History Channel educational programming update

The History Channel is pleased to bring you this week's educational programming update:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The History Channel Announces "Take A Veteran to School Day", a New National Initiative

The Universe: Mars, The Red Planet, Sunday, June 10th at 10PM/9c

Cities of the Underworld: London's Lost Cities, Monday, June 11th at 9 PM/8c

Modern Marvels: Alcan Highway, Thursday, June 14th at 10PM/9c

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The History Channel Announces "Take A Veteran to School Day", a New National Initiative

The History Channel has developed a Take A Vet to School Day campaign to link veterans of all ages with young people in our schools and communities. This nationwide initiative will help strengthen ties in your communities and bring history to life in classrooms. The History Channel is encouraging schools to organize an event at their schools in the weeks leading up to Monday, November 12th, the official Veterans Day holiday. To learn more about how to organize a Take a Vet to School Day at your school or in your community, log on to veterans.com This website will include sample agendas, curriculum links, how-to guides, and information about how to work together with your local cable company to organize an event at your school.

This campaign is not just celebratory or commemorative, there are clear links to classroom course units and lesson plans. The Story of Veterans Day – a 25-minute documentary produced in conjunction withthe U.S. Department of Education – will be linked to state standards. A teacher's guide to this program will be available on the website as well. This site will also include oral history guidelines for middle and high school students, and suggestions for in-class activities for grades K-12 related to this program.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Universe: Mars, The Red Planet
Sunday, June 10th at 10PM/9c

It has been fifty years since human first ventured into space, but the quest to understand the universe and its planets continues. With the similarity of its atmosphere and conditions to the planet to Earth, Mars has long fascinated humans as a possible candidate for habitation. Yet many questions about the "red planet" remain as NASA orbiters and rovers discover new evidence of from their explorationsof Mars. In this fascinating one-hour episode in The Universe series,the latest findings about Mars are explored and analyzed by scientists and other experts. Along the way, they introduce the key areas of research they have focused upon, and the most up-to-date hypotheses about the possible existence of life on Mars. Colorful computer graphics, careful commentary, and helpful visuals are used in this documentary to show what life might be like on Mars, and to imagine what kind of life forms might evolve in alien atmospheres. This is an excellent program for science and technology courses, giving students the opportunity to visualize the "red planet" and discover the cutting-edge research methods used to investigate its qualities.

Curriculum Links:
The Universe: Mars, The Red Planet is appropriate for middle school and high school students. It would be useful for Science, Astronomy, Earth Sciences, and Technology courses. It fulfills several National Standards guidelines as outlined by the National Council for History Education including 1) Civilization, Cultural Diffusion, and Innovation, 2) Human Interaction with the Environment.

Special Website:
history.com/minisite.do?mini_id=54036

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cities of the Underworld: London's Lost Cities
Monday, June 11th at 9 PM/8c

Cities of the Underworld is an exciting new series which explores the fascinating and unknown history of world cities by examinging the layers below their surface. Tombs, dungeons, shipwrecks, and other ruins buried city's sidewalks and streets reveal histories long forgotten. This one-hour episode, London's Lost Cities, peels back the layers below of one of the world's most powerful cities by searching underground. While the London of today is a cosmopolitan hub with images many of us know well, below the busy streets and marketplaces another city hides--a city of Roman baths, secret crypts, and lost rivers. Host Eric Gellar even unearths evidence of indestructible bunkers under London's surface that could once hold up to 8,000 people.

Many phases of London's influential past—from the era of the Roman empire to the Industrial Revolution and up through World War II, are examined in this episode. Students will follow along on a tour through key events from the city's past as host Gellar highlights key findings from his journey underground. This documentary lends a fresh perspective to the understanding of World War II, for example, revealing the location and activities of Winston Churchill's secret subterranean war rooms. This program is an excellent opportunity for students to see the physical evidence of how history changes overtime, and to think critically about how events of long ago shape the worlds both above and far below ground level. Clips from this episode would be a nice addition to courses or units with an emphasis on architecture and many aspects of British history, and can also provide historical context for courses with a contemporary focus.

Curriculum Links:
Cities of the Underworld: London's Lost Cities would be useful for Global Studies, History, Social Studies, Architecture, and some Science and Technology courses. Teachers may want to use clips from this documentary to animate their lesson plans or course units. It fulfills the following standards as outlined by the National Council for History Education: 1) Civilization, cultural diffusion, and Innovation, 2) Human Interaction with the Environment, and 3) Conflict and Cooperation.

Special Website Available:
history.com/minisites/citiesoftheunderworld

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Modern Marvels: Alcan Highway
Thursday, June 14th at 10PM/9c

Stretching from Dawson Creek in Canada all the way to Alaska, the Alcan Highway is one of the most picturesque roads in North America. But the story of this fifteen hundred mile plus road is one rooted in war and hardship. Built during World War II, the construction of the Alcan Highway was one of the major engineering feats of the twentieth century. Over ten thousand American soldiers built the highway, of which almost four thousand were African-American soldiers who had to contend with the racism and segregation of the era that mandated their isolation and relegated to them inferior tools and supplies. All of the laborers who built this critical highway faced severe physical and practical challenges. This one-hour Modern Marvels episode tells the story of the triumphant effort of these soldiers and introduces students to a vitally important yet little known chapter in American History. It gives students the chance to discuss the ways how labor and race relations have often been linked throughout US history, and to see how human ingenuity and hard work have abounded despite tremendous barriers.

Curriculum Links:
The Alcan Highway would be useful for classes on American History, American Culture, American Ethnic History, Geography and Science and Technology. It is appropriate for middle school and high school. It fulfills the following standards as outlined by the National Council for History Education: (1) Civilization, Cultural Diffusion and Innovation, (2) Patterns of Social and Political Interaction, (3) Conflict and Cooperation and (4) Human Interaction with the Environment.

Teacher's Guide Available:
historychannel.com/classroom/admin/study_guide/archives/thc_guide.2187.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you would like to see a complete programming schedule go to:
historychannel.com/global/listings/listings.jsp?NetwCode=THC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you do not wish to receive future Weekly Classroom Updates, please send a message tounsub-clas-thc@newsletters.aetv.com

Thank you!

THE HISTORY CHANNEL Education Department

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

E-mail Marketing A&E Television Networks 250 Harbor Drive Stamford, CT 06902

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~