Learn & PlayStation BlogWatch
·

Learning At Home | Week of 10/05 – 10/09

Take advantage of this week’s Learning at Home broadcast schedule – great for students engaged in hybrid or distance instruction, and families looking to spend some extra, quality time together!

After watching these fascinating programs, explore the PBS LearningMedia and web resources to learn more.

Highlight of the Week

Breakthrough: The Ideas that Changed the World | The Airplane
Thursday, October 8, 2 PM

Take to the sky with the dreamers whose work gave humans the ability to fly. From Leonardo da Vinci’s “flying machines” to the modern commercial plane, without these inventions, we may have never left the ground.

Learning at Home
Week of 10/05 – 10/09

Monday, October 5

1 PM: NOVA: Making North America | Life

How did life emerge on our primeval continent? Why was North America home to so many iconic dinosaurs like T. rex? And how did a huge sea filled with giant marine reptiles end up covering Kansas? We tell the surprising intertwined story of life and the landscape in North America.

2 PM: NOVA: Making North America | Human

Explore the intimate connections between the landscape, the colonizing of the continent, and the emergence of our industrial world. As a result, human activity has transformed the continent on a scale that rivals the geological forces that gave birth to it billions of years before. Yet, scientists warn of sleeping giants like the Cascadia fault, and the earthquake/tsunami one-two punch it could unleash on the Pacific Northwest. Even as we re-mold the continent to suit our needs, geologic processes inexorably continue, and they raise potential risks of catastrophe to our human civilization.

Tuesday, October 6

1 PM: Rebels on Lake Erie

Rebels On Lake Erie tells the story of Virginia native John Yates Beall – a wealthy, college-educated Southern plantation owner – who served in the Confederate army under legendary General Stonewall Jackson, later as a privateer, and a leader of two ambitious (and ultimately unsuccessful) missions: to liberate the Confederate soldiers imprisoned on Johnson’s Island Prisoner-of-War Depot near Sandusky, Ohio and to free captured Confederate officers by derailing a passenger train in Upstate New York.

2 PM: History Detectives – Civil War Bridge

Winter, 1865: the final stages of General Sherman’s bloody march through the South. On February 17th, the capitol city of Columbia, South Carolina lay squarely in the General’s crosshairs. In a last-ditch effort to protect the vital railroad hub and thousands of terrified refugees packing city streets, Confederate soldiers destroyed the remaining bridge over the Broad River. But, in less than 12 hours Sherman’s men crossed the river and brought destruction to the birthplace of the Secessionist South. Nearly a century and a half later, David Brinkman of Columbia, South Carolina, believes a longstanding marker commemorating this history has missed the mark.

Wednesday, October 7

1 PM: Islands of Wonder: Hawaii

Hawaii, the most remote island chain on Earth, offers sanctuary for wildlife that has reached its tropical shores. From humpback whales to waterfall-climbing fish, it’s home to an extraordinary wealth of wildlife.

2 PM: NOVA: A-Z How Writing Changed the World

Just as writing changed the course of human history, the evolution of paper and printing revolutionized the spread of information. The printing press kicked off the Industrial Revolution that fast-tracked us to the current digital age. But as the 4,000-year-old tradition of penmanship falls out of favor, should we consider what might be lost in this pursuit of ever more efficient communication?

Thursday, October 8

1 PM: Breakthrough: The Ideas that Changed the World | The Telescope

Meet the brilliant minds throughout history, from Galileo to Edwin Hubble, responsible for creating the telescope. Today, their invention allows humanity to reach the furthest limits of seeing – 13 billion light-years out.

2 PM: Breakthrough: The Ideas that Changed the World | The Airplane

Take to the sky with the dreamers whose work gave humans the ability to fly. From Leonardo da Vinci’s “flying machines” to the modern commercial plane, without these inventions, we may have never left the ground.

Friday, October 9

1 PM: Growing Native | Northwest: Coast Salish

Venture to the Pacific Northwest to capture the stories of ongoing traditions and perseverance of its original inhabitants. For the tribes of this region, water is life. The rivers that crisscross this land were the highways for trade and fresh water grocery stores for thousands of years. Today, tribes celebrate their cultures by participating in a yearly canoe journey, an opportunity for people to gather and travel to all the places their ancestors once inhabited. From totem poles, to language preservation to traditional crafts, host Chris Eyre (Cheyenne Arapaho) discovers the wilds of the North.

2 PM: Growing Native | Alaska: People of the North

All across Alaska, Native cultures have depended on the abundant natural resources found there to support their families, cultures and ways of life. Now, however, those resources are growing scarce, and the people who have relied on them for centuries have to find new ways to adapt. Growing Native visits some of the many communities engaged in this familiar struggle – the struggle to maintain their traditions and ways of life, while continuing to thrive in a constantly changing world. Host Chris Eyre (Cheyenne Arapaho) meets Alaska Natives who thrive and survive in this complex environment.