June 28- July 11, 2009

PBS in Education

PBS Teachers New & Improved

The PBS Teachers http://www.pbs.org/teachers site has relaunched with new Web 2.0 functionalities, new and reorganized content. The redesigned website makes it easier and quicker for educators to find appropriate instructional and professional development resources from across all PBS' education services. Be sure to check it out and spread the word.

PBS Teachers Live Webinar! Early Childhood Literacy: Resources & Strategies

PBS Teachers and Classroom 2.0 are delighted to have Scott Cameron, Director of Education and Research at the Sesame Workshop and Educational Consultant Julie Wood as our guests for "Using Media and Technology to Reinforce Literacy Skills," the next webinar in the PBS Teachers LIVE! series. Please mark your calendars for Thursday, July 9 at 8 p.m. EDT for this upcoming free webinar.

During this event, participants will learn about a wide array of content and strategies to help teachers of young children improve their students' literacy skills. Scott Cameron will discuss the educational goals of the new Electric Company and how the on-air and online resources can be used in the classroom. Julie Wood will focus on best practices in reading and language arts instruction in 1st -4th grade, discuss her involvement with PBS KIDS' Raising Readers initiative, and share ideas for using Raising Readers on-air and online educational resources. They will be joined by 1-2 teachers selected from a pool of applicants who have demonstrated innovative and effective use of PBS KIDS content in educational settings. For more information visit: http://www.pbs.org/teachers/webinar/index.html

Inspire Girls to Explore Engineering

Engineer Your Life (EYL) is a web site for high school girls-and the adults in their lives (parents, counselors, teachers, and librarians)-who want to learn more about what life and work are like for engineers. EYL features ten great reasons to become an engineer, streaming video of inspiring women engineers, descriptions of dream engineering jobs, and resources that educators can use to advise girls (and boys) about engineering.
http://www.EngineerYourLife.org

The Arts

American Masters: Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes

On-Air & Online | Wednesday, July 1, 2009, 8 - 9:30 pm
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12
Follow raconteur Garrison Keillor -- and his crew of actors, musicians and technical staff -- as he criss-crosses the country, broadcasting, recording and revealing himself. (CC, Stereo, HD)
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/garrison-keillor/the-man-on-the-radio-in-the-red-shoes/1159/

Great Performances: Exploring Melody

Lesson Plan
Grade Range: 3-5, 6-8
Discover pitch, rhythm and meter in the melodies from Sergei Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf." Explore melodic shape using movement and drawing to represent melodies.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/lessons/peter-the-wolf-exploring-melody/overview/402/

Health and Fitness

Sesame Street: Elmo's Special Cupcakes

Interactive
Grade Range: PreK
Help young children cope with feelings of sadness when they are separated from a working parent. Use games and stories to help children feel less anxious in such situations.
http://pbskids.org/sesame/games/elmocupcakes.html

American Experience: Roberto Clemente: A Hall of Fame Career

Offline Activity/Project
Grade Range: 3-5, 6-8
Research one aspect of Clemente's career - such as his 3,000 hits or his 12 consecutive Gold Gloves - and compare his career statistics to those of other baseball greats, especially other outfielders.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/clemente/

Math

Sid the Science Kid: My Best Guess

Audio/Video
Grade Range: PreK, K-2
Learn why sometimes you have to estimate numbers with this music video. Estimate the number of geese, candies, flowers, stars and other items when there are too many to count.
http://pbskids.org/sid/#/VideoPlayer-My_Best_Guess

Maryland Public Television: Lure of the Labyrinth

Interactive
Grade Range: 6-8
Solve a variety of math problems embedded in the story of an eerie world where monsters want world domination at any cost. Work your way through the labyrinth by using logic and understanding of the ways numbers work together.
http://labyrinth.thinkport.org/www/index.php

Reading and Language Arts

The Electric Company: Chain Game

Interactive
Grade Range: K-2, 3-5
Transform words by changing them one sound at a time. Explore phonics and word-building and develop stronger spelling skills.
http://pbskids.org/electriccompany/#/games/chain

Frontline: From Jesus to Christ: Identifying Our Founding Figures

Offline Activity/Project
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12
Examine the lives of spiritual and political leaders throughout history. Consider the qualities that enable such people to inspire others to embrace a political idea, follow a course of action or adopt a system of beliefs.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/teach/#Activity1

