Media Menu for May 21, 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, May 21, 2011,
6-7 p.m. ET. 3-4 p.m. PT
National Geographic Channel
Science and Technology
High School

”Fight Science: Ultimate Soldiers”

Special operations forces are an elite breed of soldiers with the ultimate military training, superior physicality and extraordinary mental ability, especially under stress. In this episode of the National Geographic’s “Fight Science’’ documentary series a team of scientists push these legendary fighters past their breaking point. A sniper is challenged to shoot between heartbeats while enduring temperature extremes inside a glass box. An Air Force pilot and an Army Ranger are spun in a gyroscope to test their ability to fight spatial disorientation.
Log on http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/fight-science/4234/Overview

Saturday, May 21, 2011,
8-9 p.m. E/P
CNN
U.S. History and Economics
Middle and High School

”CNN Presents: Don't Fail Me: Education In America”

This documentary reports on the crisis in the U.S. public education system and why America's financial future may be at risk if students fail to excel in math and science..
Log on http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2011/04/22/dont.fail.me.cnn

Sunday , May 22, 2011,
10-11 p.m. E/P
History Channel
U.S. Geography and Technology
Middle and High School

”Inspector America: Abandoned”

America has one of the greatest infrastructures in history, with roadways, dams, tunnels and bridges that were built to last. But over the decades, the infrastructure that helped our country grow hasn't kept up with the times--from underground sewers built during the Gold Rush to highways designed for 1925 traffic. This broadcast is part of a documentary series which inspects the country to see what is up to code and what needs to be fixed. Timothy Galarnyk, an infrastructure safety inspector with over 35 years of experience, hosts. His initial sweep takes him to American locations that have infrastructure challenges. He uses the tools of his trade to evaluate the structures, gauge dangers and offer opinions on how to deal with it. Galarnyk also highlights the good news and positive projects in the area. In Detroit he inspects abandoned neighborhoods, faulty power lines, and the effects of ice and snow in a proud city with a great history. TV-PG
Log in http://www.history.com/shows/inspector-america


Monday, May 23, 2011,
6-7 p.m. E/P
Planet Green Channel
World History and Science
Elementary, Middle and High School

” Engineering the Impossible : Egypt"

4000 years after the first pyramids rose from the desert in Egypt, a team of engineers, builders and investigators, as shown in this documentary, attempt to resurrect these wonders of the ancient world, and uncover the secrets of their construction.

Monday, May 23, 2011,
9-11 p.m. E/P
PBS
U.S. History and Science
High School

” AMERICAN EXPERIENCE : The Trials Of J Robert Oppenheimer”

J. Robert Oppenheimer's life and legacy are inextricably linked to America's most famous top-secret initiative — the Manhattan Project. But after World War II, this brilliant and intense scientist, tasked with the development of the atomic bomb and widely considered one of the most important minds of the 20th century, fell from the innermost circles of American science. At the height of the Red Scare, the veil of suspicion fell over Oppenheimer. He was accused of having communist sympathies and was pressed to explain his relationships with known communists. This biography presents a complex and revealing portrait of one of America's most influential scientists. Interweaving interviews with family members, scholars and colleagues with dramatic re-creations featuring Academy Award-nominated actor David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck and The Bourne Ultimatum ), this film follows Oppenheimer's fascinating arc from the heady world of international physics to the top-secret Manhattan Project and finally to the dark days of the Red Scare and McCarthyism.. TV-PG
Log on http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/oppenheimer/

Tuesday, May 24, 2011,
9-10 p.m. E/P
PBS
U.S. History and Science
Middle and High School

” FRONTLINE: Wikisecrets”

It's the biggest intelligence breach in U.S. history—the leaking of more than half-a-million classified documents on the WikiLeaks website in the spring of 2010. Behind it all, stand two very different men: Julian Assange, the Internet activist and hacker who published the documents, and an Army intelligence analyst named Bradley E. Manning, who's currently charged with handing them over. Private Manning allegedly leaked the secret cables—along with a controversial video—in the hope of inciting "worldwide discussion, debates and reforms." Assange's stated mission has been to force the U.S. and other governments into maximum transparency through his whistle-blowing website. Through in-depth interviews with Manning's father, Assange, and others close to the case, correspondent Martin Smith tells the full story behind the leaks. He also reports on the U.S. government's struggle to protect national security information in a post 9/11 world.
Log on http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/wikileaks/

Tuesday, May 24, 2011,
10 -11 p.m. E/P
History Channel
U.S. History and Geography
Middle and High School

” How The States Got Their Shapes: State Of Rebellion”

