Learning at Home | Week of 9/13 – 9/17

Take advantage of this week’s Learning at Home broadcast schedule – great for studentsengaged 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: Extreme Animal Weapons
Monday, September 13, 2 PM

From lobster claws and dog teeth to bee stings and snake fangs, every creature depends on a weapon. But some are armed to extremes that make no practical sense—whether it’s bull elks with giant 40-pound antler racks or tiny rhinoceros beetles with horns bigger than their body. What explains giant tusks, horns, and claws that can slow an animal down and even impair health and nutrition? NOVA investigates the riddle of outsize weaponry and uncovers a bold new theory about what triggers an animal arms race.

Learning at Home
Week of 9/13 – 9/17

Monday, September 13

1 PM: NATURE: Natural Born Rebels: The Mating Game

Getting ahead in the mating game requires some astonishing behavior –from promiscuous prairie dogs to manakin pick-up artists, kidnapping macaques and hyenas with a bad case of sibling rivalry.

2 PM: NOVA: Extreme Animal Weapons

From lobster claws and dog teeth to bee stings and snake fangs, every creature depends on a weapon. But some are armed to extremes that make no practical sense—whether it’s bull elks with giant 40-pound antler racks or tiny rhinoceros beetles with horns bigger than their body. What explains giant tusks, horns, and claws that can slow an animal down and even impair health and nutrition? NOVA investigates the riddle of outsize weaponry and uncovers a bold new theory about what triggers an animal arms race.


Tuesday, September 14

1 PM: Native America: Cities of the Sky

Discover the cosmological secrets behind America’s ancient cities. Scientists explore some of the world’s largest pyramids and 3D-scan a lost city of monumental mounds on the Mississippi River; native elders reveal ancient powers of the sky.

2 PM: Wild Weather

Nature takes simple ingredients like wind, water, and temperature and transforms them into something spectacular and powerful. Wild Weather reveals exactly how this happens. The only way to truly understand the weather is to get inside it. This program features scientists from around the globe who are creating their own weather in an attempt to examine the secret processes at work.


Wednesday, September 15

1 PM: Baseball: Home

In an age of globalization and deregulation, a cataclysmic strike over money and power brings baseball to the brink. Inning Nine, Home, looks at baseball from the 1970s to the 1990s, including the establishment of the free agent system, the rise in player salaries, the continued expansion, the dilution of talent, the ongoing battles between labor and management and the scandals.


Thursday, September 16

1 PM: Lucy Worsley’s Royal History’s Myths & Secrets: The Romanovs & The Russian Revolution

The October Revolution of 1917 has gone down in history as the only Russian Revolution that really mattered. But Lucy Worsley reveals that the earlier revolution in February that year was downplayed in Bolshevik history books and films despite the fact that it was the truly spontaneous popular uprising that swept the Czar from power.

2 PM: Lucy Worsley’s Royal History’s Myths & Secrets: Elizabeth I: The Warrior Queen

Join Lucy Worsley for an exploration of how Elizabeth I’s image as a warrior queen, created by a series of myths and secrets about her victory over the Spanish Armada, shaped British national identity for centuries.


Friday, September 17

1 PM: Soundscapes: Nate Pultorak

Local musicians and stunning scenics take centerstage on Soundscapes. Dulcimer virtuoso Nate Pultorak introduces audiences to his enthralling music and an instrument they may not be familiar with at the Strand Center Theatre in Plattsburgh, NY.

1:30 PM: Bluegrass Underground: Episode 1009

Taped deep within the subterranean amphitheater of The Caverns in Tennessee’s majestic Cumberland Mountains, this “musical adventure” series features both long-established and emerging artists within a broad spectrum of genres to include roots-rock, jamband, r&b, soul, folk, Americana and bluegrass. This episode features Andrew Bird, Amos Lee, Mary Gauthier, and The Lone Bellow.

2 PM: Open a Book, Open the World: The Library of Congress National Book Festival

Television viewers can see an inspiring introduction to the 2021 Library of Congress National Book Festival and its exciting lineup of authors, poets and writers in this one-hour special. “Open a Book, Open the World: The Library of Congress National Book Festival,” hosted by LeVar Burton, will offer a timely celebration of the power of books and discussions on some of the big topics of the day.

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