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Greetings, TV viewers!
Some broadcast and cable programs contain material included in the public
school curriculum and on standardized exams. Here are home-viewing suggestions
for February 21-27, 2005.
The topic for this week's Media Hour is skyscrapers and big buildings! We'll start with the Sears Tower in Chicago -- featured in Friday night's show -- and move on to other amazing architectural accomplishments. I hope our citizens from Canada and other countries will help us learn about their big buildings, too!
Now that I know how to run polls, we'll be holding a few trivia questions during the Hour. Think you've got the smarts to answer 'em? You'll need to watch the shows and read the websites to be sure!
Remember to come to Saturday's Media Hour prepared. It's all about an open discussion, with everybody pitching in on a good topic -- bounce off of what other people say, too, and talk amongst yourselves while I'm down there! Explore what everyone thinks and remind us to think about what was in the shows and on the websites. The more you help others discuss things (and the more you know about the shows), the better your chances of getting on stage, or even earning clams.
What's the Media Hour? Watch the show(s)-of-the-week, jot down some ideas, then
come and talk about them with me and other citizens (including other City Workers,
if they're available). We get together at the Greek Theater (next to
City Hall), every Saturday morning at 9 a.m., Whyville Time. You'll find that
discussions are easier in the Theater, since everyone's chat bubbles overlap
a little less than in other rooms, and City Workers are able to direct people's
movement and behavior, when we need to.
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Monday, February 21
9-11 p.m. E/P
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PBS
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American History
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High School
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"A&E Classroom:
Jane Austen"
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Airing during America's Black History Month, this is a profile of the
charismatic Black Muslim leader Malcolm X (1925-65), from the producers
of the PBS series "Eyes on the Prize." It follows the fascinating
intellectual journey a complex man whose ideas continue to affect American
society.
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| Log on http://www.pbs.org/amex/malcolmx. |
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Tuesday, February 22
7-8 a.m. E/P
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A&E (A&E Channel)
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Social Science, Environment
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Middle and High School
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"American Justice: the Erin
Brockovich Story"
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This is a program about courage
and grit against incredible odds -- the story of a woman who defeated
high-powered lawyers and big-business bureaucracy to uncover corporate
wrong-doing. Eventually turned into a film starring Julia Roberts, this
true story of Erin Brokovich, includes interviews with her and the lawyer
for whom she worked, Ed Masry. They explain their battle to win $333 million
for the people of Hinkley, California, and discuss the contrast between
what really happened and how it was portrayed on screen. TVPG.
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Wednesday, February 23
8-9 p.m. E/P
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CBS
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Arts and Technology |
Elementary, Middle and High School
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"60 Minutes Wednesday"
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The main reports in this newsmagazine
program are about a 4-year-old girl making a reputation in the art world
and a motorcycling expert who is the mastermind behind television show
"Monster Garage."
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Thursday, February 24
8-10 p.m. E/P
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ABC
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Science and Social Science |
Elementary, Middle and High School
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"The UFO Phenomenon: Seeing
Is Believing"
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There have been sightings of
UFOs by millions of people. It is a mystery that only science can solve,
and yet some people believe the phenomenon remains largely unexamined.
Mainstream media holds those who claim to have seen UFOs up to ridicule.
In this program, ABC reporter Peter Jennings says, "As a journalist
I began this project with a healthy dose of skepticism and as open a mind
as possible. After almost 150 interviews with scientists, investigators
and with many of those who claim to have witnessed unidentified flying
objects, there are important questions that have not been completely answered
-- and a great deal not fully explained." He covers the entire scope
of the UFO experience -- from the first famous sighting by Kenneth Arnold
in 1947 to present day sightings in IL, NM, AZ in ND, including interviews
with police officers, pilots, military personnel, scientists and ordinary
citizens who give extraordinary accounts of encounters with the unexplained.
Also interviewed are the scientists who are leading the search for life
forms beyond Earth elsewhere in the universe. Today if you report a UFO
to the U.S. government you will be informed that the Air Force conducted
a 22-year investigation that ended in 1969 and concluded that UFOs are
not a threat to national security and are of no scientific interest.
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Friday, February 25
7-8 p.m. E/P
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History Channel
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Technology and Economics
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Middle and High School
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"Modern Marvels: The Sears
Tower"
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In Chicago, over 23,000 people
walk through the Sears Tower's domed entrances daily and ride 104 elevators
(some double-decker), moving at speeds up to 1,600 feet per minute to
their choice of the 110 floors of North America's tallest building. Sears,
Roebuck and Company began as a small mail-order business in Chicago, and
grew to be the biggest global retailer. Sears Chairman Gordon Metcalf
brought the company under one roof to create the world's largest headquarters.
TVPG.
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Friday, February 25
8-9 p.m. E/P
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PBS
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Social Science
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Middle and High School
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"NOW"
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A report in this newsmagazine
explains the battle over community Internet access. Business, political
and social forces all have different views about who should provide, own
and control your internet service. What do you think? The other report
scheduled shows how the U.S. Government provides for wounded military
veterans -- and how that's changing.
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Saturday, February 26
6-7 p.m. E/P
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A&E Channel
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Social Science and American History
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Middle and High School
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"The Big House: Lewisberg
Federal Penitentiary"
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Have you ever what happens
in a prison -- a real one, not a movie prison. This program provides a
look inside Lewisberg Federal Penitentiary. Built in Pennsylvania in 1932,
it looks more like a church than a prison. When opened, it was considered
America's most modern and humane prison. Learn its history and inmate
roster and includes convicted spies Alger Hiss and Morton Sobel, also
gangster/tax evader Al Capone. Today, Lewisburg holds one of the terrorists
convicted of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
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Sunday , February 27
8-11 p.m. E/P
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ABC
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Arts
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Middle and High School
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"The Academy Awards"
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This broadcast is of interest
because the topics of the Best Picture nominations and many other nominated
films are history, literary biography, athletics, music and current events
-- something for almost every part of the curriculum. And besides, you're
probably not going to watch anything else if you have your TV set on at
all.
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Sunday, February 27
8-10 p.m. E/P
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CNBC
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Social Studies and Economics
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Middle and High School
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"The Age Of Wal-Mart:
Inside America's Most Powerful Company"
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This program takes a look at
the biggest and most influential company in the world, examining how it
ascended to $300 billion in sales this year alone -- and probing the question:
can this juggernaut continue to succeed in the face of increased opposition?
Viewers will see an annual managers' meeting that resembles an evangelical
revival, and the opening of a new store in China, where Wal-Mart is the
country's 5th largest importer, following three countries and all of Europe
combined. In an interview, CEO Lee Scott for the first time, addresses
the criticisms over outsourcing, community friction, lawsuits and other
challenges the mammoth company faces today.
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