Sunday, April 1
11 a.m.-10 p.m. E/P

Discovery Channel

Subjects: Science

Elementary, Middle and High School

"Planet Earth"

This is a marathon telecast of five episodes of major documentary series about natural history. (In the hours between 2 p.m. 8 p.m there's a break in the marathon.) "Pole to Pole", airing 11 a.m. introduces the ultimate portrait of our planet by looking at our planet from north to south. "Mountains", airing at noon, explains the geological and volcanic forces that shaped the land and its mountain chains. "Deep Ocean", airing at 1 p.m., visits daytime hunters and night feeders, all life looking to feed, reproduce and engage with one another - from dolphins to manta rays as well as life among hot vents and deep seamounts. "Deserts", airing at 8 p.m. is about a condition that covers one fifth of the planet and is spreading every year. We think we are familiar with the Sahara and the Kalahari but what about the Gobi or the Atacama - so many deserts have hardly been explored. "Ice Worlds", at 9 p.m. shows that it is not the cold so much as the lack of accessible fresh water which makes life hard in the frozen regions of the world-from the mountain tops and the poles.

Site: http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/planet-earth/planet-earth.html

Sunday, April 1
7-8 p.m. E/P

CBS

Subjects: Science

Middle and High School

"60 Minutes"

The main stories in this newsmagazine are about how the pharmaceutical industry lobby influenced Congress to pass the Medicare prescription drug law, a night on the Hill one representative calls the "ugliest" he's ever seen. And a report global warming from bottom of the world where a glacier in Antarctica is the world's fastest- warming place.

Sunday, April 1
8-10 p.m. E/P

History Channel

Subjects: World History

Middle and High School

"The Exodus"

Celebration of the Jewish holiday of Passover begins tomorrow at sunset. It commemorates celebrates a people's survival in a time of danger and adversity - events that culminated in The Exodus described in the Bible. It's an epic tale--Pharaohs and Israelites, plagues and miracles, splitting of the sea and drowning of an army, and Moses. It's at the heart of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. After much research--working with archaeologists, Egyptologists, geologists, and theologians--filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici concluded that the Exodus took place hundreds of years earlier than thought. With a new timetable, he reexamined artifacts and discovered that the traditional consensus on the date was reached without reference to Judaic texts that record the oral traditions. When Jacobovici consulted these texts, they revealed names of people and places unknown to researchers until recently when extensive excavations in the Nile Delta took place. Teaming up with special effects designers, he created a unique digital experience of the Exodus. TV-PG-V

Monday, April 2
9-10 p.m. E/P

PBS

Subjects: US History

Middle and High School

"AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: Sister Aimee"

This documentary tells the dramatic life story of Aimee Semple McPherson, the controversial, charismatic, wildly popular evangelist who was instrumental in bringing conservative Protestantism into mainstream culture and American politics. McPherson began her mission humbly, traveling across the country staging tent revivals. In 1921, at the age of 31, she settled in Los Angeles, founded the Church of the Four Square Gospel and built the Angelus Temple, where she often preached before a packed house of 5,000 believers, using elaborate musical productions worthy of Broadway. During her emotional revivals, McPherson performed controversial healings and soon started drawing bigger crowds than those of P.T. Barnum, Houdini or Teddy Roosevelt. Employing a publicist, she became a darling of the Los Angeles journalists and newsreel crews. McPherson also created her own radio station ??? one of the first Christian radio stations in the United States ??? and used it to broadcast daily sermons to her followers. Through interviews with her biographers, historians and scholars, this program presents a complex and revealing portrait of one of the most significant religious figures of the early 20th century. TV-PG

Log on to research the origins, beliefs and size of the Pentecostal movement. http://www.pbs.org/amex/sister

Tuesday, April 3
7-8 p.m. E/P

Discovery Times Channel

Subjects: US History

Middle and High School

"Decisions That Shook The World: LBJ and the Civil Rights Movement"

In the 1960s, the end of segregation was on the horizon. This documentary explores how and why the son of the South, President Lyndon Johnson, championed the hot issue of the Civil Rights Movement, and the far-ranging impact his actions had on domestic and foreign affairs. TV-PG

