Sunday, June 25
7-8 p.m. E/P

CBS

Subjects: Science

dLife: Your Diabetes Life

"60 Minutes"

The main stories in this newsmagazine are about the oil boom in Alberta, Canada, where the oil sands produce a million barrels a day and hold reserves eight times those of Saudi Arabia and about musical savants whose impaired brains make living normally impossible but their musical prowess incredible.

Monday, June 26
10-11 p.m. E/P

PBS

Subjects: Art and World History

Middle and High School

"How Art Made The World: More Human Than Human"

This is the initial episode of a documentary miniseries about the history of visual imagery and its impact on the world today. It's a scientific as well an artist exploration, using the latest scientific research on the human brain to show how humans are actually hardwired to be creative. It covers a hundred thousand years looking at art in the context of human existence, revealing the treasures of ancient Egypt, classical Greece and the civilization of the Aztecs. The first episode seeks to explain why our world is so dominated by unrealistic images of the human body. Cambridge University lecturer Nigel Spivey hosts the story, which begins in Austria with the discovery of the Venus of Willendorf, a tiny statue with greatly exaggerated female features, created some 25,000 years ago, chronicles our obsession with the "body beautiful" over the centuries. TV-PG

Log on for series transcripts and web resources for students - http://www.pbs.org/howartmadetheworld

Tuesday, June 27
9-10 p.m. E/P

Discovery Channel

Subjects: Science and Economics

Elementary, Middle and High School

"Dirty Jobs: Garbage Pit Technician"

The host of this program, Mike Rowe, first rolls up his sleeves and gets dirty operating an antique printing press. Then, he joins forces with the largest terracotta manufacturer in the U.S. Next, Mike teams up with a group of garbage collectors converting trash into electricity. TV-14 (language).

Tuesday, June 27
9-10 p.m. E/P

PBS

Subjects: World History

High School

"Frontline/World "Zimbabwe: Shadows and Lies"

This is a documentary about a country that was once a model of independence and Africa's fastest growing economy and is now a place of hunger, poverty and fear. Zimbabwe has become a country trapped in shadows and lies.

Log on http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld

Wednesday, June 28
8-9 p.m. E/P

History Channel

Subjects: Science and American History

Middle and High School

"Modern Marvels: Butcher"

Because some many of us are meat-eaters, a butcher is a necessary link in the food chain, carving a carcass of flesh into mouthwatering cuts. This documentary traces the trade's evolution--from yesteryear's butcher-on-every-corner to today's industrial butcher working on a "disassembly" line. It tours the remains of the Chicago Stockyards, where Upton Sinclair, Clarence Birdseye, and refrigeration changed butchering forever; witnesses high-speed butchering; and travels to a non-stop sausage factory. And if you're still squeamish, a USDA inspector offers the lowdown on "HACCP" the acronym for the country's new system of checks and balances on everything from quality grading to E. coli, Salmonella, and Mad Cow Disease. Finally, there???s a visit to the last bastion of old-school butchering--the rural custom butcher, who slaughters, eviscerates, skins, and cuts to his customer's wishes. TVPG.

Thursday, June 29
9-10 p.m. ET, 6-7 p.m. PT

National Geographic Channel

Subjects: Science

Elementary, Middle and High School

"The Science of Superman"

The ultimate super-hero. Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. He has enthralled audiences for decades with his superhuman strength, speed, vision and incredible abilities. This documentary puts these powers to the test, revealing what's plausible based on the Earth-bound laws of physics, biology and astronomy, and what's pure science fiction. How might gravity, x-rays, ballistics and radiation apply to Superman if he was real? TV-G

Friday, June 30
9-10 p.m. E/P

PBS

Subjects: Social Science

Middle and High School

"Bill Moyers On Faith And Reason"

This is the second episode in the new PBS documentary miniseries on the hot-button issues of faith and reason. In a world where religion is poison to some and salvation to others, how do we live together? Is the vision of religious tolerance just a utopian dream? These are among the questions Moyers explores with some of the world???s most stimulating authors in this new series. This episode raises the question: How can two creative minds reason their way to such different conclusions about faith? Mary Gordon, the well-known American writer, brings her viewpoint as a Christian. "I like a religious perspective," she says. "It seems to create a language that explains more things about human beings than other languages do." Colin McGinn, a philosopher, who talks about his own journey from belief to disbelief, sees the world differently. "I think there's too much tolerance of faith, and there's not enough respect for reason," he says. "For the last 30 to 50 years reason has been under attack."

Log on www.pbs.org/moyers

Saturday, July 1
5-7 p.m. E/P

History Channel

Subjects: American History

Middle and High School

"Benjamin Franklin"

Dr. Benjamin Franklin was a far more complex figure than the squeaky-clean, larger than life Founding Father whose grandfatherly face appears on the hundred dollar bill. He was an inventor, politician, writer, businessman, scientist and diplomat. But it's not the only Ben Franklin. By his own admission, Franklin had more than his share of shortcomings and failures. Photographed largely on location in Philadelphia and featuring in-depth interviews with biographers and historians, as well as liberal doses of Franklin's own, often humorous observations, this documentary allows viewers to "walk" in Franklin's footsteps. In this vivid portrait, you meet an earthy, brilliant, and flawed Franklin that one biographer believes would feel right at home in today's world. TVPG