Learn & Play
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Learning at Home | Week of 4/11 – 4/15

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

NOVA: Saving the Dead Sea
Wednesday, April 13, 2 PM

The Dead Sea is dying: Since 1976, its level has dropped more than 100 feet, leaving its coastline pockmarked with thousands of sinkholes. But after more than a decade of research and debate, scientists, engineers, and political leaders have come up with a daring plan: connect the Red Sea to the Dead Sea by way of a massive desalination plant. If it’s successful, the project could not only revive the sea, but also help ease political tensions and water shortages in the region. NOVA follows this unprecedented endeavor—perhaps the world’s largest water chemistry experiment—as scientists race to save the Dead Sea and bring water to one of the driest regions on Earth.

Learning at Home
Week of 4/11 – 4/15

Monday, April 11

1 PM: NATURE: Hippo King

From Zambia’s Luangwa Valley, an old, battle-scarred hippo bull has an incredible story to tell. Previously hippos were almost always misunderstood because their secret life happens beneath the water and under the cover of darkness. This tale imagines a story of 35 years from when the hippo was a vulnerable orphan to the ultimate battle that crowns him king decades later. From birth to exile to redemption, follow the life of the “Hippo King” and discover the true character of one of Earth’s largest land mammals.

2 PM: NOVA: Determined: Fighting Alzheimer’s

Three women at risk of developing Alzheimer’s join a groundbreaking study to try to prevent the disease, while sharing their ups and downs, anxiously watching for symptoms, and hoping they can make a difference. Barb, Sigrid, and Karen all had mothers with Alzheimer’s and witnessed first hand the devastation wrought by the disease, not only on the mind and body, but on patients’ families. Now, they are all participating in a major study that tracks the health and memory of thousands of people over many years, as researchers hunt for life-style changes and medicines that could improve all our chances and ultimately protect the brain and body from one of the world’s deadliest diseases.

Tuesday, April 12

1 PM: Expedition Unpacked: Behind the Scenes

In this episode we unpack the behind-the-scenes camerawork and logistics that made filming five of our expeditions possible. Working together, Steve and the team not only ventured into the unknown, they brought these epics journeys to the TV screen.

2 PM: Secrets of the Dead: Abandoning the Titanic

Join a team of investigators as they search for the identity of the captain of a “mystery ship” that turned away from the “unsinkable” Titanic in its darkest hour, abandoning thousands of lives to the icy waters and their deaths.

Wednesday, April 13

1 PM: NOVA: Secrets of Noah’s Ark

In 1948, a British pilot serving in Iraq acquired a clay tablet with an intriguing, 3,700 year-old inscription. The ancient writing tells the story of how the god Enki warns a Sumerian king named Atra-Hasis of a future flood that will destroy mankind; Enki gives him instructions for building a boat to save his family and livestock. If that sounds like a familiar tale, it’s because this was one of several ancient flood traditions that, centuries later, would inspire the biblical story of Noah. But the tablet’s inscription describes a boat very different from the traditional image of the Ark—it’s said to be circular and made of reeds. Is this nothing more than a fanciful myth? Or could such a reed boat have carried Atra-Hasis’ family of more than one hundred and his many animals? Join NOVA as a team of historians and expert boat builders investigates this fascinating flood legend and sets out to rebuild a tantalizing, ancient forerunner of the Ark.

2 PM: NOVA: Saving the Dead Sea

The Dead Sea is dying: Since 1976, its level has dropped more than 100 feet, leaving its coastline pockmarked with thousands of sinkholes. But after more than a decade of research and debate, scientists, engineers, and political leaders have come up with a daring plan: connect the Red Sea to the Dead Sea by way of a massive desalination plant. If it’s successful, the project could not only revive the sea, but also help ease political tensions and water shortages in the region. NOVA follows this unprecedented endeavor—perhaps the world’s largest water chemistry experiment—as scientists race to save the Dead Sea and bring water to one of the driest regions on Earth.

Thursday, April 14

1 PM: Last Days of Jesus

From Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, through to his eventual crucifixion six days later, the key moments have been immortalized in countless films, pieces of music, and works of art. Explore how dramatic political events in Rome could have played a crucial role in shaping Jesus’ destiny, and examine an extraordinary political alliance that altered the course of history.

Friday, April 15

1 PM: Poetry in America: Bear Fat & Rabbits and Fire

Two poems, by Linda Hogan and Alberto Ríos, follow wolves, jackrabbits, and other animals across the harsh Great Plains and Sonoran Desert. Both poets join wildlife biologist Jeff Corwin, film director Chris Eyre, Native American scholars Philip Deloria and Stephanie Fitzgerald, and a chorus of students to discuss how the poems call back difficult histories of human migration in the American west.

1:30 PM: Articulate | Virtuous Reality

Poet Yusef Komunyakaa and writer Jennifer Weiner know that honest work can reveal new truths. Poet Yusef Komunyakaa survived the Jim Crow South and later the Vietnam War. Over the years, he’s kept his faith in the future. Jennifer Weiner has channeled early unhappy episodes into character-driven novels that have sold millions.

2 PM: Great Performances | Now Hear This “Amy Beach: Rise to Prominence”

Host Scott Yoo and his wife, flutist Alice Dade, perform the work of Romantic era classical composer Amy Beach at Festival Mosaic and uncover Beach’s many musical influences. Featuring performances of Beach’s works, the duo visits places Beach took inspiration from throughout her life, including an artist residency at MacDowell in New Hampshire, where she wrote “Hermit Thrush at Morn,” “Hermit Thrush at Evening” and more. Along the way, Yoo and Dade also explore the works of European female composers and musicians Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn and Louise Farrenc, and even stop to discover the music in the vineyards of California.

Learning at Home on Mountain Lake PBS is supported by:
Adirondack Foundation