Media Menu for February 12, 2011

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, February 12, 2011,
10 a.m. – 2 a.m. ET, 7-10 p.m. PT
TCM- Turner Classic Movie Channel
U.S. History
Middle and High School

“Gone With the Wind”

This Oscar-winning movie provides an ideas of what life and the issues were before, during and after the Civil War. Viewers follow the story of a fictional family, the O'Hara’s, one of the most prominent and wealthy families in Georgia and their plantation Tara which is often host to the region's biggest social events. Among the O'Hara children, Scarlett is the most headstrong, vain and impetuous of three daughters. She has her choice of many suitors but becomes intent on marrying Ashley Wilkes, a sensitive intellectual. When the Civil War erupts and brings devastation and poverty to the O'Hara family, Scarlett becomes the one who fights the hardest to preserve her family's beloved Tara. Through the roughest period of the Reconstruction, Scarlett struggles to maintain ownership of her estate while resisting and eventually succumbing to her most ardent suitor, Rhett Butler, who matches her in stubborn determination . TV-G
Log on http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=414427

Sunday, February 13, 2011,
9-9:30 p.m. E/P
Nickelodeon Channel
U.S. History
Elementary, Middle and High School

Nick news with Linda Ellerbee: Beyond I Have A Dream”

In 1963, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said he had a dream of racial equality. But Dr. King had more than one dream, and his message went well beyond a plea for racial equality. In recognition of Black History Month, and in honor of the 25th year we’ve celebrated Dr. King’s birthday as a national holiday, this documentary focuses on what else the man said — and dreamed — and what it might mean to kids in this, the second decade of the 21st century. ”Kids sometimes tell us all they know, all they’re taught, is that he was the ‘I have a dream guy.’ And he was, but that’s not all he was,” said program host Linda Ellerbee. “For instance, Dr. King said, ‘Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.’ Well, there are some smart, strong kids out there planting their own apple trees. These are some of their stories.”
Each kids’ story segment begins with a related quote from Dr. King that does not come from his famous “I Have a Dream” speech:
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
“Human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals.”
“Life’s most urgent question is: what are you doing for others “Hate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love.”
Log on http://news.nick.com/02/2011/04/beyond-i-have-a-dream

Sunday, February 13, 2011,
10:30-11:30 p.m. E/P
PBS
U.S. History
Elementary, Middle and High School

” Digital Media: New Learners Of The 21ST Century ”

Documenting five success stories both inside and out of the classroom, this program demonstrates how digital media, games, smart phones and the Internet are fundamentally transforming the way young people communicate, collaborate, participate and learn in the 21st century. Targeted at parents, teachers and anyone concerned with education in America, the program takes viewers to the front lines of an education revolution. It examines how digital media practices can empower young people to direct their own learning and both inside and out of the classroom. TV-G
Log on http://www.pbs.org/digital-media

Monday, February 14, 2011,
7-7:30 p.m. E/P (check local listings)
ABC
Science and Technology
Elementary, Middle and High School

”Jeopardy: A Computer Named "Watson" vs. Show’s Most Successful Prior Contestants - Round One”

Watson, named after IBM founder Thomas J. Watson, was built by a team of IBM scientists who set out to accomplish a grand challenge - build a computing system that rivals a human's ability to answer questions posed in natural language with speed, accuracy and confidence. The Jeopardy format provides a challenge because the game's clues involve analyzing subtle meaning, irony, riddles, and other complexities in which humans excel and computers traditionally do not. Competing against Watson will be two of the most celebrated players ever to appear on Jeopardy. Ken Jennings broke the Jeopardy record for the most consecutive games played by winning 74 games in a row during the 2004-2005 season, resulting in winnings of more than $2.5 million. Brad Rutter won the highest cumulative amount ever by a single Jeopardy! player, earning $3,255,102. (Rounds Two and Three air in this time slot February 15 and 16, respectively)
Log on http://www.jeopardy.com/news/watson1x7ap4.php

Monday, February 14, 2011,
10-11 p.m. E/P
National Geographic Channel
Science and Geography
Elementary, Middle and High School

” Explorer: Clash of the Americas”