Science and Tech

Nature: Encountering Sea Monsters

On-Air & Online | Sunday, June 28, 2009, 8 - 9:00 pm,
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12
Explore the planet's most cryptic and clever monsters -- cephalopods. In the world of squid and octopus, cannibalism is practiced daily, mating can involve amputation, trickery is everywhere and size means everything and nothing. (CC, Stereo, HD, 1 year)
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/

NOVA: Musical Minds

On-Air & Online | Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 8 - 9:00 pm
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12
Through the remarkable case studies from neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks' latest book, Musicophilia, NOVA investigates the extraordinary impact music can have on the human brain, traveling around the globe to meet people like Tony Cicoria, who was struck by lightning and was suddenly inspired to become a pianist, and Matt Giordano, who uses drumming to alleviate his severe Tourette syndrome. (CC, Stereo, HD, 1 year)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/musicminds/

NOVA scienceNOW

On-Air & Online | Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 9 - 10:00 pm
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12
Explore breakthroughs in the engineering of artificial diamonds; the science that went into solving the deadly post-9/11 anthrax attacks and the ingenious technique researchers developed to pinpoint the source; "AutoTune," the controversial computer pitch-correction software that turns sour notes into sweet ones; and a profile of computer scientist Luis von Ahn. (CC, Stereo, HD, 1 year)
http://www.pbs.org/nova/sciencenow/

Nature: The Vanishing Lions

On-Air & Online | Sunday, July 5, 2009, 8 - 9:00 pm
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12
As the largest predator in Africa, the lion should have nothing to fear. But the king of the savannah is facing an uncertain future. While concentrating on the dwindling number of elephants and rhinos, nobody suspected the biggest of big cats was in trouble. When the number of lions turned out to be less than 30,000, not 100,000 as previously estimated, it was clear that the great lion had become vulnerable. (CC, Stereo, HD, 1 year)
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/

NOVA: Secrets of the Samurai Sword

On-Air & Online | Tuesday, July 7, 2009, 8 - 9:00 pm
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12
NOVA travels deep into Japan's ancient foundries, follows the craft of the traditional swordsmiths and attends samurai fighting school to reveal the art and science behind making what many call the perfect sword. (CC, Stereo, HD, 1 year)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/samurai/

NOVA scienceNOW

On-Air & Online | Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 9 - 10:00 pm
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12
Astronomers on the brink of finding "another Earth" in our galaxy, using a new planet-hunting machine: the Kepler telescope; Rudy Tanzi, a pioneer in discovering genes for Alzheimer's disease, and others who are on the hunt for the genetic key to autism; the use of computers to authenticate paintings; and a profile of spider scientist Maydianne Andrade. Neil deGrasse Tyson hosts. (CC, Stereo, HD, 1 year)
http://www.pbs.org/nova/sciencenow/

Social Studies

Fort Niagara: The Struggle for a Continent

On-Air | Sunday, June 28, 2009, 10:30 - 11:00 pm
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12
For more than 150 years, Fort Niagara protected the strategic point at the mouth of the Niagara River in Youngstown, New York. This program explores the story of the longstanding national landmark. (CC, Stereo, HD, 1 year)

History Detectives

On-Air & Online | Monday, June 29, 2009, 9 - 10:00 pm
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12
Artifacts include an invention that may have been used in the atomic bomb; a 23-pound block of beeswax with strange markings; and a French manuscript kept by an American family for 160 years. (CC, Stereo, HD, 1 year)
http://www.pbs.org/historydetectives/

P.O.V.: Beyond Hatred

On-Air & Online | Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 10 - 11:30 pm
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12
The vicious murder of a French gay man and his family's struggle to seek justice while trying to make sense of pointless violence and unbearable loss. (CC, Stereo, HD, 1 year)
http://www.pbs.org/pov/beyondhatred/

Wide Angle: Crossing Heaven's Border

On-Air & Online | Wednesday, July 1, 2009, 10 - 11:00 pm
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12
North Korean defectors risk their lives to settle in South Korea; South Korean journalists use hidden cameras to capture their journeys. Hosted by Aaron Brown. (CC, Stereo, HD, 1 year)
http://www.pbs.org/wideangle/

