Media Menu for July 16, 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, July 16, 2011,
2-3 p.m. Eastern Time, 5-6- p.m. Pacific Time
HBO
U.S. History and Government
Middle and High School

Citizen USA

This is a documentary about new citizens produced, filmed and directed by Alexandra Pelosi, who is former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's daughter. This patriotic, upbeat and pro-immigrant piece argues that immigrants who become citizens are like blood transfusions for a country, giving it fresh energy and helping keep alive some of the ideals that long-time-citizens take for granted. Many of Pelosi's subjects talk about freedom. A gay man from the Middle East talks about how he can now walk down the street without fearing for his physical safety. A straight man from Afghanistan can hardly contain his joy that he could kiss a woman on the street, in public, without facing censure or arrest. A man from Canada immigrated here largely because he can now legally collect guns. Perhaps because so much of the immigration discussion in recent years has focused on Hispanics, Pelosi seems almost deliberately to focus on Asians, Europeans and Middle Easterners. The film deals very little with the immigration debate, though it has some scenes of immigration protests in Arizona. Rather, it focuses on why someone would leave his or her native country to pledge allegiance to another. Her conclusion is that the personal affection and motivation must be strong. Two of her celebrity citizens, former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright, are here because their families were driven out of Europe by the World War II Nazi war machine.
Log on http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/citizen-usa-a-50-state-road-trip/synopsis.html#/documentaries/citizen-usa-a-50-state-road-trip/synopsis.html

Sunday, July 17, 2011,
8-9 p.m. E/P
History Channel
Economics and Technology
Elementary, Middle and High School

Candy

Americans consume about 7 billion tons of candy it every year to the tune of 25 billion dollars in sales. Helping to understand what ingredients make up chocolate and other confections, short but interesting segments are shown in this documentary on the history, harvesting methods, and preparation of cocoa beans and sugar cane. Automation plays a significant role in manufacturing processes, explored here are elements such as robotics and computerization and how they help to produce enormous amounts of candy at their factory each day. On the other side of the spectrum, some candy making is still considered to be an art form and Schimpff's Confectionary store in Indiana is a good example of this. Beginning with a stop at the Hershey Chocolate plant in Pennsylvania, here is a fascinating look and history of one of the most prolific and renowned candy makers in the world today. Also using a more manual approach to making candy, the See's company shows some methods they use in their preparation, cooking, and inspecting of their products.
Then : jelly beans, a short history of their beginnings and the production processes. The Jelly Belly Company itself makes over fifty different types of beans and they are unique in that some of their more bizarre flavors include dirt, earwax, sardine, soap, earthworm and rotten egg. Closing out this program, final segments look at licorice, gourmet candy, and even real insects that are cooked into items such as lollipops and assorted hard candies and how this is accomplished.

Monday, July 18, 2011,
8- 9 p.m. E/P
Science Channel
Science
Middle and High School
Time: Daytime

This is a documentary about time. It's the most inescapable force we feel. But do we experience time from within our minds and bodies or from the outside? TV-G

Tuesday, July 19, 2011,
8-10:15 p.m. ET, 5-7:15 p.m. PT
TCM-Turner Classic Movie Channel
English and World History
Middle and High School

Caesar And Cleopatra

In this philosophical coming-of-age movie, aging Julius Caesar takes possession of the Egyptian capital city of Alexandria, and tries to resolve a feud between young Princess Cleopatra and her younger brother Ptolemy. During the resulting sometimes-murderous court-intrigues, Caesar develops a special relationship with Cleopatra, and teaches her how to use her royal power. This Oscar-nominated movie is based on George Bernard Shaw’s stage play and omits out some historical details ( see commentary posted on link below). TV-G
Log on http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038390/

Tuesday, July 19, 2011,
8-9 p.m. E/P
PBS
U.S. History and Science
Middle and High School

HISTORY DETECTIVES

This multi-story documentary asks questions about three historical objects: Could this propeller be from a World War II drone, the prototype for the assault drones the U.S. uses today in Afghanistan and Iraq? An inscribed, wooden club appears to be a gift to Teddy Roosevelt. Who gave him this club, and why? If Clara Barton wrote this letter, why was she concerned about the life of the soldier she mentions? TV-PG
Log http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives

Wednesday, July 20, 2011,
9-10 p.m. E/P
PBS
World History and Geography
Middle and High School

NOVA: The Great Inca Rebellion

In this documentary experts seek to determine if ancient Inca remains are those of victims of a battle that pitted club-wielding Inca warriors against Spanish cavalry. Forensic evidence may be a decisive clue that helps explain a long-standing mystery about the Spanish conquest of Peru. How, in 1532, did a tiny band of Spanish soldiers crush the mighty Inca Empire, then the most powerful civilization in the Americas? Were the conquistadors' obvious advantages - steel arms, gunpowder and horses - the key to their success, as is generally supposed? Or were disease and civil war more significant factors that were downplayed by the invaders? By uncovering new evidence from a Lima cemetery, the program reveals the untold final chapter of the conquest: not the Spanish walkover familiar from well-known accounts, but rather a protracted and complex war of astonishing brutality that almost led to the Spanish losing their precarious foothold in the Andes. TVPG
Log http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/inca/

Thursday, July 21, 2011,
7-8 p.m. E/P
Planet Green Channel
Science
Elementary, Middle and High School

Planet Earth: Fresh Water

As shown in this documentary water has shaped planet Earth - it has carved out the world's most impressive gorges and makes all life possible. Incredibly only three percent of all water on our planet is fresh - it is as precious as it is vital -and it is full of life. TV-G
Log on http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/planet-earth-freshwater

Thursday, July 21, 2011,
8-10 p.m. E/P
National Geographic Channel
World History and technology
Elementary, Middle and High School

The Egyptian Job

It was one of the greatest heists of ancient history: A group of thieves back then broke into the treasure-rich tomb of King Amenemhat III who was buried in one of the most complex pyramid vaults ever designed and made away with a fortune. Pulling a job of this scale would have taken the expertise and manpower seen in Hollywood blockbusters, so how did these looters get past the security defenses of a pyramid known as the Fort Knox of ancient Egypt?
Log on http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/the-egyptian-job-5116/Overview

Friday, July 22, 2011,
8-11 p.m. ET, 5-8 p.m. PT
AMC Channel
U.S. History and Athletics
Elementary, Middle and High School

A League Of Their Own

This a movie, based on fact, about the WWII-era phenomenon of women’s professional baseball. As America's stock of athletic young men is depleted during the war, an all-female baseball league springs up in the Midwest, funded by publicity-hungry candy maker. In the story, competitive sisters spar with each other, a baseball talent scout and a grumpy has-been coach – all on their way to national fame. Madonna, Geena Davis and Rosie O'Donnell co-star. Penny Marshall directs. TV-PG
Log on http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104694/

Saturday, July 23, 2011,
6-7 p.m. E/P
Science Channel
Science and Geography
Elementary, Middle and High School

Geologic Journey: The Rockies

In this documentary viewers will see how the Rocky Mountains were formed and how people fought to carve out a living in the mountain townships and the vast prairies beyond. TV-G
Log on http://www.cbc.ca/geologic/eg_rockies.html