Monday, July 15, 2 PM
For next week’s Watch & Wonder Highlight, we’re featuring this episode of NOVA. After watching, dive deeper with resources about modern day tensions between development and the traditional lives of indigenous peoples still living in the Amazon on PBS LearningMedia.
Recent stunning discoveries are exploding the myth of the Amazon as a primeval wilderness, revealing traces of ancient civilizations that flourished there for centuries. Dense settlements indicate populations in the millions, supported by sophisticated agricultural systems, while huge geometric earthworks and roadways bear witness to complex religious ideas and social networks. In Ancient Builders of the Amazon, learn about how the evidence is now clear that, far from being an untouched wilderness, the Amazon has been shaped by human hands for millennia.
PBS LearningMedia
The Plight of Isolated Tribes of the Amazon
Grades 6-12
Learn how contact with the outside world has impacted the shrinking number of isolated tribes of indigenous peoples living in the Amazon rain forest in this digital video from American Experience and Retro Reports. Today, there are approximately 100 tribes in the rain forest that have not interacted with the modernized world. A hundred years ago, there were many more. The video presents the tension between development and the traditional lives of indigenous peoples.
In school or at home, take advantage of the Watch & Wonder broadcast schedule. Running each weekday from 1-3 PM, Watch & Wonder is great for classroom viewing, distance instruction, and families looking to spend some extra, quality time together. Featured programs are ideal for kids in grades 6-12, encouraging creativity with the arts, kick starting innovation through STEM, and expanding their horizons with stories from across the globe!
Each week, we’ll highlight a show from our Watch & Wonder block, and share a PBS LearningMedia resource — suitable for middle and high school students. Follow along on the Watch & Wonder Schedule page, or subscribe to our newsletter!