PBS Previews: National Parks

On-Air & Online | Sunday, July 5, 2009, 10:30 - 11:00 pm
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12
PBS presents a preview of the new Ken Burns film "The National Parks: America's Best Idea." The 12-hour, six-part documentary series, directed by Burns and co-produced with his longtime colleague, Dayton Duncan, who also wrote the script, is the story of an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence and just as radical: that the most special places in the nation should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone.
http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/

History Detectives

On-Air & Online | Monday, July 6, 2009, 9 - 10:00 pm
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12
Artifacts include a gun that may have belonged to a member of Al Capone's gang; a letter allegedly written by John Wilkes Booth's father; and a device meant to guard against grave robbers. (CC, Stereo, HD, 1 year)
http://www.pbs.org/historydetectives/

P.O.V.: Life. Support. Music.

On-Air & Online | Tuesday, July 7, 2009, 10 - 11:30 pm
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12
In 2004, Jason Crigler's life was taking off. He was one of New York's hottest young guitarists, his new CD was due for release and his wife, Monica, was pregnant with their first child. Then, at a gig in Manhattan, Jason suffered a near-fatal brain hemorrhage. The astonishing journey that followed, documented by filmmaker and friend Eric Daniel Metzgar, is a stirring family saga and a portrait of creative struggle in the face of overwhelming tragedy. (CC, Stereo, HD, 1 year)
http://www.pbs.org/pov/

Time Team America: Fort Raleigh, North Carolina

On-Air & Online | Wednesday, July 8, 2009, 8 - 9:00 pm
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12
Part extreme adventure, part hard science and part reality show, "Time Team America" takes viewers deep into the trenches of America's most intriguing archaeological sites. The series premiere goes in search of the nation's mysterious roots at Roanoke Island. In 1586, the English sent the first group of hardy, hopeful colonists to the New World. When English ships returned with supplies just three years later, they found the settlement empty and the colonists gone. The colonists had left behind only one clue: the word Croatan carved in the gatepost of their fort. (CC, Stereo, HD 1 year)
http://www.pbs.org/timeteam/

Ascent of Money

On-Air & Online | Wednesday, July 8, 2009, 9 - 10:00 pm
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12
In this four-part series, Harvard historian Niall Ferguson delves deep into how the complex system of global finance evolved over the centuries, how money has shaped the course of human affairs and how the mechanics of this economic system work to create seemingly unlimited wealth — or catastrophic loss. (CC, stereo, HD, 1 year)
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ascentofmoney/

Wide Angle: Japan's About Face

On-Air & Online | Wednesday, July 8, 2009, 10 - 11:00 pm
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12
Granted unprecedented access to Japan's “West Point” — the National Defense Academy — WIDE ANGLE captures a remarkable view of the military's shifting role in post-war Japanese society.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/

Online NewsHour EXTRA: NASA Probes a Step Toward Moon Base

Online
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12
The National Aeronautic and Space Administration launched a pair of lunar probes June 18 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., as the first part of a plan to build a base on the surface of the moon by 2020.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/science/jan-june09/moon_06-23.html

PBS Blogs

July Media Infusion: Four Weeks to a Flatter Us

This month we are republishing Bob Sprankle's June 2008 post. Sprankle examines how "crowdsourcing" and collaboration are transforming society and the world of many students. He also offers educators a step-by-step plan to learn about new tools and ways of interacting that can help democratize classrooms and prepare students for success in the 21st century workplace.
http://www.pbs.org/teachers/mediainfusion/

PBS Parents

PBS Parents: Saving Money on the Road with Kids

Online
Grade Range: PreK, K-2, 3-5
Laurel Smith, founder of the website, MomsMinivan.com, is discussing how to save money - and have fun - during family road trips.
http://www.pbs.org/parents/experts

Grants and Funding Opportunities

LEGO: Grants for Early Childhood Education and Development

Online
The LEGO Children's Fund will provide grants for collaborative programs, either in part or in total, to organizations that focus on early childhood education and development; technology and communication projects that advance learning opportunities; or sport or athletic programs that concentrate on underserved youth. Maximum award: $5,000. Eligibility: 501(c)3 organizations. Deadline: August 1, 2009.
http://www.legochildrensfund.org/Guidelines.html

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