Wednesday, Jan. 9
7-8 p.m. E/P

Discovery Science Channel

Subjects: Science

Elementary, Middle and High School

"Building the Future The Quest for Water"

Human control of water and ways to protect against the damaging effects of water are explored in this documentary - dams, desert tunnels, desalinization plants, and protecting Venice, Italy from floods.

Wednesday, Jan. 9
8-9 p.m. E/P

History Channel

Subjects: Science

Elementary, Middle and High School

"Modern Marvels: Aluminum"

Aluminum was once considered more valuable than gold. This documentary shows how aluminum is stretched, pounded, melted and turned into foam. Did you know that aluminum is made out of a powder? Visit the widest rolling mill in the world where skins for the largest jets are made, then it's off to NASA to observe how aluminum is used to make reflective mirrors for telescopes. Discover the process of making aluminum foil and learn why aluminum baseball bats are better than wood.

Wednesday, Jan. 9
9-11 p.m. E/P

PBS

Subjects: US History

Middle and High School

"They Came to Stay/A World of Their Own"

This is a broadcast of the initial two episodes of a six-hour documentary miniseries which follows 350 years of Jewish-American history, from the first settlement in the 17th century to the present, and explores the experience of immigration and assimilation. - In the 18th century, a small number of Jews came to America, struggling to hold fast to their faith and heritage while becoming part of the emerging nation. Though they fought in the American Revolution, they were at best tolerated, at worst shunned - becoming ready scapegoats in times of crisis. Even after the U.S. Constitution guaranteed freedom of religion, states had the power to prevent Jews from voting, and their status remained uneasy. During the 19th century, German-speaking Jews arrived from central Europe, becoming peddlers, selling provisions to farmers and those heading west. The Civil War found Jewish Americans fighting on both sides of the struggle, while coping with anti-Semitism in both the North and South. By the 1870s, 250,000 Jewish Americans had settled across the country. Some were attempting to adapt Judaism to America with a movement called Reform Judaism. But the mood of the country shifted, and, as immigrants began flooding into the country, anti-Semitism erupted again.In the early 20th century, drawn by the promise of America, more than two million eastern European Jews fled poverty and oppression - gravitating to the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Poor and faced with innumerable confusing choices, they struggled to adapt their Jewish traditions to their new lives. Wealthy German Jews who lived uptown reached out through charitable organizations, even though these new, unsophisticated Jews made them uneasy. Life on the Lower East Side was hard, and a few Jews turned to crime. But the vast majority of the immigrants went to work, most of them in the garment industry, where they not only dominated the work force but owned many of the factories. Working conditions were dismal, and Jewish American workers spearheaded the drive to form unions. On the Lower East Side, Jewishness permeated the very texture of everyday life - in magazines, music, poetry, books and theater. Jewish Americans developed their own unique cultural institutions, and the Yiddish theater became enormously popular. Series continues weekly in this timeslot until January 23.

Thursday, Jan. 10
9-10 p.m. E/P

Discovery Science Channel

Subjects: Science

Middle and High School

"Battle of the Brains"

The IQ test, is the most popular way to measure intelligence, yet most psychologists agree that it only tells half the story. This documentary takes 7 people who are experts in their fields, and put them through a series of tests to discover who is the smartest and why.

Friday, Jan. 11
7-8 p.m. ET, 4-5 p.m. PT

National Geographic Channel

Subjects: Science and Technology

Elementary, Middle and High School

"Snack Attack"

Snacks are great on-the-go and perfect for a pick-me-up. But behind our favorite snack treats is science and technology. Everyone loves to snack. Snacks are fast, easy and convenient. Today, food factories have snack making down to a science with technologies that have turned small businesses into global food icons. Among the things that this documentary reveals is why potato chips are America's number one selling snack food and how Pepperidge Farm pumps out a sea of more than 25 million Goldfish an hour.

Friday, Jan. 11
8-9 p.m. E/P

History Channel

Subjects: Science and Technology

Elementary, Middle and High School

"Modern Marvels: Engines"

This documentary tells the story of the development of engines and motors, with particular emphasis on the ones that have profoundly changed society. Beginning with the steam engine, we see how it was created, how it works, and how it led to the Industrial Revolution. We review the electric motor, internal combustion engine, jet engine, and rocket engine, and conclude with a look at futuristic engine technologies, including hydrogen-powered cars and microtechnology engines so small that they fit on the tip of a finger.

Friday, Jan. 11
10-11 p.m. E/P

PBS

Subjects: US History

EMiddle and High School

"Slavery And The Making Of America: The Downward Spiral"

