Sunday, July 13
9-10 p.m. ET, 6-7 p.m. PT

National Geographic Channel

Subjects: Science

Middle and High School

"Earth: The Biography-Volcanoes"

This is the initial episode of a five-part documentary series about earth science. Volcanoes are one of nature's most awesome and destructive forces, but they are also the life force and architect of our planet. They can raise up great mountains and create new land, or they can level cities and destroy entire civilizations. They provide a glimpse of the power of Earth's internal heat source, without which it would have become a dead planet millions of years ago. In this episode, takes viewers on a journey to some of the most dramatic places on Earth, starting in Ethiopia. Earth scientist Dr. Iain Stewart hosts.

Log on for episode descriptions and airtimes http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/earth-the-biography

Sunday, July 13
10-11 p.m. ET, 7-8 p.m. PT

National Geographic Channel

Subjects: Science

Middle and High School

"Earth: The Biography- Ice"

The second episode of this new earth science series begins in the European Alps, where the host, Dr. Ian Stewart goes down an ice crevasse to physically show viewers how each year's snowfall gradually develops into expansive, dynamic masses. And with satellite imaging, we discover hidden worlds that ice obscures from us - like Antarctica's Lake Vostok, one of the largest lakes in the world, which has been isolated under sheets of ice for 15 million years. Then, with the help of CGI, we witness how ice can move with surprising speed and power to shape the earth's topography, giving rise to features as diverse as Yosemite National Park and even New York's Manhattan Island - both carved by inexorable glaciers moving over the landscape. Finally, journey to Greenland to see how the ice sheets and glaciers are melting at a phenomenal rate that is likely to accelerate over the coming years, fundamentally changing the world we know today.

Log on for episode descriptions and airtimes http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/earth-the-biography

Monday, July 14
9-10 p.m. E/P

PBS

Subjects: US History

Middle and High School

"History Detectives"

This episode of PBS' real-life detective program investigates a balloon scrap that may be a missing piece of a Japanese WWII secret weapon, a circus program that connects a society woman, FDR and the Boy Scouts; and a letter from Ronald Reagan that links a Navy captain to the development of Camp David.

Log on http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives

Monday, July 14
9-10 p.m. ET, 6-7 p.m. PT

National Geographic Channel

Subjects: Science

Middle and High School

"Earth: The Biography-Atmosphere"

GIn this episode, takes viewers to South Africa to launch into the stratosphere onboard one of the fastest aircraft on the planet - virtually a missile with wings - that was specially designed to operate at super-high altitudes. Viewing spectacular aerial footage from 50,000 feet, we zoom through violent lightning storms to experience the dynamic power of our atmosphere firsthand. Then we're off to understand the forces that created Arizona's rock formation known as "the wave," a series of giant curvaceous shapes that appear to have been carved by water . . . but in fact have been etched by wind blasting the rock over thousands of years. Finally, we make the long journey to Siberia, one of the coldest and most remote places on the planet. But hidden in this ice-covered ground is the potential for climate disaster: methane. Attempting to demonstrate how global warming could release methane on a massive scale, host Dr. Iain Stewart nearly gets his eyebrows singed when he discharges and ignites methane gas bubbles trapped under a frozen lake.

Log on for episode descriptions and airtimes http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/earth-the-biography

Monday, July 14
10-11 p.m. ET, 7-8 p.m. PT

National Geographic Channel

Subjects: Science

Middle and High School

"Earth: The Biography-Oceans"

The oceans are Earth's primary stabilizing force, and their immense power helps to shape the appearance and behavior of the entire planet and everything living on it. This episode is the story of our oceans and how they have thrived for nearly 4 billion years. Our watery journey begins with Iain Stewart in Hawaii, as we get up close to some of the biggest waves on the planet. Filmed at high speed, Hawaii's waves demonstrate the force of the sea and its ability to capture and transfer energy. Next we fly to the Amazon River in Brazil, where we face one of the most dramatic tidal phenomena on the planet - a tidal bore, or single surging wave created when large tides in the Atlantic Ocean get funneled into mouths of rivers, making them run backward. Time-lapse photography captures one of the biggest tidal bores in the world to demonstrate the battle between land and water. Finally, Iain takes us to the coast of England to discover how global systems of ocean currents are vital to life on Earth, as they distribute heat around the planet and drive the climate of our world. From the Gulf Stream to El Ni?o to hurricanes, it is the oceans that regulate our planet.

Log on for episode descriptions and airtimes http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/earth-the-biography

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

PBS

Subjects: World History

Middle and High School

"NOVA: The Great Inca Rebellion"

This NOVA/National Geographic documentary goes to an impoverished suburb of Lima, Peru, where an ancient cemetery crammed with mummies is excavated by Peruvian archaeologist Guillermo Cock. He discovers some corpses that differ from all the rest. They have been hastily buried and disfigured by multiple, appalling wounds and fractures. Forensic experts help to determine that these remains are victims of a battle that pitted club-wielding Inca warriors against Spanish cavalry. The forensic evidence may be a decisive clue that helps explain a long-standing mystery about the Spanish conquest of Peru. How, in 1532, did a tiny band of Spanish soldiers crush the mighty Inca Empire, then the most powerful civilization in the Americas? Were the conquistadors? obvious advantages - steel arms, gunpowder and horses - the key to their success, as is generally supposed? Or were disease and civil war more significant factors that were downplayed by the invaders? By uncovering new evidence from the Lima cemetery, the program reveal the untold final chapter of the conquest: not the Spanish walkover familiar from well-known accounts, but rather a protracted and complex war of astonishing brutality that almost led to the Spanish losing their precarious foothold in the Andes. TV-PG, V (violence)

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

Tuesday, July 15
10-11 p.m. ET, 7-8 p.m. PT

National Geographic Channel

Subjects: Science

Middle and High School

"Earth: The Biography-Rare Planet"

It has taken 4.6 billion years for the Earth to evolve from a barren rock into the world we know today. In the finale of Earth: The Biography, we explore the forces beyond our planet that have determined Earth's destiny. We visit Mexico, where Dr. Iain Stewart scuba dives in giant caverns deep through flooded subterranean tunnels that - as new imaging from space shows us - were created by the very meteorite that scientists believe wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. We also journey to outer space to discover that Jupiter is Earth's protector, as its enormous gravity helps to shield us from destructive meteorites flying around our solar system. Finally, we visit one of the most ecologically vulnerable places on the planet - Madagascar, an island full of unique plants and animals that are threatened by the destruction of its rainforests.

Log on for episode descriptions and airtimes http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/earth-the-biography

Wednesday, July 16
9-9:30 p.m. E/P

Sundance Channel

Subjects: US History and Geography

Middle and High School

"Los Angeles"

This is an episode in a documentary series about four young people of Arab heritage as they take an unconventional road trip across America. The series is also being broadcast overseas to expose Middle Eastern audiences to the diverse culture of the United States. It follows Ali, Sanad, Mohamad and Lara as they explore differences and similarities between their worlds and the people and places they visit, from the suburban New York to downtown Los Angeles . In this episode, set in Los Angeles, the quartet visits a mosque and discusses life in America after 9/11. TV Rated PG ?AL (adult language)

Wednesday, July 16
10-11 p.m. E/P

PBS

Subjects: Science

Elementary, Middle and High School

"NOVA Science NOW"

This science news magazine reports on what the songs of zebra finches can tell us about the evolution of language; the glorious but mysterious northern lights and Yoky Matsuoka, a leader in the emerging field of neurobotics; and smart bridges.

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