Video seriesWk 1–2· 12 min
Crash Course World History — Ancient Mesopotamia
Crash Course / PBS
John Green's high-energy survey of Sumer, Akkad, and Babylon.
OpenMedia Library
Documentaries, podcasts, and virtual tours — mapped to the year.
25 free, family-friendly resources from PBS, Crash Course, BBC, NASA, Google Arts & Culture, and the Smithsonian. Each entry is tagged with the week it best supports.
Quarter 1
Q1 pairings
DocumentaryWk 4–6· 55 min
Egypt's Lost Wonders
PBS Nova
How engineers built the pyramids — pairs with the Q1 informative essay.
Virtual tourWk 5
Inside the Great Pyramid (virtual tour)
Harvard Giza Project
3D walkthrough of Khufu's pyramid with side galleries.
Open PodcastWk 4–9· 30 min
Brains On! — How does your body work?
American Public Media
Kid-friendly science episodes that map onto the MS-LS1 cells unit.
Open Video series
Tinybop's The Human Body (video supplement)
Tinybop
Animated walk-throughs of each body system.
Quarter 2
Q2 pairings
DocumentaryWk 10–12· 45 min
Engineering an Empire — Greece
History Channel
How the Parthenon and the Athenian fleet were built.
Video seriesWk 13–17· 15 min
Crash Course Mythology — The Iliad & The Odyssey
Crash Course
Two episodes pair perfectly with Black Ships Before Troy.
Open Video seriesWk 17–18· 30 min
The Great Courses — Famous Romans (selected)
Wondrium
30-min lectures on Cincinnatus, the Gracchi, and Cicero.
PodcastWk 16· 35 min
Stuff You Missed in History Class — Hypatia of Alexandria
iHeart
Pairs with the librarian-who-measured-the-earth lesson.
Virtual tour
Earth's Rotation, Revolution & Seasons
NASA Eyes on the Solar System
Interactive 3D solar system for the MS-ESS1 unit.
OpenQuarter 3
Q3 pairings
DocumentaryWk 19–21· 90 min
Rome: Engineering an Empire
History Channel
Peter Weller hosts — pairs with Macaulay's City.
DocumentaryWk 22· 55 min
Secrets of the Dead — Pompeii
PBS
Watch on the morning of the volcano lab.
Video seriesWk 24–25· 13 min
Crash Course World History — 2000 Years of Chinese History
Crash Course
Han, Tang, Song dynasties in one episode.
Open Virtual tourWk 25–26
The Silk Road — virtual journey
Google Arts & Culture
Multi-museum exhibit on traders, goods, and ideas.
Open PodcastWk 22· 25 min
But Why? — Why do volcanoes erupt?
Vermont Public
Pair with the Pompeii lesson.
Quarter 4
Q4 pairings
DocumentaryWk 28–30· 50 min
Science in a Golden Age
Al Jazeera English
Four-episode series on the House of Wisdom, algebra, optics, and astronomy.
Open DocumentaryWk 32· 60 min
The Lost Libraries of Timbuktu
BBC
Pair with Mansa Musa lessons.
Video seriesWk 31–32· 12 min
Crash Course World History — Mansa Musa & Islam in Africa
Crash Course
John Green on the wealthiest individual in history.
Open Video seriesWk 33· 60 min
Secrets of the Castle (with Ruth, Peter & Tom)
BBC
5-part build of a real 13th-century castle. Pairs with Macaulay's Castle.
PodcastWk 34· 45 min
In Our Time — The Black Death (BBC Radio 4)
BBC
Melvyn Bragg with three historians on the 14th-century plague.
Preview first — some mature content.
Evergreen channels & podcasts
YouTube playlist
Numberphile (YouTube channel)
Brady Haran
Short, beautiful math videos. Use the ratios, fractions, and pi playlists.
Open YouTube playlist
Math Antics
Rob & Jeremy Schug
Clear remediation videos — every 6.NS, 6.RP, 6.EE topic has one.
Open YouTube playlist
SciShow Kids & SciShow
Complexly
Quick explainers on cells, weather, space, and ecology.
Open Virtual tour
Smithsonian Open Access
Smithsonian
Three million free images and 3D models for any project.
Open Podcast· 30 min
Story Pirates
Story Pirates
Improv comedians act out stories kids write — great writing motivation.
OpenUse it well
- Preview every video and podcast before showing — ratings and ad content change.
- Use docs after the textbook reading, not before. Otherwise students miss the cause-and-effect.
- Pair every video with a one-question response in the student workbook ("What surprised you?").
- Library cards usually unlock Kanopy and Hoopla for free streaming of academic documentaries.