Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Healthier Men, One Moustache at a Time

For Students 9th - 10th
Adam Garone has an impressive moustache, and it's for a good cause. A co-founder of Movember, Garone's initiative to raise awareness for men's health- by having men grow out their moustaches every November- began as a dare in a bar in...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: A Light Switch for Neurons

For Students 9th - 10th
Ed Boyden shows how, by inserting genes for light-sensitive proteins into brain cells, he can selectively activate or de-activate specific neurons with fiber-optic implants. With this unprecedented level of control, he's managed to cure...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The Mystery of Chronic Pain

For Students 9th - 10th
We think of pain as a symptom, but there are cases where the nervous system develops feedback loops and pain becomes a terrifying disease in itself. Starting with the story of a girl whose sprained wrist turned into a nightmare, Elliot...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Are We Ready for Neo Evolution?

For Students 9th - 10th
Medical ethicist Harvey Fineberg shows us three paths forward for the ever-evolving human species: to stop evolving completely, to evolve naturally- or to control the next steps of human evolution, using genetic modification, to make...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Printing a Human Kidney

For Students 9th - 10th
Surgeon Anthony Atala demonstrates an early-stage experiment that could someday solve the organ-donor problem: a 3D printer that uses living cells to output a transplantable kidney. Using similar technology, Dr. Atala's young patient...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Hiv and Flu the Vaccine Strategy

For Students 9th - 10th
Seth Berkley explains how smart advances in vaccine design, production and distribution are bringing us closer than ever to eliminating a host of global threats- from AIDS to malaria to flu pandemics. [21:06]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The Danger of Science Denial

For Students 9th - 10th
Vaccine-autism claims, "Frankenfood" bans, the herbal cure craze: All point to the public's growing fear (and, often, outright denial) of science and reason, says Michael Specter. He warns the trend spells disaster for human progress....
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Fresh Water Scarcity: An Introduction to the Problem

For Students 9th - 10th
Fresh water is essential for life- and there's not nearly enough of it for the world right now. Why is that, and what could we do? Christiana Z. Peppard lays out the big questions of our global water problem. [3:39]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How Bacteria "Talk"

For Students 9th - 10th
Bonnie Bassler discovered that bacteria "talk" to each other, using a chemical language that lets them coordinate defense and mount attacks. The find has stunning implications for medicine, industry- and our understanding of ourselves....
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Parasite Tales: The Jewel Wasp's Zombie Slave

For Students 9th - 10th
This is stranger than science fiction. The jewel wasp and the cockroach have a disgusting and fascinating parasitic relationship. The jewel wasp stuns the cockroach, and months later, a jewel wasp hatches out of the cockroach. At...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The Coming Neurological Epidemic

For Students 9th - 10th
Biochemist Gregory Petsko makes a convincing argument that, in the next 50 years, we'll see an epidemic of neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's, as the world population ages. His solution: more research into the brain and its...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Losing Everything

For Students 9th - 10th
Nine days before TED2008, filmmaker David Hoffman lost almost everything he owned in a fire that destroyed his home, office and 30 years of passionate collecting. He looks back at a life that's been wiped clean in an instant -- and looks...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How Caffeine Works

For Students 9th - 10th
How does caffeine turn a morning zombie into a functioning member of society? This lesson will get you thinking about the science behind an everyday drug. [4:15]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: 23 and 1/2 Hours

For Students 9th - 10th
What is the single best thing we can do for our health? Watch this to find out. [9:19]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The Myth of Icarus and Daedalus

For Students 9th - 10th
Amy Adkins explains the myth of Icarus and Daedalus. [5:08]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The Poetry of Emily Dickinson

For Students 9th - 10th
Crash Course explores the poetry of Emily Dickinson. From the biographical details of her life, to why her poems have remained relevant; from punctuation to cake recipes, here's a closer look. [10:11]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How to Recognize a Dystopia

For Students 9th - 10th
Alex Gendler explains how dystopias act as cautionary tales- not about some particular government or technology, but the very idea that humanity can be molded into an ideal shape. [5:56]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Plato's Best (And Worst) Ideas

For Students 9th - 10th
Wisecrack gives a brief rundown of a few of Plato's best and worst ideas. [4:49]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Harry Potter and the Translator's Nightmare

For Students 9th - 10th
How would you translate 'Hogwarts' or 'Diagon Alley' or even 'Harry Potter'? Vox explains some of the very specific pitfalls of trying to translate J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. [5:54]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Are You a Classical or Romantic Voter?

For Students 9th - 10th
We're used to splitting voters into right and left camps, but might there be a more fruitful division between 'classical' and 'romantic' voters? Which one are you? [6:18]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: One of the Most Difficult Words to Translate

For Students 9th - 10th
As simple as it seems, it's often impossible to accurately translate the word "you" without knowing a lot more about the situation where it's being said. Krystian Aparta describes the specific reasons why it can be difficult, citing...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Why Are Bad Words Bad?

For Students 9th - 10th
If bad words are taboo, why do they make up such a significant part of our daily conversations? And where do they come from, anyway? Vsauce explains what makes bad words so - bad. [10:46]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Your Words May Predict Your Future Mental Health

For Students 9th - 10th
Can the way you speak and write today predict your future mental state, even the onset of psychosis? In this fascinating talk, neuroscientist Mariano Sigman reflects on ancient Greece and the origins of introspection to investigate how...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: What Makes Something "Kafkaesque"?

For Students 9th - 10th
The term Kafkaesque has entered the vernacular to describe unnecessarily complicated and frustrating experiences, especially with bureaucracy. But does standing in a long line to fill out confusing paperwork really capture the richness...