This is the initial episode of a documentary miniseries which chronicles the institution of American slavery from its origins in 1619 - when English settlers in Virginia purchased 20 Africans from Dutch traders - through the arrival of the first 11 slaves in the northern colonies (in Dutch New Amsterdam), the American Revolution, the Civil War, the adoption of the 13th Amendment and Reconstruction. With such unprecedented breadth come entirely new perspectives on and facts about slavery. These new perspectives challenge many long-held notions (such as the idea that slavery was strictly a southern institution; it was, in fact, a national institution) and highlight the contradictions of a country that was founded on the principle of "liberty and justice for all" but embraced slavery. Morgan Freeman narrates. This first hour covers the period from 1619 through 1739 and spotlights the origins of slavery in America, focusing on Dutch New Amsterdam (later New York City). This installment shows how slavery in its early days was a loosely defined labor source similar to indentured servitude: Africans and others of mixed race and/or mixed culture had some legal rights, could take their masters to court and could even earn wages as they undertook the backbreaking labor involved in building a new nation - clearing land, constructing roads, unloading ships. But further south, the story of John Punch served as an omen of things to come. Captured after attempting to escape his tobacco plantation, he received a sentence far harsher than the two white men who ran with him. Indeed, in the Carolinas, where the enslaved were teaching struggling white planters how to grow the wildly lucrative crop "oryza" (rice), the labor system was already progressing towards the absolute control, dehumanizing oppression and sheer racism most commonly associated with slavery. The first hour culminates with the bloody Stono rebellion in South Carolina, which led to the passage of "black codes," regulating virtually every aspect of slaves' lives. TV-PG, V

Log on http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery

Saturday, Jan. 12
6-8 p.m. E/P

Discovery Channel

Subjects: Science

Elementary, Middle and High School

"Before The Dinosaurs"

Welcome to Earth -- before the dinosaurs. The creatures in these two documentary hours may look strange but they mark the beginning of life as we know it. Learn how some of the characteristics that helped them survive millions of years ago make humans what they are today.

Sunday, Jan. 13
9-10 p.m. E/P

Nickelodeon Channel

Subjects: US History

Middle and High School

"Kids Pick the President : The Kids' Primary"

This broadcast is the launch of Nickelodeon's 2008 effort to build young citizens' awareness of the election process and issues for the U.S. Presidential election. It invites kids to participate in their own primary election, as well as allowing them to cast their votes once again for the next U.S. President on a special online election website http://www.nick.com/kpp. The broadcast will explain how presidents are elected in the United States; the primary system; the current candidates; and what it means to be a Democrat or a Republican. Beginning this week, leading up to the premiere of The Kids Primary, kids can log onto http://www.nick.com/kpp for explanations of the election process, photographs and information about each candidate, and a calendar of the major election events. From Jan. 13 to Jan. 18, kids can vote online for their choice in the primary election. After casting his or her vote, each participant will receive a message informing them whether they have voted democrat or republican. On Friday, Jan. 18, at 8 p.m. (ET/PT), Nick News' Linda Ellerbee will announce the results of the kids' primary on-air on Nickelodeon.

Log on http://www.nick.com/kpp

Monday, Jan. 14
9-10:30 p.m. E/P

PBS

Subjects: US History

High School

"AMERICAN EXPERIENCE 'Oswald's Ghost'"

The assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963, left a psychic wound on America that remains today. Few Americans then or now accept that a lone, inconsequential gunman could bring down a president and alter history. That event gave rise to a culture of conspiracy that points to sinister forces at work in the shadows. This documentary features interviews with authors Norman Mailer and Edward J. Epstein, politician Gary Hart, news anchor Dan Rather, activist Tom Hayden, attorney Mark Lane and others. Drawing upon these interviews and rarely seen archival footage, "Oswald's Ghost" takes a fresh look at Kennedy's assassination, the public's reaction to the tragedy and the government investigations that led to a widespread loss of trust in the institutions that govern American society. TV-PG

Log on http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex

Monday, Jan. 14
10:30-11 p.m. E/P

PBS

Subjects: US History

EMiddle and High School

"The March Of The Bonus Army"

This is a documentary about a remarkable event in 1932 in Washington, DC. In the darkest days of the Depression, thousands of unemployed World War I veterans marched to the capital city, looking to Congress for an advance on the bonus compensation promised to them years earlier. After camping and lobbying throughout Washington for two months, the veterans were driven out by force, as rising military figures General Douglas MacArthur, Major Dwight Eisenhower and Major George Patton cleared out the "Bonus Army" and burned their camps. By the time the clash was over, two marchers were dead, thousands were tear-gassed and countless homeless veterans, many with families, were driven violently from the capital. The Bonus Army incident had become a political liability for President Herbert Hoover. Still, it laid the groundwork for later social legislation, including the all-important GI Bill for WWII veterans. /TV-PG

Tuesday, Jan. 15
8-9 p.m. E/P

PBS

Subjects: Science

Elementary, Middle and High School

"NOVA The Race For Absolute Zero"

This is the second of a two-part special presenting the epic story of humanity's struggle to master extreme cold. It re-creates discoveries across four centuries that expanded our knowledge of low temperatures and led ultimately to today's cutting-edge "cold technologies." Its memorable characters range from a 17th-century court magician who rigged a primitive form of air conditioning in Westminster Abbey to the original Captain Birdseye, who invented frozen food. The program covers the decades-long scientific race between two leading chemists to liquefy helium and nitrogen, which opened the door to the modern era of refrigeration and air conditioning. The final chapter climaxes in a recent Nobel-winning breakthrough, the production of a new form of matter that Albert Einstein predicted would exist within a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero. This episode picks up in the late 19th century, when researchers plunged cold science to new lows as they reached the elusive realm at which oxygen and then nitrogen become liquid. A century later, researchers race to produce an exotic form of matter called a Bose-Einstein condensate, which only forms at temperatures astonishingly close to absolute zero.

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