Media Menu for April 30, 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 April 30, 2011,
8-9 p.m. E/P
National Geographic Channel
World History and Geography
Elementary, Middle and High School

” Walking the Great Wall ” (Great Wall of China)

It's said to be over 5,000 years old and more than 4,000 miles long, but even today nobody really knows for sure. The Great Wall of China is one of the world’s most famous constructions, but it is still one of the least understood. For historian William Lindesay, exploring the Great Wall has become his lifetime obsession. In this documentary he'll journey to some of the most remote parts of China's national monument.
Log on http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/great-expeditions/5019/Overview

Sunday, May 1, 2011,
8:00-9:00 p.m. E/P
PBS
Science
Elementary, Middle and High School

” NATURE: Salmon: Running the Gauntlet”

This documentary investigates the parallel stories of collapsing Pacific salmon populations and how biologists and engineers have become instruments in audacious experiments to replicate every stage of the fish’s life cycle. Each desperate effort to save salmon has involved replacing their natural cycle of reproduction and death with a radically manipulated life history. Our once great runs of salmon are now conceived in laboratories, raised in tanks, driven in trucks and farmed in pens. The program goes beyond the ongoing debate over how to save an endangered species to expose a wildly creative, hopelessly complex and stunningly expensive approach to managing salmon. TV-G
Log on http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/salmon-running-the-gauntlet/introduction/6546/

Monday, May 2, 2011,
7-8 p.m. E/P
History
Science
Middle and High School

” Modern Marvels: Corrosion & Decomposition “

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, the aging U.S. infrastructure is in danger of collapse. Viewers of this documentary will learn about a company in Missouri that uses a trench-less technology to rebuild corroded sewer pipes from the inside out while engineers at General Motors Proving Grounds lead the battle against corrosive road de-icing salts. See how a bioreactor in Florida turns mountains of garbage methane gas. Finally, discover how the tiny termite is teaching us how to turn agricultural waste into ethanol at a fraction of the current cost. TV-PG

Tuesday, May 3, 2011,
8-9 p.m.
PBS
World History
Middle and High School
” BLACK IN LATIN AMERICA: Brazil: A Racial Paradise?”
In this documentary Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. uncovers the African roots in Latin-American countries. In Brazil, Professor Gates delves behind the façade of Carnival to discover how this “rainbow nation” is waking up to its legacy as the world’s largest slave economy.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011,
9-10 p.m. E/P
PBS
World History and Geography
Middle and High School

” NOVA: Ghosts of Machu Picchu”

Perched atop a mountain crest, mysteriously abandoned more than four centuries ago, Machu Picchu is the most famous archeological ruin in the Western hemisphere and an iconic symbol of the power and engineering prowess of the Inca. In the years since Machu Picchu was discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911, there have been countless theories about this "Lost City of the Incas," yet it remains an enigma. Why did the Incas build it on such an inaccessible site, clinging to the steep face of a mountain? Who lived among its stone buildings, farmed its emerald green terraces and drank from its sophisticated aqueduct system? This documentary follows a new generation of archeologists as they probe areas of Machu Picchu that haven't been touched since the time of the Incas and unearth burials of the people who built the sacred site. The program explores the extraordinary trail of clues that began on that fateful day in 1911 and continues to the present. TV-PG
Log on http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/ghosts-machu-picchu.html

Thursday, May 5, 2011,
8-9 p.m. E/P
Science Channel
World History and Geography
Elementary, Middle and High School

” Seven Wonders of Ancient Greece”

The ancient Greeks built the first theatres, staged the first sports events and worshipped in some of the most spectacular temples ever built. From prehistoric palaces to bold symbols of victory, this documentary explores the wonders of this ancient civilization. TV-G
Log on http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/seven-wonders-of-ancient-greece

Thursday, May 5, 2011,
8-9 p.m. E/P
National Geographic Channel
Science
Middle and High School

” Known Universe: The Biggest and Smallest ”

From the enormous universe in which we exist to tiny atoms that make up the building blocks of everything around us, size matters when it comes to understanding the cosmos. Starting with our solar system, this documentary explores the true meaning of word "big." Odds are you saw a model of the solar system made in grade school. With incredibly realistic CGI, we'll reveal how that model, if built to scale, wouldn't fit inside a football field, much less a classroom.
Log on http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/known-universe/3061/Overview#ixzz1KrogCkzW

Friday, May 6, 2011,
8:30-10 p.m. ET, 5:30-7 p.m. PT
Ovation Channel
Arts and Geography
Middle and High School

” Art & the City: Paris ”

In this documentary the host is David Keeps – he uncovers cutting edge art and design in highly regarded attractions as well as in uncovered corners throughout the US and Europe. This time he explores the scene in Paris .
Log on http://davidkeeps.com/

Saturday, May 7, 2011,
6-8 p.m. E/P
History Channel
U.S. History
Middle and High School

” Custer's Last Man: I Survived Little Big Horn"

The Battle of the Little Big Horn is one of the most iconic events in American history. It is an amazing story, but until now it has never been fully told. Many questions still remain but one question remains above all the others, did any of Custer's soldiers survive? New evidence will prove that a soldier named August Finkle was the lone survivor of "Custer's Last Stand," a battle that is practically synonymous with "no survivors." Forensics on the man's skeleton and his two gunshot wounds will definitely show that the story he reluctantly told the world nearly 50 years after the battle was true. He alone survived, and his tale of what actually went on in the battle will revise our interpretation of the events of the day. This documentary will also reveal the amazing story of seven others who very nearly survived--who rode for miles away from the carnage only to succumb to their own fear and turn their weapons on themselves. TV-PG
Log on http://www.historynet.com/survivor-frank-finkels-lasting-stand.htm

Saturday, May 7, 2011,
10-11:45 p.m. ET, 7- 8:45 p.m. PT
TCM - Turner Classic Movie Channel
U.S. History
Middle and High School

” Salt Of The Earth”

This classic movie is being broadcast during the week of the Cinco de Mayo holiday celebrations in Mexico and in the U.S. Based on an actual strike against the Empire Zinc Mine in New Mexico, the movie deals with the prejudice against the Mexican-American workers, who struck to attain wage parity with Anglo workers in other mines and to be treated with dignity by the bosses. The film is also an early treatment of feminism, because the wives of the miners play a pivotal role in the strike, against their husbands’ wishes. In the end, the greatest victory for the workers and their families is the realization that prejudice and poor treatment are conditions that are not inevitable.
Log on http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047443/