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Greetings, TV viewers!
Here are this week's home viewing suggestions selected from online advanced program listings and aligned with state and national K-12 academic standards available online.
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Sunday, March 26
3-5 p.m. E/P
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History Channel
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Subjects: World History
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Middle and High School
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"Decoding The Past: Secrets Of The Koran"
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This is a broadcast of episodes 1 and 2 of a documentary miniseries about The Koran - one of the most influential religious books of all time. Muslims worldwide believe the Koran is God's guidance, a sourcebook to help believers follow the right path. But much of the non-Muslim world sees the Koran as a text shrouded in mystery and controversy. The program explains where it came from, what it says, and what it means. Like any holy scripture, the Koran can't be separated from its historical context. The program examines the history of the verses and also their implications for modern times, as well as??the striking similarities and differences between the Koran and the Bible--and the ways in which Muslims believe the Koran corrects some of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. The second hour describes the role the Koran has played throughout Islamic history. From the 500-year Golden Age of Islam, to the clashes of Muslim and Christian forces during the times of the Crusades. It identifies what influence the Koran had on the individuals living in that era ??? and looks at the use of the word jihad, its meaning within the Koran, and how the concept has been used by others including modern-day Islamic radicals.???? TVPG??
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Sunday, March 26
5-7 p.m. E/P
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History Channel
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Subjects: World History
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Middle and High School
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"The Kings: from Babylon to Baghdad"
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This documentary traces the history of the area now known as Iraq. Ancient kings leading the world's first armies fought??for control of the fertile lands of what was then called Mesopotamia.??Cities and empires, the earliest on earth,??rose and fell through warfare, and conquest. In modern times, Iraq provided a stage for European imperialism and more recently, a focal point in U.S. foreign policy.?? The program tells its story??through its leaders, from Sargon the Great to Saddam Hussein, with dramatic recreations, location photography, and archaeological artifacts. Leading historians, scholars, experts, and policy makers draw connections and relevance between ancient and modern Iraq through its government,??culture, and religion.??TV14 V (for historical violence depicted.
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Monday, March 27
9-11 E/P
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PBS>
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Subjects: English
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High School
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"American Experience: Eugene O'Neill"
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This documentary film tells the story of America's greatest and only Nobel Prize-winning playwright -- set within the context of the personal upheavals that shaped him. In fewer than 25 years, Eugene O'Neill wrote 20 plays and won four Pulitzer Prizes. The author of such innovative works as The Iceman Cometh, A Touch of the Poet and the autobiographical masterpiece Long Day's Journey Into Night, O'Neill once described writing as his "vacation from living." The program covers his childhood through the ascendant years of his career to his death at age 65 in 1953. Christopher Plummer narrates. TV-PG, L (for some strong language).
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Log on http://www.pbs.org/amex/oneill
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Monday, March 27
9-10 p.m. E/P
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History Channel
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Subjects: Science and World History
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Middle and High School
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"Digging For The Truth ??? The Da Vinci Code: Bloodlines"
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In this documentary, host Josh Bernstein searches for solid evidence behind the controversial theory laid out in Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code. Brown's theory claims that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and that she conceived a child. It also suggests that the bloodline continues--unbroken--to this day. Josh shows what's true and what's clearly make-believe in Dan Brown's bestseller. From musty libraries to ancient churches, Josh's quest leads him to seek the DNA evidence that might prove or disprove one of the most sensational claims in modern history. He conducts the first ever DNA test on a French Merovingian royal person to find out if the story of a bloodline stretching back to Jesus and Mary Magdalene could possibly be true.??TVPG
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Tuesday, March 28
8-9 p.m. E/P
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PBS
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Subjects: Science
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Middle and High School
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"NOVA: The Great Robot Race"
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This documentary covers a robotic, driverless vehicle race sponsored by the Pentagon, which awards a $2 million purse to the winning team. The Pentagon believes robots will play a key role in reducing human risk during military operations; the DARPA Grand Challenge may trigger just the technological breakthroughs they need. In 2005,195 teams from around the globe entered, yet only 20 of them survived the qualifying rounds for the final 132-mile race across desert terrain. Armed with artificial intelligence, laser-guided vision, GPS navigation and 3-D mapping, these contenders are some of the world's most advanced robots.
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Log on http://www.pbs.org/nova/darpa
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Wednesday, March 29
8-9 p.m. E/P
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Discovery Channel
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Subjects: Science
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Middle and High School
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"Extreme Engineering: Volcanoes"
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This documentary presents a look inside Mother Nature's ticking time bombs. These natural phenomena can release the energy of twenty Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs; they produce ash flow that can travel at the speed of sound with temperatures over 2000 degrees. TVPG
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Wednesday, March 15
8-9 p.m. E/P
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PBS
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Subjects: Math and Science
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Middle and High School
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"The Story of 1"
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The story of the number one is the story of Western civilization. Host Terry Jones goes on a humor-filled journey to discover the story behind the world's simplest??number. Using computer graphics, "1" in all its various guises is brought to life. This reveals how celebrated civilizations were achieved, where our modern numbers came from and how the invention of zero changed the world forever - and saved us from having to use Roman numerals today. TV-G
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Thursday, March 30
6-7 p.m. E/P
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Discovery Channel
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Subjects: Science
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Middle and High School
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"Modern Marvels: Farming Technology"
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The US agricultural process, from seed to shelf, is so efficient that most people don't think much about it. But food growing and processing is ever more sophisticated, employing computer-guided, ground-shaking machinery, and sometimes controversial techniques. It's an industry of declining family farms, diminishing returns, yet higher yields. This program reviews the evolution of the tools used to produce food, shows the steps in the cycle that bring food to the table, and looks at the future of farming.???? TVPG
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Friday, March 31
8-9 p.m. E/P
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Travel Channel
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Subjects: Science and History
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Elementary, Middle and High School
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"Mysteries of the Smithsonian "
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With nine separate locations on Washington's historic Mall, the Smithsonian Institution may be the world's biggest museum. It is also an extraordinary storehouse of the weird and the macabre, including the giant squid in the basement of the Natural History Museum. Every student should know about what's the Smithsonian. TVPG
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Log on http://www.si.edu
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Friday, March 31
9-9:30 p.m. E/P
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PBS
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Subjects: Science
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Middle and High School
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"Scientific American Frontiers: Cybersenses"
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This documentary report describes the latest developments in replacement synthetic senses for people with hearing and vision disabilities Children as young as 12 months are already getting artificial hearing - while the first trials of electronic retinas for the blind are just beginning.
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Log on http://www.pbs.org/saf/#i509
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Saturday, April 1
3-4 p.m. E/P
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Discovery Channel
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Subjects: Science
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Elementary, Middle and High School
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"MythBusters"
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The experiments shown in this popular science program show whether yawning is contagious, whether toast really does fall buttered side down and whether a toy car can beat a real car in a gravity slope race. TVPG.
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