Week of April 6-10 Learning Materials

Sleep: Science Trek
We spend about a third of our lives sleeping, but what do scientists really know about sleep?

Gross Science: Why Do You Always Get Sick After Final Exams?
Learn why students tend to get sick after final exams, in this episode of Gross Science from NOVA.

The Brain: What’s Inside Your Head
This episode of Science Trek examines the anatomy and function of the different parts of the brain: the cerebrum, cerebellum, hemispheres, limbic system, neurons, spinal cord, brainstem and cortex.

Nutrition: Science Trek
3 segments
IdahoPTV's Science Trek demonstrates the path food takes in our body in order for us to absorb nutrients. The functions of the 6 nutrients of protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, minerals and water are described with examples of each nutrient.

Getting Fit at the Gym
Learn about the kinds of exercises students do to get in shape, in this video adapted from the In the Mix.

NOVA scienceNOW: How the Body Responds to Exercise
This video segment adapted from NOVA describes the effect of exercise on the body and defines one measure used to gauge aerobic fitness.

Is Lactic Acid a Four Letter Word?
Mitochondria play host to one of the most important processes in your body: cellular respiration. This process uses oxygen to transform glucose into energy-rich molecules of a substance called ATP. This essay describes the basic process by which food energy is converted into energy our cells can use, as well as the effects of physical exercise on the efficiency of this process.

Nutrition: What Your Body Needs
In this blended lesson supporting literacy skills, students watch videos that explore why some foods are healthy and others unhealthy, they outline the process our body uses to break down foods into forms it can use, and they explain the role nutrition can play in managing diseases.

Healthy Eating
This lesson begins with an activity in which students consider two plates of food: one composed of healthy choices and one composed of less healthy choices. Students then learn about the importance of nutrition, watch a video about healthy eating habits, and discuss the role of fruits and vegetables in a healthy diet. Next, students investigate snacks and learn about the difference between "everyday" and "sometimes" foods. They watch a video about how to choose healthy snacks, and then participate in an activity that challenges them to make healthy choices while preparing a plate of food for a friend. Finally, students learn about where to find both "everyday" and "sometimes" foods.

Food Justice
Urban high school students discuss problems in food systems and what can be done about them in this adaptation of a video they created in collaboration with the Environmental Justice League of Rhode Island.

Un plato saludable
In this Spanish stop animation students will learn about healthy food choices, portions and how to make a balanced meal using the USDA My Plate model.

The Teenage Brain
Explore some of the more striking differences between the brains of kids and the brains of their parents and teachers in this video from FRONTLINE: "Inside the Teenage Brain."

Four Deadly Carnivorous Plants
Learn about four types of carnivorous plants, in this video from NOVA’s Gross Science series.

Carnivorous Plants of Cartwheel Bay
In this video segment from NatureScene, travel with host Jim Welch and naturalist Rudy Mancke to explore Cartwheel Bay and see examples of some of the area's carnivorous plants, such as the purple pitcher plant, trumpet pitcher plant, hooded pitcher plant and Venus fly trap.

Botany: Idaho Botanical Garden Tour
Take a tour of parts of the Idaho Botanical Garden to learn more about the plants around us. The garden is a living museum, fostering a love of nature and an understanding. Find out more about the English garden, carnivorous plants, and some interesting ways to grow food.

SciGirls: Dra. Amelia Merced:Bióloga/Biologist
Dr. Amelia is a microscopist in Puerto Rico researching plant development and diversity.
Video is in Spanish, with subtitles in both Spanish and English.

Native America
Support materials, discussion questions and activities, to be used in tandem with the series “Native America.”

Iroquois or Haudenosaunee? Native America in Upstate New York
There are two names used to refer to many Native Americans from Upstate New York. One is the traditional name in their Native language. The other is a term coined by French settlers in the 1600s, as they interacted with Native American tribes in the Northeast. Onondaga storyteller Perry Ground explains the difference, and why the distinction is important.

Taking Away from Our Culture (Lesson Plan)
In this video, Onondaga storyteller Perry Ground speaks to students at Gowana Middle School in Clifton Park NY about Cultural Appropriation. This topic is always timely, though it is suggested that the video is most effective in the following situations: before spirit week, before halloween, before a pep rally or school activity, or at the beginning of sports season.

Indian Pride
Indian Pride, the 13-part cultural magazine, showcases the unique lifestyles of North American’s 562 Indian nations. While honoring the historical past, Indian Pride created a national forum for tribal members to speak to a national audience.

