Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Conserving Our Spectacular, Vulnerable Coral Reefs

For Students 9th - 10th
How do coral reef conservationists balance the environmental needs of the reefs with locals who need the reefs to survive? Joshua Drew draws on the islands of Fiji and their exemplary system of protection, called "connectivity," which...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Curiosity, Discovery and Gecko Feet

For Students 9th - 10th
Robert Full suggests the possibility of finding world-changing results with less formulaic approaches than the scientific method. In his TEDYouth Talk, Full describes the unlikely way he studied gecko's feet and how these beneficial...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The Secret to Rising Sea Levels

For Students 9th - 10th
Check out Asap SCIENCE's video explaining the natural phenomenon of thermal expansion, and learn how it is affecting rising sea levels. [1:16]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: What Is Chromatography?

For Students 9th - 10th
Find out why leaves change color in the fall, and learn how to do paper chromatography to separate the pigments found in a leaf. [4:24]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Open Letter to the President: Physics Education

For Students 9th - 10th
American high school Physics courses typically fail to address any modern topics in Physics- intriguing topics, like black holes and antimatter, and applications that play a huge role in our everyday lives, like GPS systems and lasers....
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: What Is a Fungus?

For Students 9th - 10th
From toadstools to yeast, delve deeper into the diverse kingdom of fungi, and find out just how different (and similar) they are to animals and plants. [5:34]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Que Es Una Estrella?

For Students 9th - 10th
A star is an astronomical object that shines with its own light, that is, it can produce its own radiation, has an internal source of energy, and can be held in space due to its own gravity. Learn a little more about the characteristics...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Evolution's Gift of Play, From Bonobo Apes to Humans

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about our similarity to apes, and how they solve their problems so peacefully at times but humans, the more "advanced" species, can behave so primitively. [7:02]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How to Read Music

For Students 9th - 10th
Like an actor's script, a sheet of music instructs a musician on what to play (the pitch) and when to play it (the rhythm). Sheet music may look complicated, but once you've gotten the hang of a few simple elements like notes, bars and...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Beatboxing 101 Beat Nyc

For Students 9th - 10th
There's no need for instruments to make music; you can use the greatest instrument of all, your own body. Members of BEAT NYC teach the basics of beatboxing (think trumpets, bass drums, and everything in between), all while driving...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Development of English Drama

For Students 9th - 10th
When presented with the problem of hoards of illiterate commoners, English clergymen in the 11th century created plays to spread word about the Bible. Eventually, the plays moved out of the church and into the streets. Mindy Ploeckelmann...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Become a Slam Poet in Five Steps

For Students 9th - 10th
With enough passion and practice, becoming a slam poet is within your reach. Explore a distant memory on paper, then read it out loud. Edit. Try reading it out loud again, and add your finishing touches. Gayle Danley offers five steps to...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Beach Bodies (In Spoken Word)

For Students 9th - 10th
What leads to the way we perceive our body image? In a thought-provoking and humorous performance, spoken word poets David Fasanya and Gabriel Barralaga pose a challenge to rethink how we see ourselves. [3:32]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: An Interview With Vusi Mahlasela

For Students 9th - 10th
Here, Vusi Mahlasela talks about music, its social impact, and his hopes for how we relate to each other in this challenging world. [6:29]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Everything You Need to Know to Read Frankenstein

For Students 9th - 10th
Iseult Gillespie shares everything you need to know to read Mary Shelley's classic novel Frankenstein. [5:02]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How Science Fiction Can Help Predict the Future

For Students 9th - 10th
Everyone from governments to military to industry leaders do as well, and they all employ people called futurists who attempt to forecast the future. Roey Tzezana explains some of the ways that futurists venture to do so. [5:22]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How I Responded to Sexism in Gaming With Empathy

For Students 9th - 10th
Lilian Chen details her experiences with sexism in the gamer community and how she is now aiming to raise awareness for this topic in a way that doesn't shame male gamers. [7:00]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The True Power of the Performing Arts

For Students 9th - 10th
An arts administrator looks at the state of the live arts asking: How can the magic of live theater, live music, live dance compete with the always-on Internet? Take a bold look forward. [12:45]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Does "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" Have a Hidden Message?

For Students 9th - 10th
In his introduction to "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," L. Frank Baum claims that the book is simply an innocent children's story. But some scholars have found hidden criticisms of late-nineteenth-century economic policies in the book. Is...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Would Winning the Lottery Make You Happier?

For Students 9th - 10th
Imagine winning a multi-million dollar lottery tomorrow. If you're like many of us, you'd be ecstatic, unable to believe your good luck. But would that joy still be there a few years later? Raj Raghunathan describes a phenomenon called...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How Cars Went From Boxy to Curvy

For Students 9th - 10th
How does engineering relate to fashion? The big shift from boxy cars in the '80s to curvy cars in the '90s, explained by Vox. [4:00]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Why Do Airlines Sell Too Many Tickets?

For Students 9th - 10th
Have you ever sat in a doctor's office for hours, despite having an appointment? Has a hotel turned down your reservation because it's full? Have you been bumped off a flight that you paid for? These are all symptoms of overbooking, a...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How Smudge Proof Lipstick Was Invented: Moments of Vision 6

For Students 9th - 10th
Today, lip cosmetics are a billion dollar industry, with 1 out of every 3 women claiming that they won't leave home without applying lipstick. But how did it come to be so common? In the sixth installment of our 'Moments of Vision'...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How the Rubber Glove Was Invented: Moments of Vision 4

For Students 9th - 10th
It's hard to imagine a modern hospital being able to function without rubber gloves- but they weren't actually invented until 1890. In the fourth installment of our 'Moments of Vision' series, Jessica Oreck shares the surprisingly...