Tuesday, April 3
8-9 p.m. E/P

PBS

Subjects: Science

Elementary, Middle and High School

"NOVA: Kings of Camouflage"

Cuttlefish are some of the strangest animals on the planet. These shape-shifting creatures can hypnotize their prey, impersonate the opposite sex and even kill with lightning fast speed. More accomplished masters of disguise than any chameleon, they have a remarkable ability to change their skin color - even their shape - to blend into most any background. They have the largest brain-to-body ratio of all the invertebrates. But are they capable of learning and remembering complex tasks? With beautiful underwater footage and in-depth expert interviews, this documentary takes viewers up close and personal with these bizarre and amazing animals. TV-G

Log on http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/camo

Wednesday, April 4
7-8 p.m. E/P

History Channel

Subjects: Science, Math and Technology

Middle and High School

"Modern Marvels: Codes"

Whenever a culture reaches a level of sophistication in literacy, science, and language, codes spring up spontaneously. As the social life of a community increases in complexity, the demands for private communication between two or more people inevitably lead to cryptology--a system of secret symbolic messages. This documentary explores the rich of communicating with secret symbols--from Egyptian hieroglyphics to Caesar's encrypted directives, from WWI and WWII codebreakers to cyberspace. Rating: TV PG

Wednesday, April 4
9-11 p.m. E/P

PBS

Subjects: Literature

Elementary, Middle and High School

"Novel Reflections on the American Dream"

Many of America's finest writers have wrestled with the inequalities that trouble the American Dream -- class and money and, often, a false promise of upward mobility. These themes are reflected through universal characters found in such novels as "Sister Carrie," "The House of Mirth" and "The Great Gatsby." In this documentary passages from these books are dramatized through still photography coupled with original and archival footage.

Log on http://www.pbs.org/americannovel to explore the interactive online features of the excellent companion Web site including a literary timeline and games that challenge visitors to test their literary know-how by deciphering literary symbols or guessing characters.

Thursday, April 5
8-9 p.m. E/P

History Channel

Subjects: World History

High School

"Something About Mary"

Mary Magdalene has been a Christian icon for almost 2,000 years, but her role in Christianity is getting a dramatic reassessment. Was Mary a prostitute, Jesus' wife, or was she something even more surprising? A new image of Mary coming into focus among scholars, a picture drawn from the heretical gospels found buried in Egyptian sand in the last century, and controversial new interpretations of New Testament scripture. Is Mary Magdalene the co-founder of Christianity and the Church, the mysterious so-called "beloved disciple" in the Gospel of John? Is there evidence of a rivalry between Mary Magdalene and St. Peter in the early Church? This documentary presents a woman who was a powerful source of inspiration among the earliest Christians, and, today, for growing numbers of women in the Church today. TV-PG

Friday, April 6
9-10 p.m. E/P

National Geographic Channel

Subjects: World History

Middle and High School

"Secrets of Jerusalem's Holiest Sites"

Airing on Good Friday, this documentary visits the most sacred sites in one of the world's holiest cities: the Muslim Noble Sanctuary, Judaism's Western Wall, and the Christian Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Viewers join three families from three world religions as they make journeys of faith to their holiest places in Jerusalem. On the way they'll confront the bitter strife that's turned what's been called "the city of peace" into a city of weapons and walls. TV-G

Friday, April 6
9-10 p.m. E/P

PBS

Subjects: Science and Geography

Elementary, Middle and High School

"America's Lost Landscape: The Tallgrass Prairie"

This documentary tells the story of one of the most astonishing alterations of nature in human history: the transformation - in the space of a single lifetime - of the tallgrass prairie of North America into farmland. The drastic change in the landscape also brought about enormous social change for Native Americans. This film - which interweaves cinematography of prairie remnants, an original score and archival images - highlights prairie preservation efforts and explores how the tallgrass prairie ecosystem may serve as a model for a sustainable agriculture of the future. TV-G

Log on http://www.lostlandscapefilm.com/lostland