The Negro American League: Jackie Robinson
Ken Burns in the Classroom
Along with lesson plans and support materials, this two-part, four-hour film, tells the story of an American icon whose life-long battle for first class citizenship for all African Americans transcended even his remarkable athletic achievements. Jack Roosevelt Robinson rose from humble origins to cross baseball’s color line in the 1940s. A fierce integrationist, he used his immense fame to speak out against discrimination on and off the field. After baseball, he was a widely-read newspaper columnist, divisive political activist, and tireless advocate for civil rights.

Daniel Goff: Revolutionary Soldier
Daniel Goff was among the free African Americans who fought in the Revolutionary War. Goff served under George Washington at Valley Forge and fought in the Battle of Monmouth. Learn about the various aspects of the Revolutionary War with this series of learning materials from PBS Learning Media.

In Their Own Words
Ben, an enslaved miller at Mount Vernon, discusses freedom. Thinking aloud, he considers what his life might be like if he runs away from Mount Vernon and gains his freedom as compared to his current life as George Washington's miller. Special thanks to George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Behind the Scenes: How an Animation is Made
Writer Adam Peltzman, animator Alan Foreman, and voice over actress Leslie Carrara-Rudolph--the principle creative team behind the Haunted House phonological series--describe the creative process behind the creation of a cartoon.

SciGirls: Cartoon Coders
The SciGirls plot out their idea in storyboards to get a cohesive visual plan.

Edison: From the Telephone and Telegraph comes the Phonograph
Discover how one invention led to another when Thomas Edison and his Menlo Park laboratory team refined Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone and, along the way, invented the phonograph, in this video adapted from AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: Edison.

The Abolitionists: John Brown Puts His Accusers on Trial
In October 1859, John Brown and a band of 21 men tried to raid the armory at Harpers Ferry. They thought their bold act would inspire slaves to rise up against their masters. Brown's raid failed, but his trial succeeded in bringing attention to the abolitionist cause.

Fighting for Freedom and Equality: The Abolitionist Movement and Black Lives Matter
This activity utilizes primary source documents, video from The Good Stuff: Time Capsule and the PBS series Mercy Street to examine the Black Lives Matter Movement and the racial conflicts of today and trace their roots to the Abolitionist Movement of the nineteenth century.

And Then There Were None
Writers Gillian Flynn and Christopher Bollen explain why And Then There Were None is Agatha Christie's most compelling mystery. It's an example of how thrillers are so effective when talking about villains and monsters. Christie's masterpiece doesn't rely on a detective to solve the crime, and explores an obsession with both murder and justice.

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Ignatius J. Reilly is the unlikely, and unforgettable hero of the Pulitzer prize-winning A Confederacy of Dunces.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream:The Love Potion
This media gallery from Shakespeare Uncovered examines how and why the love potion is used in William Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream. Students will learn what inspired Shakespeare to incorporate the love potion into the play and how it impacts the plot and dialogue.

Looking for Alaska: The Great American Read
Looking for Alaska is a young adult novel about first love, unrequited love, tragedy, and the intense experiences during the teenage years.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams' 1979 novel, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, is a comedic satire on society, bureaucracy, and closed-mindedness.

Gulliver’s Travels: The Great American Read
Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift, was published in 1726. It describes the misadventures of Lemuel Gulliver, who unintentionally finds himself in places inhabited by strange people and beasts, of different shapes, behaviors, and philosophies.

Magna Carta: Introduction
Learn about the significance and influence of Magna Carta on U.S. history and government.

Magna Carta: Rule of Law
Learn how the rule of law and due process, first guaranteed by Magna Carta in 1215, became an essential component in U.S. constitutional law in this video.

Magna Carta: Relevant for the 21st Century
Learn about the relevance of Magna Carta today and the importance of being an engaged citizen in this video.

Founding Principles: American Governance in Action
Each resource includes a breakdown of enduring understandings, an overview of content, a list of covered foundational documents and Supreme Court cases, ideas for extending learning, suggested classroom activities, related vocabulary words, and student viewing guides with comprehension and critical thinking questions. With a rich study of primary sources such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Federalist Papers, and an emphasis on promoting civic engagement and participation, students explore the foundation of our democracy and the importance of citizenship. (Not all videos closed captioned)

Series: Murals of the Holocaust
For over 20 years, a summer program for gifted adolescents at Western Kentucky University has offered an arts-integrated history course on Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. The course concludes with students working as a group to create a large mural on the Holocaust. In this way, students use the power of art to deal with their own emotions as well as to educate others.

