Sunday, Mar. 16
7-8 p.m. E/P

CBS

Subjects: Science

Middle and High School

"60 Minutes"

This newsmagazine starts with a report about Dennis Quaid's newborn twins who nearly died when they were mistakenly given a drug overdose. The actor and his wife share their story to draw attention to hospital mistakes that kill as many as 100,000 Americans a year. This is followed by a special double-length report about scientists who are discovering that sleep is far more critical to human health than previously believed. They have linked sleep deprivation to serious problems such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease.

Sunday, Mar. 16
8-11 p.m. E/P

HBO

Subjects: US History

Middle and High School

"John Adams: Join Or Die/Independence"

This is a broadcast of the initial two episodes of a seven part dramatized historical miniseries about John Adams. Part 1 "Join Or Die": Boston, 1770. In the aftermath of the Boston Massacre - a deadly street confrontation between American colonists and an occupying British brigade - John Adams takes an unpopular stand by agreeing to serve as defense attorney for the accused British soldiers. Counseled in his summation by his beloved wife Abigail, Adams wins the case - but surprises the British by turning down a lucrative position with the Crown. As pro-independent sentiment boils over in Massachusetts following the Coercive/Intolerable Acts, Adams is invited to join the newly created Continental Congress. After a rousing speech to his constituents, he says an emotional goodbye. Part 2 "Independence": Following a fruitless session of the Continental Congress, a sabbatical at Adams' Braintree farm is disrupted by news of the siege of Lexington and Concord. Adams witnesses the aftermath of the bloody battle and, later, reports back to Philadelphia. There, he jousts with delegates debating the pros and cons of independence, eschewing an olive-branch proposal from Pennsylvania's John Dickinson and throwing down the gauntlet for independence. As more violence rages in and around Boston, Adams nominates George Washington to lead the newly created Continental Army. After another brief return home, Adams returns to Philadelphia - and a proclamation from King George III that treason will be met with death. After several debates and postponements, Adams seconds a resolution for independence proposed by Virginia's Richard Henry Lee, and persuades Thomas Jefferson to draft a declaration. With the support of Benjamin Franklin, Adams wins over skeptical delegates, in particular Dickinson and South Carolina's Edward Rutledge. On July 2, 1776, a final vote confirms the Congress' near-unanimous decision (New York abstained) to form an independent nation. While Abigail tends to an outbreak of smallpox in Massachusetts, the Declaration of Independence is read to a raucous crowd in Philadelphia. Adams writes to his wife, The break is made, and now our work begins. TVPG

Log on http://www.hbo.com/films/johnadams/?ntrack_para1=feat_main_text

Sunday, Mar. 16
9-9:30 p.m. E/P

Nickelodeon

Subjects: US History and Government

Elementary, Middle and High School

"I'm American! They're Not!"

There are more than three million American-born kids of undocumented immigrants living in the United States. The kids are Americans citizens, but their parents are not. This documentary hosted by Emmy award-winning reporter Linda Ellerbee delves into the lives of Mexican-American kids trapped in a political situation they didn't cause and can't fix.

Monday, Mar. 17
9-10 p.m. E/P

ESPN

Subjects: US History

Middle and High School

"Black Magic: A Civil Rights-oriented Basketball Film"

ESPN will televise this documentary, Black Magic, commercial free. The film covers the Civil Rights Movement as told through the lives of basketball players and coaches who attended black colleges and universities. It is narrated by Samuel L. Jackson and Wynton Marsallis, and is produced by former NBA star Earl Monroe.

Tuesday, Mar. 18
9-10 p.m. E/P

History Channel

Subjects: Science

Elementary, Middle and High School

"The Universe - Colonizing Space"

Space colonization is no longer the fodder of science fiction, it is becoming a reality. This documentary examines the efforts underway to establish a human colony on Mars, including how they plan to grow food, recycle wastewater and introduce greenhouse gases to revive the red planet and make it more habitable for humans. Cutting-edge computer graphics are used to bring the universe down to earth to show what life would belike on Mars, and to imagine what kind of life forms might evolve in alien atmospheres.

Wednesday, Mar. 19
7-8 p.m. ET, 4-5 p.m. PTP

National Geographic Channel

Subjects: Science

Elementary, Middle and High School

"National Geographic Explorer: Alaska's Last Oil"

The world is addicted to oil. But now the easy pockets of oil are gone and the race is on to find new sources. Nowhere is the battle more intense than in Alaska - source of nearly 15 percent of America's domestic production, and home to the nation's largest wildlife preserve, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, where companies are pushing to drill. This documentary travels back millions of years to see how oil was created, and looks to the future to ask how far we'll go to find every last barrel and at what cost.

Thursday, Mar. 20
8-11 p.m. E/P

PBS

Subjects: Arts and World History

Middle and High School

"Live From Lincoln Center: Madama Butterfly"

New York City Opera presents Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly, which tells the story of a marriage between an American Navy officer and his geisha bride. When he abandons her after his tour of duty, he takes her love, her honor and her dreams for the future. When he returns to claim their son, she takes matters into her own hands. The poignant story of a disastrous clash of cultures stars James Valenti and Shu-Ying Li

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

Friday, Mar. 21
10-11 p.m. E/P

PBS

Subjects: Science

Middle and High School

"Journey To Planet Earth: The State of the Ocean's Animals"

Matt Damon hosts and narrates this continuing science and nature series focusing on the environment. This episode features case studies in the Pacific Northwest (salmon, sea otters, orcas), New England (coastal fisheries and cod), Brittany (coastal fisheries), Portugal (the history of cod extinction), Florida (sea level rise and its effect on turtles), the Antarctic (penguins), China and Vietnam (fish farms), the Caribbean (coral reefs) and Africa (whales and coastal fisheries).TV-PG

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

Saturday, Mar. 22
Noon-2 p.m. E/P

Hallmark Channel

Subjects: US History

Middle and High School

"The Journey Of Natty Gann"

In this movie, a young girl confronts overwhelming odds when she embarks on a cross-country search for her father. The year is 1935, and young Natty Gann has just learned that her one living parent, her father Sol has gone off from their Chicago home to the state of Washington for a job, during the Great Depression. The film captures the feel of that era. The woes of the time - which we are beginning to experience nowadays - are clearly portrayed in the entire movie, but equally present is a sense of hope in Natty's journey. Rated TV-G

For viewer reaction to this film log on http://imdb.com/title/tt0089385/usercomments