Some broadcast and cable programs contain material included in the public school curriculum and on standardized examinations. Here are home viewing suggestions for November 29-December5, 2004.

The topic for this week's Media Hour is eating healthy. We'll be doing a double-issue Media Hour sometime in December, so get ready! In the meantime, we'll watch the show of the week and check out the related links -- there's three there, so take the time to visit them all and really explore! What does Scientific American have to say about it? Do you know of other good websites, books, TV shows or other resources that have helped you or your family make decisions about eating well? We'll talk about how we use media to get information about food, and so on.

As I said last week, I plan to give clams to you if you come to the Media Hour and can show you really did watch the featured program(s) -- and you'll get to come down on stage at the beginning of the hour, too!

What's the Media Hour? Watch the show(s)-of-the-week, jot down some ideas, then come and talk about them with me and other citizens (including other City Workers, if they're available). We get together at the Greek Theater (next to City Hall), every Saturday morning at 9 a.m., Whyville Time. (Whyville Time is now the same as Pacific Standard Time.) You'll find that the Theater makes discussions pretty easy, since City Workers are able to direct people's movement and behavior, when we need to, and it makes everyone's chat bubbles overlap a little less than other rooms.

Monday, November 29

"Niagara Falls" (Geography and Technology, Middle and High School, PBS, 10-11 p.m. E/P) This is a documentary about the most famous waterfall in the world. A celebrity ever since the first Europeans set eyes on its raging waters in the 1600s, Niagara's beauty has captured the imagination of artists and daredevils who have perished trying to run the falls. Scientists have now tamed its waters for hydroelectric power -- and eliminated the natural erosion that originally created the falls.

Tuesday, November 30

"Dogs and More Dogs" (Science, Middle and High School, PBS, 8-9 p.m. E/P) From the huskies of the frozen Canadian north to the basenjis of the Congo River basin and the golden retrievers in America's backyards, dogs have carved a niche for themselves in every human society. How did this unique relationship develop? What can the latest breakthroughs in genetics reveal about dog origins and breeding? And can dog sociologists and psychiatrists unravel the puzzling, lovable and often maddening quirks of dog behavior? Despite wide variation, all domestic dogs, as well as their common ancestor, the gray wolf, have virtually identical genes. This documentary visits laboratories where the latest developments in canine genetic mapping and even cloning are studied. There's a website, too, at: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/dogs/.

"Frontline: Diet Wars" (Science and Health, Middle and High School, 9-10 p.m. E/P) Americans spend $40 billion a year on books, products, and programs designed to do one thing: help us lose weight. From Atkins to Ornish and Weight Watchers to the Zone, today's dieters have a dizzying array of weight loss programs from which to choose -- yet the underlying principles of these diets are often contradictory. Is low fat better than low carb? Is Atkins the answer? And has the USDA Food Pyramid done more harm than good? Log on and get a sample dinner from each diet plan profiled in the program: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/.

Also, there's a Scientific American web-report about students who set up experiments to test the importance of low-fat, high-fiber diets at http://www.pbs.org/safarchive/4_class/45_pguides/pguide_502/4552_feast.html. And another website about how parents and children can adopt healthier eating and exercise habits; as well as the attitude needed to make wiser choices: http://www.lpb.org/programs/kidstttd.

Wednesday, December 1

"Nick News Special Edition: Living With AIDS -- - A Story Of Three Kids" (Science and Health, High School, Nickelodeon Channel, 8:30-9:30 p.m. E/P) More than 14,000 kids in the United States are infected with the HIV virus, but more than 90 percent of these infected kids were actually born with the disease. In this documentary, journalist Linda Ellerbee reports on the lives of Holly, 15, Jordyn, 14 and Ricky, 15. Ellerbee says, "This is not a show about AIDS. It's about three kids who are living with AIDS. They all have the strength of character and resilience that's hard to find even in adults and are three good reasons to educate yourself about AIDS."

"National Geographic Special: Inside Special Forces" (History and Current Events, High School, PBS, 8-9 p.m. E/P, TV Rated PG) This documentary covers events beginning in 1756, when nine companies of American colonists were recruited to fight the British in the French and Indian War. Such units were used occasionally throughout U.S. history, but it was not until the 1960s that the role of Special Forces was formalized by President John F. Kennedy to combat a new type of war by "guerillas, subversives, insurgents and assassins." This program follows this highly skilled, elite group of soldiers as they make their way from the home front to the front lines to face an unpredictable enemy in an unfamiliar land.

Thursday, December 2

"Voices From the Pyramids" (Ancient History, High School, National Geographic Channel, 8-10 p.m. EP, 5-7 p.m. PT) This is the initial program of a several-day documentary series about ancient mummies from different cultures. It begins with "Sheba's Secret Mummies" describing the connection between the Queen of Sheba and spices used in mummification. It's followed by "The Lady of Dai," who was an aristocrat during China's Han Dynasty whose tomb was filled with thousands of lavish artifacts. These were nearly as intact as her body, which has been preserved eerily well. On Friday, December 3 in this time-slot the series continues with "Egyptian Mummies." In that program, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Dr. Zahi Hawass ' removes a 50-ton lid from a sarcophagus where a mummy has remained hidden for 25 centuries. Finally, on a program airing December 4, "Into The Great Pyramid," Dr. Zahi Hawass explores the how the Great Pyramid of Giza was built.

Friday, December 3

"Road Trip: Boston to Montreal" (Geography and History, Elementary, Middle and High School, Travel Channel, 8-9 p.m. E/P) This documentary takes viewers from New England into Canada, beginning in Boston with stops at the historic landmarks along Freedom Trail. Along the way the program's hosts go snow tubing in New Hampshire and dog sledding in Vermont, and then they race cars on the ice in Montreal.

"Dateline NBC" (American History and Technology, High School, NBC, 10-11 p.m. E/P) In this news documentary reporter Katie Couric interviews Leonardo DiCaprio and movie director Martin Scorsese about their new film, "The Aviator," based on the life of a legendary aviator and airplane builder who was also a film maker -- Howard Hughes.

Saturday, December 4

"Pocahontas" (Colonial History, Middle and High School, Disney Channel, 8-9:30 p.m. E/P) This is an animated movie version of the story of the Powhatan girl who rejects the warrior her father the tribal chief has chosen for her to marry. Instead, in the movie, she marries English colonist John Smith. In real life, Pocahontas was 11 or 12 when she first met John Smith, and the Englishman she actually married was John Rolfe. Rolfe took her to England, where she was received as a princess. Despite these alterations in the real story, the movie does deal with important issues -- such as how Native Americans lived in harmony with nature until European settlers came, bringing guns and ecological destruction. A website with a historian's account of her life is at http://www.apva.org/history/pocahont.html.

Sunday, December 5

"Ben Franklin" (American History, Middle and High School, History Channel, 9-11 p.m. E/P) This documentary chronicles the life of the most accomplished, most accessible, but also most paradoxical Founding Father. He's exceptionally relevant today. He was the driving force behind America's first public lending library, first non-religious college, and first national newspaper. As a diplomat, he helped make American independence a reality. In matters of science, he is considered nothing less than the greatest thinker of his time. This documentary doesn't portray Franklin as an unapproachable, granite icon, but rather as an earthy, brilliant and flawed man that historian H.W. Brands describes as "the one Founding Father easiest to imagine living in the 21st Century." Lots of interesting further info at http://www.historychannel.com/benfranklin/