and may contain links to video clips from the show or a complete streaming video version of the show.

Saturday, June 26, 2010,
6-7 p.m. E/P
Science Channel
Science and Geography
Elementary, Middle and High School
"Fearless Planet: Grand Canyon”

This documentary tells the life story of the Grand Canyon, from the moment of its birth, through a painstaking period of growth over several billion years, through to the dramatic events that gouged this massive and breathtaking scar into the earth. TV-G
Log on http://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm

Sunday, June 27, 2010,
9-9:30 p.m. E/P
Nickelodeon Channel
Technology
Middle and High School
"Nick News with Linda Ellerbee :Middle School Unplugged”

In this Nickelodeon Channel special reporter Ellerbee challenged three teens to go without technology . The program follows along as the teens go seven days without smartphones, iPods, computers, MP3 players, video games, TV or radio. Nick News asked kids across the country to go online and nominate a tech-obsessed friend or sibling who needed an intervention. Three offenders were chosen and challenged to abstain from using any form of technology for one week. “They are definitely the most connected generation ever, but should we worry about that?” asks Ellerbee. “If you’re becoming a tool of your tools, worry. If you’re confusing technology with (or substituting it for) real life, worry. This was an experiment. Did the experiment change these kids? See what you think.”Michaela, 12, and Maddey, 12, nominated their friend Mary Catherine, 12, from St. Louis, Mo., for a tech intervention because, they say, she pays more attention to her cell phone than to her friends. Mary Catherine says, “I’m most definitely addicted to my phone and my computer and my iPod...in a day, I send over 200 texts.” And when her family goes out to eat? “My mom and dad, they just usually talk to each other, and I’m just in my own little world.” How was her week unplugged? Partly: “I learned I didn’t need technology all the time.” Partly: “They tried to teach me how to fish, but it didn’t work.” Wade, 14, from Half Moon Bay, Calif, agreed to take the week-long challenge when his friend Eric, 14, nominated him. On a typical day, Wade watches at least an hour of online videos; he also video chats, tweets, instant messages, goes on Facebook, plays games on the iPad and reviews tech products for his blog, Teencastic. “I agreed to take this one week without technology,” says Wade, “but I felt like I wanted to call and cancel because I don’t think I’m fully prepared…technology is sort of part of my identity.” Sure enough, without technology, Wade got lost. Literally.Deisha, 13, from Boston, Mass., was nominated by her friend Tara, 13, who feels that Deisha puts her “on hold” in order to text other people while they’re hanging out. Part way through the week, Deisha hit a wall. “I thought I was gonna be able to take it, handle it and I can’t. I might as well just go to bed and be sleeping right now.” But then she began to strum the guitar, to cook, to really be with her friends. And Deisha saw a way to be a different kind of kid. “I haven’t played like this since I was seven!”
Log on http://news.nick.com/06/2010/18/could-you-unplug/

Monday, June 28, 2010,
9-10 p.m. E/P
PBS
U.S. History and Arts
Middle and High School
"HISTORY DETECTIVES”

The stories in this history documentary are: “Iwo Jima Map” Did a Japanese map found during World War II play a role in the Battle of Iwo Jima? “Copperhead Cane”: Tracing the Civil War-era history of a cane topped with a coiled snake. “Theremin”: Is an instrument owned by a New Mexico man one of the few built by Leon Theremin himself? TV- PG
Log on http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives

Tuesday, June 29, 2010,
8-9 p.m. E/P
PBS
U.S. History and Technology
Middle and High School
"NOVA: The Spy Factory”

This documentary takes a look at the National Security Agency. The program argues that the NSA's extreme secrecy may have allowed 9/11 to happen and may still pose its own kind of threat to our national security. Three times the size of the CIA and far more secret, the NSA is comprised of top linguists, mathematicians, and technologists trained to decipher all kinds of communications—epitomizing the hidden world of high-tech, 21st-century surveillance. To show how this eavesdropping operates, the program follows the trail of just one typical e-mail sent from Asia to the U.S. Streaming as pulses of light into a fiber-optic cable, it travels across the Pacific Ocean, coming ashore in California, and finally reaching an AT&T facility in San Francisco, where the cable is split and the data sent to a secret NSA monitoring room on the floor below. This enables the NSA to intercept not only most Asian e-mail messages but also the entire U.S. internal Internet traffic. TV- PG
Log on http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/spyfactory

Wednesday, June 30, 2010
8-9 p.m. ET, 5-6 p.m. PT
CNBC Channel
U.S. History and Technology
Middle and High School
“America's Crude Reality ”

In the aftermath of the disaster in the Gulf, this documentary anchored by CNBC’s Erin Burnett, will explore our American addiction to oil and our search for safe options & new innovations for oil exploration for the future.
Log on http://www.cnbc.com/id/15837856

Thursday July 1, 2010,
10-11 p.m. E/P
National Geographic Channel
Science and Technology
Middle and High School
“Secret World of Fireworks”

This documentary explores the closely held secrets, recipes, and techniques from the world of pyrotechnic showmen. The program takes behind the scenes look into this exclusive world with unique access from Zambelli Internationale of New Castle, Pennsylvania - Americas First Family of Fireworks - along with rocket scientists and chemists from Los Alamos, New Mexico.
HTTP://CHANNEL.NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM/SERIES/NAKED-SCIENCE/4283/OVERVIEW#IXZZ0RCWIPR9C

Friday, July 2, 2010,
8-9 p.m. E/P
CNBC Channel
Economics
High School
“Wall Street”

Although its characters are fictional, this movie memorably reveals how Wall Street really works – and how the nation got into the financial hole we’re now in. The movie follows the career of one on ambitious stockbroker and his involvement with a ruthless corporate raider, Cast includes Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Martin Sheen, Terence Stamp and Sean Young. Available on DVD
Log on http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094291/

Saturday, July 3, 2010,
7-10 p.m. E/P
National Geographic Channel
Geography and Science
Elementary, Middle High School
“Headwaters to Minneapolis/ Minneapolis to Memphis/, Memphis to the Gulf”

This is a broadcast of all three episodes of a science and geography documentary about the Mississippi River: Adventurers Marcus, Stephen and Bill set out to boat the entire length of the Mississippi River in September. Things take a turn for the worse when the rough river bottom damages the motor, leaving the guys stranded in the middle of nowhere without cell service and with a Minnesota winter storm on the horizon.. In episode two, Marcus, Stephen and Bill have traveled 500 miles on their journey down the Mississippi and rainstorms are pushing the river above flood stage, making the trip even more dangerous. But unpredictable waters aren't their biggest concern; it's the four- to six-foot high waves that the barges create -- if they don't stay on their toes, they could be swallowed by a wave and capsize! In episode three, after a giant log punches a hole in the boat, forcing Marcus, Stephen and Bill out of the water to make crucial boat repairs, their journey seems to go more smoothly. But, as the finish line nears, they are faced with perhaps their biggest challenge yet -- a hurricane is barreling down on the Gulf of Mexico, where the Mississippi ends. After traveling so far, will the team be able to complete the 2, 300 mile journey?
Log on for information on each episode individually: HTTP://CHANNEL.NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM/EPISODE/HEADWATERS-TO-MINNEAPOLIS-4955/OVERVIEW#IXZZ0RCCRTSPD HTTP://CHANNEL.NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM/EPISODE/MINNEAPOLIS-TO-MEMPHIS-4956/OVERVIEW#IXZZ0RCBMF3PL HTTP://CHANNEL.NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM/EPISODE/MEMPHIS-TO-THE-GULF-4957/OVERVIEW#IXZZ0RCD3WSVO