It may have been one of the most cataclysmic geologic events of the last 60 million years, which shaped America as we know it today. The narrow, 400-mile-long Isthmus of Panama, once buried below the sea, rose up and connected North and South America. This new land bridge unleashed an astonishing animal encounter: Prehistoric predators and prey — each unique to their worlds — came face-to-face for the first time. An armor-plated ancestor of the armadillo. A saber-toothed marsupial. A horse-like creature with three-toed feet. Evolutionary history changed forever as animals from the continents clashed. Today, as shown in this documentary, scientists are on a quest to discover what happened and which creatures survived.
Log on http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/explorer/4831/Overview

Tuesday, February 15, 2011,
10-11 p.m. ET, 7-8 p.m. PT
CNBC
Science and Economics
Middle and High School

” 60 Minutes on CNBC: Science & Money”

This program takes viewers a step further into investigative reports, interviews, profiles, and features stories that have made "60 Minutes" important viewing. CNBC now presents updates and never before seen footage of these award winning business news stories. Included in this program :
The Cost of Dying - reports on the high cost of end-of-life care and the explosive political debate surrounding health care.
Are They Safe? Are everyday plastics dangerous to you health? 60 Minutes on CNBC investigates the questions surrounding the safety of chemicals found in plastics and their effects on humans and fetuses.
Patented - reports on the controversy over the practice of biotech companies patenting of specific human genes.
Log on http://www.cnbc.com/id/40795923

Wednesday, February 16, 2011,
8-9 p.m. E/P
PBS
Science and Economics
Middle and High School

” NOVA scienceNOW ”

Where Did We Come From? Where did the very first living thing on Earth come from? Can a simple injection erase a painful memory? In this episode of NOVA scienceNOW, journey back in time to the birth of our solar system to examine whether the key to our planet's existence might have been the explosive shockwave of an ancient supernova. Meet a chemist who has yielded a new kind of "recipe" for natural processes to assemble and create the building blocks of life. And see how the head louse, a creepy critter that's been sucking our blood for millions of years, is offering clues about our evolution. Finally, meet neuroscientist André Fenton, who is looking into erasing painful memories with an injection. TV-G
Log on http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/where-did-we-come-from.html

Thursday, February 17, 2011,
8-9 p.m. E/P
National Geographic Channel
Science
Middle and High School

” Naked Science: Finding the Origin of Life”

Some scientists think life began on earth when it arrived on an extraterrestrial meteorite. Others claim it began in a warm pond on early Earth. Or could volcanoes and lightning have sparked early life? Now, research teams from Denmark to Hawaii are racing to understand how life may have begun — by creating it themselves. In this documentary watch as a scientist mixes up a batch of primordial soup and then zaps it with a bolt of electricity, a la Dr. Frankenstein. The results: amino acids, the building blocks of all life.
Log on http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/naked-science/4284/Overview

Friday, February 18, 2011,
9-10 p.m. ET, 6-7 p.m. PT
CNBC
Technology and Economics
Middle and High School

” The Selling Game"

TV advertising used to be such an easy business. They played the ads, we watched the ads. But along came hundreds of new channels, and Tivo, and the internet, and scattered audiences, and as the visionary ad man Peter Sealey tells us..."in the mid-1960s I could reach 80% of the women in the United States of America with three daytime black and white commercials... Today, it would take 97 prime time 30-second ads to get that same reach." This documentary is about how marketers not only survived the so called Panic on Madison Avenue, but rang in a new gilded age of advertising. Digital media, the internet and cable tv, have handed marketers incredibly powerful new keys to our hearts and minds, and wallets. We take you inside the Trojan Horses that dominate the business nowadays to show you the latest tricks in ad land. It's a new world of persuasion. You'll never look at ads the same way again. (This program repeats February 20, 10 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. PT)
Log on http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/naked-science/4284/Overview

Saturday, February 19, 2011,
5:30-8 p.m. ET, 3:30 – 5 p.m. PT
TCM- Turner Classic Movie Channel
U.S. and World History
Elementary, Middle and High School

” Sergeant York "

This Oscar-winning movie tells the true story of the farm boy who made the transition from religious pacifist to World War I hero. Cast: Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Director: Howard Hawks. On the eve of American involvement in WWII, the final scenes were being filmed at the Warner Brothers studio lot for one of the greatest war film biographies. It took many years to bring to the screen this account of America's most famous and honored war heroes, resulting in a film which would boost morale of an American public faced with the prospect of worldwide changes. TV-G
Log on http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/naked-science/4284/Overview