How did the most rebellious states take shape and earn their outsized features and outspoken reputations? Why does Montana look like it took a bite out of Idaho? Why wasn’t Texas broken up into five states? And why exactly do we have not one but two Carolinas? When the founding fathers drew the first map of America, they confronted many of the same challenges that unite and divide us today. This documentary explores how our borders evolved – and continue to change – in response to religion, transportation, communication, politics, culture clashes and even Mother Nature.
Log on http://www.history.com/shows/how-the-states-got-their-shapes

Wednesday, May 25, 2011,
9-10 p.m. E/P
PBS
World History and Technology
Elementary, Middle and High School

” NOVA: Secrets of the Parthenon”

Erected by the ancient Greeks as a temple to Athena, the Parthenon has served as a church, a fortress, an ammunition dump and the model for countless banks, courthouses and museums across the world. It has been shot at, exploded, set on fire, rocked by earthquakes, looted for its magnificent sculptures and subjected to restorations that have been termed “catastrophic.” Despite so much abuse and renown as an icon of Western civilization, the question of how the Parthenon was built has been largely ignored until recently. Now, thanks to the Greek government’s $10 billion restoration program, scholars are finally probing the enigmas of its planning and construction. With unprecedented access, this documentary presents the inside story of the official restoration, which reaches far beyond the challenges and controversies of conserving one of the world’s best-known buildings. The researchers are confronting some truly monumental riddles: How did the ancient Athenians build their great temple with incredible precision in a mere eight years? How did they manage to incorporate subtle, eye-pleasing distortions into the Parthenon’s layout, such that there are few straight lines or right angles to be seen? And, most baffling of all, how did they accomplish all this without an overall building plan or blueprint, which would be indispensable to a modern architect? TV- G
Log on http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/secrets-parthenon.html

Thursday, May 26, 2011,
9-10 p.m. E/P
CNBC
Science and Economics
Middle and High School

” Code Wars: America’s Cyber Threat,”

In the United States, we are Internet dependent. Our financial systems, power grids, telecommunications, water supplies, flight controls and military communications are all online – making them vulnerable to countless attacks by cyber criminals. The goal could be a 10-minute blackout, an attack on our national security, a stock trading glitch or the theft of millions of dollar’s worth of intellectual property. The FBI has recently made cyber crime a number one priority, one that costs the U.S. an estimated trillion dollars a year.
This documentary takes viewers onto the frontlines of the war on cyber. Cyber attacks are almost impossible to trace, making cyber crime and acts of cyber warfare the ultimate anonymous crime. So how do we protect our systems whose components are largely manufactured abroad? Can our nation's infrastructure be protected from cyber attacks? And how can the U.S. win a war in which conventional rules of combat do not apply?
Log on http://www.cnbc.com/id/42210831

Thursday, May 26, 2011,
8-9 p.m. E/P
Science Channel
Science
Elementary, Middle and High School

”Time: Daytime”

This documentary explains how time seems to drive every moment. It's the most inescapable force we feel. But do we experience time from within our minds and bodies or from the outside."

Friday, May 27, 2011,
7-8 p.m. E/P
History Channel
Science
Middle and High School

” Modern Marvels: Acid”

It feeds on metal, dissolves skin and bone, and packs a punch in nearly every military explosive. It's perhaps the most dangerous substance known to man. Yet it's the most widely produced chemical in the world. This documentary provides a rare peak at how the military harnesses acid to make the explosive 'Comp B-4'. We'll turn up the heat at a sulfuric acid plant, and see how acid can take the stain out of stainless steel. We'll learn why acid is an expert etcher, and how it can be mixed to dissolve precious metal. We'll see how acid helps put the gel in gelatin, and why acid's sour taste is sweet at the Heinz vinegar plant. Then, it's time to go extreme as we learn how an acid loving bacteria may hold the key to a biological industrial revolution. All this and a scientist who will demonstrate how acid can hollow out a penny and turn a hot dog to sludge.

Saturday, May 28, 2011,
9:45-11:30 p.m. E/P
HBO
U.S. History and Economics
High School

”Too Big To Fail”

This dramatization of recent events is based on reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin’s bestselling book. Directed by Oscar®-winner Curtis Hanson (“L.A. Confidential”), the film offers an intimate look at the epic Wall Street financial crisis of 2008 and explores the inner sanctum of the powerful men and women who decided the fate of the world’s economy in a matter of a few weeks. Centering on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the film goes behind closed doors to examine the inter-twining relationship between Wall Street and Washington. TV-14
Log on http://www.hbo.com/#/movies/too-big-to-fail/synopsis.html