Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Why I Love a Country That Once Betrayed Me

For Students 9th - 10th
CommonLit.org is a wonderful resource to use in a Language Arts classroom. Each story or article is accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. In addition, students can click on words to see...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Let's Talk About Sex

For Students 9th - 10th
In this video, John Bohannon and Black Label Movement mix talk and dance to implore honest communication between parents and their kids about sex. [10:43] Includes a brief quiz and a list of additional resources to explore.
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: A 40 Year Plan for Energy

For Students 9th - 10th
In this intimate talk filmed at TED's offices, energy innovator Amory Lovins shows how to get the US off oil and coal by 2050, $5 trillion cheaper, with no Act of Congress, led by business for profit. The key is integrating all four...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Electric Vocabulary

For Students 9th - 10th
Video talks about the history of vocabulary associated with electricity and electric phenomena. [6:56] Followed by a short quiz and a list of additional resources to explore.
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The Carbon Cycle

For Students 9th - 10th
Video talks about the carbon cycle and uses a computer as a metaphor to show how the cycle can be disrupted by climate change. [3:55] Includes a short quiz and a list of additional resources to explore.
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The 3 A's of Awesome

For Students 9th - 10th
Neil Pasricha's blog 1000 Awesome Things savors life's simple pleasures, from free refills to clean sheets. In this heartfelt talk, he reveals the 3 secrets (all starting with A) to leading a life that's truly awesome. [17:33]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The Moral Dangers of Non Lethal Weapons

For Students 9th - 10th
Pepper spray and tasers are in increasing use by both police and military, and more exotic non-lethal weapons such as heat rays are in the works. In this talk, ethicist Stephen Coleman explores the unexpected consequences of their...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The Chemistry of Cold Packs

For Students 9th - 10th
If you stick water in the freezer, it will take a few hours to freeze into ice. How is it, then, that cold packs go from room temperature to near freezing in mere seconds? John Pollard details the chemistry of the cold pack, shedding...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How We See Color

For Students 9th - 10th
There are three types of color receptors in your eye: red, green and blue. But how do we see the amazing kaleidoscope of other colors that make up our world? The following learning module explains how humans can see everything from...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: What Makes Muscles Grow?

For Students 9th - 10th
We have over 600 muscles in our bodies that help bind us together, hold us up, and help us move. Muscles also need constant attention, because the way you treat them on a daily basis determines whether they will wither or grow. This...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How Stress Affects Your Body

For Students 9th - 10th
Our hard-wired stress response is designed to give us the quick burst of heightened alertness and energy needed to perform our best. But stress isn't all good. When activated too long or too often, stress can damage virtually every part...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: What Happens When Your Dna Is Damaged?

For Students 9th - 10th
The DNA in just one of your cells gets damaged tens of thousands of times per day. Because DNA provides the blueprint for the proteins your cells need to function, this damage can cause serious issues-including cancer. Fortunately, your...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Why Do Some People Go Bald?

For Students 9th - 10th
What do Charles Darwin, Michael Jordan, and Yoda have in common? They, like many other historical and fictive individuals, are bald. Scientists have long pondered, why do some people lose their hair, and how can we bring it back? This...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The Benefits of Good Posture

For Students 9th - 10th
Has your mom ever told you, "Stand up straight!" or scolded you for slouching at a family dinner? Comments like that might be annoying-but they're not wrong. Your posture is the foundation for every movement your body makes and can...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How Blood Pressure Works?

For Students 9th - 10th
If you lined up all the blood vessels in your body, they'd be 60 thousand miles long. And every day, they carry the equivalent of over two thousand gallons of blood to the body's tissues. What effect does this pressure have on the walls...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Debunking the Myths of Ocd

For Students 9th - 10th
There's a common misconception that if you like to meticulously organize your things, keep your hands clean, or plan out your weekend to the last detail, you might be OCD. In fact, OCD is a serious psychiatric condition that is...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How in Vitro Fertilization Works

For Students 9th - 10th
Infertility affects 1 in 8 couples worldwide. But in the last 40 years, more than 5 million babies have been born using in vitro fertilization (IVF). This video and guide detail the science behind making a baby in a lab. [6:43]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Why Do Your Knuckles Pop?

For Students 9th - 10th
Some people love the feeling of cracking their knuckles, while others cringe at the sound. But what causes that trademark pop? And is it dangerous? The following video and guide gives the facts behind joint popping. [4:22]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: What Is Leukemia?

For Students 9th - 10th
Stem cells found in the bone marrow are crucial for our health because they are needed to become new blood cells that sustain and protect our bodies. But when the transformation goes wrong, harmful mutations can cause the cells to start...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Eye vs. Camera

For Students 9th - 10th
Your eyes don't always capture the world exactly as a video camera would. But the eyes are remarkably efficient organs, the result of hundreds of millions of years of coevolution with our brains. The following video and guide outlines...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The Effects of Underwater Pressure on the Body

For Students 9th - 10th
Why would a fish throw up its stomach? What makes a scuba diver develop painful microbubbles in their joints? The following video and guide details the basics of barotrauma, shedding light on how humans and fish alike are influenced by...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: What Causes Bad Breath?

For Students 9th - 10th
Halitosis is a curse that has plagued humanity since ancient times. But what causes it, and why is it so universally terrifying? The following video and guide outlines the basics of bad breath - and what you can do when it strikes you....
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Why Its So Hard to Cure Hiv/aids

For Students 9th - 10th
In 2008, something incredible happened: a man was cured of HIV. In over 70 million HIV cases, this was a first, and, so far, a last, and we don't yet understand exactly how he was cured. But if we can cure people of various diseases,...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Learning From Smallpox

For Students 9th - 10th
For most of human history, we have sought to treat and cure diseases. But only in recent decades did it become possible to ensure that a particular disease never threatens humanity again. The following video and guide details how the...