<Tuesday, April 24
8-10 p.m. E/P

PBS

Subjects: Science

Elementary, Middle and High School

"NOVA: Saved By The Sun"

In the face of steeply rising oil prices and political turmoil in the Middle East, there's new urgency about finding a solution to our uncertain energy future. Could it be time to take solar energy seriously again? Breakthroughs in new materials and ingenious designs for solar collectors are transforming the technology into a vastly cheaper, more efficient alternative. This documentary presents the latest thinking from solar enthusiasts and skeptics as it investigates these cutting-edge research developments. It introduces viewers to the scientists and businesspeople who are racing to make solar power practical - for lighting and heating, and for running power plants. TV-G

Check out the online interactive feature, "Inside a Solar Cell", to yourself with the parts of a basic photovoltaic cell and find out how it goes about harnessing the free energy of the sun. Log on http://www.pbs.org/nova/solar

Tuesday, April 24
9-9:30 p.m. E/P

Sundance Channel

Subjects: Science and Economics

Elementary, Middle and High School

"Big Ideas For A Small Planet: Build"

Addressing some of the most important issues facing humanity, this is an episode from an original documentary series from Sundance Channel on environmental topics with interviews with forward-thinking designers and features on green products and alternative ideas that may transform our everyday lives. In this episode, a visionary architect works with clients to build their first "green" home; a designer demonstrates his real-life tree house made of growing tree trunks; and environmentally conscious ideas are introduced to low-income neighborhoods. This program re-airs April 29 at 3 p.m. and repeats that day at 4:30 p.m.

Log on http://www.sundancechannel.com/thegreen#/bigIdeas:overview

Wednesday, April 25
9-10:30 p.m. E/P

PBS

Subjects: US History

Elementary, Middle and High School

"Bill Moyer's Journal: Buying The War"

Veteran journalist Bill Moyers returns to PBS with a weekly public affairs series. This premiere episode, "Buying The War", examines the role of the press in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. The series will then air in its regular timeslot, Fridays at 9 pm, beginning this Friday Synopsis of this episode: In the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq, the government's claims about weapons of mass destruction and terrorist ties to Saddam Hussein went mostly unchallenged by the media. Four years after "shock and awe," how the government sold the war has been much examined, but a big question remains: how and why did the press buy it? The program shows how the media were complicit in shaping the "public mind" toward the war, and ask what's happened to the press' role as skeptical "watchdog" over government power. The program features the work of some journalists who didn't take the government's word at face value, including the team of reporters at Knight Ridder news service whose reporting turned up evidence at odds with the official view of reality. It includes interviews with journalists Dan Rather, formerly of CBS; Tim Russert of "Meet the Press"; Bob Simon of "60 Minutes"; Walter Isaacson, former president of CNN; and John Walcott, Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel of Knight Ridder newspapers, which was acquired by the McClatchy Company in 2006

Log on http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/

Thursday, April 26
7-8 p.m. E/P

History Channel

Subjects: Science

Elementary, Middle and High School

"Modern Marvels: Environmental Tech"

From the prairies of Saskatchewan to a Manhattan skyscraper this program reveals the 21st Century's cutting-edge "green" technologies in action. New technologies such as carbon sequestration and bioremediation take on our most difficult environmental challenges, from global warming and deforestation to nuclear waste and resource scarcity. Viewers will see how blue-green algae are converted into automotive biofuel and methane from decomposing garbage is turned into clean-burning natural gas - and see how trees and other natural environments can be used as engineering materials to control flooding and rejuvenate dying rivers. TV-PG

Saturday, April 28
4-5 p.m. E/P

Discovery Times Channel

Subjects: American History

High School

"The CIA: America's Secret Warriors"

This is a documentary about the history of the top-secret U.S. agency. An examination of the clandestine tactics of the Central Intelligence Agency, it features rare glimpses into the organization's history of cover-ups and shadowy involvement in significant geopolitical events.