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Greetings, TV viewers!

Here are this week's home viewing suggestions selected from online advanced program listings and aligned with state and national K-12 academic standards available online.


<Saturday, April 7
8-10:30 p.m. E/P

AMC Channel

Subjects: US History and Geography

Middle and High School

"Jeremiah Johnson"

This is a biographical movie about a man who flees civilization for the U.S.'s western wilderness in the mid1800's. Despite a constant struggle to survive challenges from nature and the local Indians, he becomes one with his surroundings. This is a helpful way to understand how and why American west was first settled. DVD available.

For an alternative account of events portrayed in this movie log on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liver-Eating_Johnson


Sunday, April 8
9-10:30 p.m. E/P

PBS

Subjects: English and Arts

Elementary, Middle and High School

"The Wind in the Willows"

Mole, Water Rat, Badger and Mr. Toad pursue their merry adventures in this charming adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's magical tale of animals who behave like Edwardian country gentlemen in a world gone slightly mad. Matt Lucas stars as the exuberant Mr. Toad with Bob Hoskins (Hollywoodland, Mrs. Henderson Presents) as Badger, Mark Gatiss as Rat and Lee Ingleby as Mole. Anna Maxwell Martin ("Bleak House") and Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake, "My Family and Other Animals") also star. TV-G

Log on to the companion Web site to see how Kenneth Grahame's original novel was adapted into a film by director Rachel Talalay. How is the world of the great river and the wild wood made real? http://www.pbs.org/masterpiece/willows


Monday, April 9
10-11 p.m. ET, 7-8 p.m. PT

National Geographic Channel

Subjects: Math and US History

Middle and High School

"Inside The IRS"

As the saying goes, nothing is certain in life but death and taxes. But how well do you really know the agency that collects federal taxes, the Internal Revenue Service? This documentary goes inside IRS processing facilities and also joins special agents as they learn interrogation techniques that help them catch the tax cheats. Also shown is what happens when someone challenges the idea that we owe income taxes at all.


Tuesday, April 10
10-11:30 p.m. E/P

PBS

Subjects: Geography and World History

Middle and High School

"Black Gold"

Multinational companies have made coffee the second most valuable trading commodity in the world. But as westerners revel in designer lattes, impoverished Ethiopian coffee growers suffer the bitter taste of injustice. Tracing one man???s fight for fair trade, this documentary is an eye-opening expos?? of the $80 billion coffee industry. TV-PG

Log on to the companion Web site to find out what's really behind the label on that can of dark roast in your kitchen cabinet. http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blackgold


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

National Geographic Channel

Subjects: US History

Middle and High School

"Final Report: Watergate"

On May 28, 1972, five burglars - many of them ex-CIA agents - broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., to plant listening devices. It was the beginning of a political scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. This documentary peels back the layers of the Nixon administration's two-year struggle to contain the scandal at any cost. The show also reveals how Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, two young and tenacious Washington Post reporters, unraveled the tangled trail of illegal tactics. First-person insights include G. Gordon Liddy, who oversaw the burglary; former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee; CBS News reporter Leslie Stahl; and former members of the Nixon administration.

For further details log on http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200506/s1381551.htm


Wednesday, April 11
8-9 p.m. E/P

National Geographic Channel

Subjects: Science

Middle and High School

"Explorer: Struck By Lightning"

What really happens when 30 million volts of electricity charges through your body and you survive being struck by lightning? This documentary interviews survivors who lived to tell their tale of being hit by a force that is faster than a speeding bullet and five times hotter than the sun. The program also unravels the science behind one of nature's most mysterious phenomena - using revolutionary brain imaging technology and 3-D CGI, it travels inside the human body along the path of a lightning bolt to examine the destruction in its wake.


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

PBS

Subjects: Science and Health

Middle and High School

"Fat: What No One Is Telling You"

This program is a 90-minute documentary plus a 30-minute follow-up program. Open abuse of fat people is the last accepted prejudice. As the number of obese Americans climbs to frightening levels, the quest for answers is becoming even more urgent. Obesity experts have a growing - and sobering - awareness of the complex human puzzle that is driving this epidemic and creating so much personal pain in a society that worships "thin." Is it genes? Is it metabolism? Is it stress, evolution or the lack of willpower? Why can't the brain control hunger? What drives people to keep eating when they know they're full? The program gives viewers a window into the intense human dramas that rage inside people who have been labeled obese, and the difficulty of solving their weight problem. TV-PG Spanish audio track, Spanish captions.

For further details and information on 20 steps to better health; check out our online list of activities designed to move you toward a healthier body, mind and future http://www.pbs.org/takeonestep/fat


Thursday, April 12
8-10 p.m. E/P

Discovery Science Channel

Subjects: Science and Geography

Middle and High School

"Hot Rocks - Geology Of Civilization: Risky Rocks/Architecture"

This is a telecast of two episodes in the Hot Rocks series of science documentaries. In the first hour geologist Iain Stewart travels throughout the Mediterranean to uncover the rocks that shaped our past. He reveals how the faults left behind after earthquakes are responsible for everything from valuable mineral deposits to health spas. The second episode shows how architecture style was influenced by the types of native rocks available to ancient civilizations. Stewart reveals how geology influenced the Egyptians to build pyramids, the Greeks to build squares and the Romans to build perfect arches. TV-G


Friday, April 13
7-8 p.m. E/P

History Channel

Subjects: US History and Economy

Middle and High School

"Modern Marvels: The Stock Exchange"

This documentary takes viewers to the center of the American economy, where nearly $90-million changes hands each minute. Also, there's time travel - back to the wooden wall, built to hold back Indians, where early traders signed a pact creating the New York Stock Exchange. And viewers will see worldwide markets quake with the crash of 1929; and visit today's computer-driven stock-trading wonder. Rating: TV-PG


Saturday, April 14
4-5 p.m. E/P

Animal Plannet Channel

Subjects: Science and Geography

Elementary, Middle and High School

"Ms. Adventure: Communication"

In this episode of the Ms. Adventure science documentary series host Rachel Reenstra finds out if animals have communication problems, mixed signals and misunderstandings, or do they talk straight? She finds out which creatures are the best and worst communicators.

For series information log on http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/ms-adventure/episode-guide/episode-guide.html

 

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