The Holocaust through Children’s Eyes
No CC/Transcripts only
Follow the firsthand testimony of the last generation of Holocaust survivors, as they recount the haunting memories of being sent to Nazi concentration camps, in these videos excerpted from The Last Survivors: FRONTLINE.

The Windermere Children
Holocaust survivors Sam Laskier, Bela Rosenthal and Harry Olmer recount the memories they made as children while at Windermere.

How Hollywood Got Cleopatra Wrong
As Kathleen Martinez mentions in this episode clip from Cleopatra’s Lost Tomb, what most of us know about Cleopatra is based on her portrayal in Hollywood movies. Cleopatra was, in fact, much more than the Hollywood seductress of legend. Who was the real Cleopatra? And what are her achievements?

Egypt’s Golden Empire
In this lesson, students will focus on learning about some of ancient Egypt's great queens - Nefertiti, Tiy, and Nefertari. Students will learn about what made these women powerful as well as how they influenced the lives of the common people by being held in such high regard by their husbands, the pharaohs.

Egypt’s Golden Empire: Women in Power
The high level of respect for women made Egyptian society unusual for its time. Women in the royal household could become especially influential.

The Greek Guide to Greatness
This is a complimentary guide to the series The Greeks. No CC

The Roosevelts Ken Burns in the Classroom
Ken Burns in the Classroom- The Roosevelts
NO CC
Support Materials to use in tandem with the on air programming of The Roosevelts.

Theodore Roosevelt and the Western Experience
ExamineS the 26th president of the United States. TR or Teddy as he has come to be known, balanced his identity of an intellectual from the East with the frontiersman of the West. His love of nature as a boy carried on throughout his life, influencing policy decisions as president that we still see today.

The Structure of DNA
A detailed look at DNA reveals the features that make up the double-helix molecule. The animation shows how the ladder-shaped DNA is constructed from chemical building blocks, including phosphates, sugars, and bases, held together by different kinds of chemical bonds.

Personal DNA Testing
In this video from NOVA scienceNOW, take a behind-the-scenes look at the process of personal DNA testing, and hear more about the innovative Personal Genome Project.

How DNA Replicates
This narrated animation from Interactive NOVA: "The Secret of Life" shows the double helix structure of DNA and how the molecule replicates.

Genetic Engineering and Working with DNA
Scientists insert genes into loops of DNA called plasmids using natural processes and technological innovations. They can then introduce plasmids into bacteria or other cells, which replicate the inserted genes or induce the cells to produce such valuable proteins as human insulin and growth hormone.

DNA Structure and Function: Decoding Watson
Discover how the structure of DNA relates to its hereditary function in these videos from the American Masters film Decoding Watson.

American Masters: Decoding Watson
Thrust into the limelight for discovering the secret of life at age 25 with Francis Crick, influential Nobel Prize-winning scientist James Watson has thrived on making headlines ever since.

Gertrude Bell
At the turn of the 20th century, young British adventurer Gertrude Bell left England to travel thousands of miles across Persia, Turkey, and Arabia.

Unintended Consequences of the 2003 U.S. Invasion of Iraq
Learn why the United States’ decision to invade Iraq in 2003 and topple its dictator Saddam Hussein had an unintended impact on the balance of power between the Sunnis and Shias in the region, in this video excerpted from FRONTLINE: Bitter Rivals.

Shia vs. Sunni- a Political Rivalry
Explore the modern-day origins of the intense political rivalry between Iran, which is largely Shia Muslim, and Saudi Arabia, which is mostly Sunni, for dominance over the Islamic world, in this video excerpted from FRONTLINE: Bitter Rivals.

Stepping Up: What Motivates You to Make Change
“Stepping Up,” is a short video series featuring four young people working for real change in their communities. The "Stepping Up" collection includes the video series, classroom supports and a youth media challenge prompt.

Biography: Annie Oakley
Both lucky and extremely talented, Annie Oakley used her astonishing marksmanship to escape a poor childhood in Ohio and rise to become the first female superstar in what had been a male-dominated profession. Learn more with this resource from American Experience: "Annie Oakley."

In a Man’s World
From the collection Women In American History American Experience.