This resource presents a short slide show about the human respiratory system. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short test to assess their understanding.
The classroom resource provides a video that will describe the parts and processes of the human circulatory system. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.
The classroom resource provides a video that will describe the interactions between organisms in a food chain. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding. Students can use the information presented in this video to create their own model that shows the transfer of matter between organisms.
The classroom resource provides a video that will describe the interactions between organisms in a food web. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding. Students can use the information presented in this video to create their own model that shows the transfer of matter between organisms.
The classroom resource provides a video that will describe the six main climate regions, or biomes, on planet Earth. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.
Social media is a mixed bag. Being online may increase chances of identity theft and cyberbullying, yet, it’s estimated over 20% of 8 to 12 year-olds have at least one social media account—sometimes without their parents’ knowledge. At times, tweens are taking back charge of their brand, started by their parents since they were born, and sometimes, they are looking to share and connect with a community they have trouble finding face-to-face. So, What’s the right age to start using social media? This resource includes a video and student handout with discussion questions.
If the Internet's making you feel meaner, you're not imagining it. People really do act differently online than they do in person. Here’s why. According to a paper published in 2004 by psychologist John Suler, there are about 6 main reasons people act differently online. This could explain the rise of internet trolls or why people open up more online than they would in person. A student viewing guide with discussion questions is available to be used with this video.
Even by conservative estimates, the average American spends over 6 hours per day staring at a screen. That’s a lot of time. What does the scientific research say about it? Is it good or bad for us? This video comes with a facilitator guide and student handout that helps guide the discussion of this activity.
We all know how easy it is to spend hours watching videos on YouTube. Why do we go down that rabbit hole? Mostly because of a combination of computer programming and marketing know-how called ALGORITHMS. This video comes with a facilitator guide and student handout that helps guide the discussion of this activity.
YouTube has been around for over a decade now, and it dominates as the top place for video content. Because of that, it’s way more of a business now than anyone could have imagined. The advertising world refers to many of the stars on YouTube, Instagram, and other social media platforms as influencers, because they have their own, home-grown fanbase that they have been interacting with for years. To capitalize on that fanbase, companies pay these influencers to promote their product or service. Watch the latest Above the Noise video to find out whether you can trust what's on YouTube and what are the rules about influencers advertising products in their videos. This video comes with a student handout that helps guide the discussion of this activity.
Trolls are all over the internet, just annoying people to no end. What makes someone an internet troll? Are some people just destined to be a troll, or do they develop this ability? Believe it or not, there have been numerous scientific studies surrounding this behavior. Explore the science behind trolling behavior in the latest Above the Noise video. This video comes with a student handout that helps guide the discussion of this activity.
With recent reports of high profile data breaches, ransomware attacks, and the prevalence of online trackers, it’s hard to know how best to protect your privacy online. In this Above the Noise video, we met up with the cybersecurity experts at Electronic Frontier Foundation to learn more about who’s snooping on us online and what we can do to protect ourselves. This video comes with a student handout that helps guide the discussion of this activity.
The Class of the Future: it may not meet in a classroom at all, and students may be learning a totally different set of skills, says Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, in this video from FRONTLINE: Digital Nation. In this video, Duncan talks about how the way students receive, process, and communicate information could change in the education world due to the everchanging digital world.
Trolling is not new behavior, but why do people do it? And what effects does it have? Trolls tend to antagonize communities in order to amuse themselves and get attention at the expense of others. Trolling has caused some online publications and news organizations to remove comments from their sites due to the effects the comments had on readers’ perceptions of the content, as well as the costs associated with moderating the comments. In this Lowdown lesson, students will analyze the research presented about why people post mean or negative “trolling” comments, as well as evaluate how trolling has affected online communities and reflect on how it should be addressed. This lesson plan will need to be downloaded.
This lesson uses the documentary film Web Junkie as a springboard for a project-based research exercise, assigning students to investigate whether Internet addiction is a problem in their community.
The invention of social media has provided us with a wide range of opportunities to become more informed on key issues and engage in the democratic process. However, it has also created space for individuals to try to influence public opinion around a particular political agenda through the creation of thousands of phony social media accounts, or computer-generated ‘bots.’
In this PBS NewsHour lesson, students will examine how the invention of the bot on social media websites like Twitter plays a role in influencing public opinion. Students will then invent their own bot to spread awareness about an issue they care about.
Students will learn to see smartphone apps as tools to solve real-world problems. This lesson guides students through a design brainstorm process to invent an app idea related to public art. Students will be designing an app idea to tackle a problem related to public art in their community. All you need is the activity worksheet, some pens, markers, and creativity!
WHY APPS? Well, to start with, they’re everywhere. According to the Pew Research Center, 78% of teens now have a cell phone, and almost half (47%) of those own smartphones. Teens don’t have to be limited to the role of the consumer in today’s digital marketplace. All you need is a little know-how and an idea—which is the focus of this curriculum.
The policy of net neutrality prevents internet service providers (ISPs), like Verizon and AT&T, from slowing down the loading speeds of certain websites or creating “fast lanes” for sites that pay a fee. This policy will almost certainly be overturned by the Republican-controlled Federal Communications Commission. This Lowdown lesson explores the pros and cons of net neutrality and examines the different ways lawmakers view internet service.
"Old meme is old." But why is this such a bad thing? Once the height of internetiness, the sight of a LOLCat is now unforgivable. Memes become passe very quickly: after just months or even weeks of a new meme, we tire of the once hugely popular joke. Why does this happen, and so rapidly? Is it a reflection of the sheer volume of visual information we absorb from the internet? Or, does it say something about this specific visual culture?
We've all seen and shared a few LOLCats and Internet Memes in our time, but is it possible that these images and videos are actually a new form of art? It may seem strange, but Rage Guys, Advice Dogs, Trollfaces, and Philosoraptors are ways for people around the globe to express their thoughts, feelings, and emotions with others - and isn't that the core principle of art? We think some of history's greatest philosophers and artists might be inclined to agree.
This learning activity will examine social media’s influence on America’s Civil Rights movement and its role in democratizing the media. In this video from Eyes on the Prize: Then and Now, activists, including DeRay McKesson, use social media to support the work of social change protesters. Because communications are unmediated and occur in real-time, McKesson says, social media can help build community. Tamika Mallory calls social media a powerful asset, enabling people who have never met before to share information and support one another’s efforts. Bree Newsome points out that without social media, people might not even have heard of important cases—including those of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, and Sandra Bland. This video comes with a facilitator guide and student handout that helps guide the discussion of this activity.
PBS's Off Book asks if hacking is inherently good or bad, or if is it an ethical area we have yet to define. Looking beyond the media hype and scare tactics, it is clear that "hacking" is a term that should be up for debate, and that some hackers could actually be heroes and not villains.
Denial of Service (DOS) and Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks take down servers by distracting them with meaningless traffic until they grind to a halt. Scientology, Westboro Baptist Church, and other controversial organizations have been hit by this form of attack. This video discusses how the way we talk about the results of a software program -- words like "attack" -- reflects how we view the online world.
Fake news is no longer a matter of the occasional hoax. There is growing evidence that fake news has the power to shape public opinion and even sway elections. As more Americans get their news online, it is increasingly vital that students know how to verify sources and spot fake news or images, which often appear indistinguishable from a reliable source. This lesson asks students to analyze the consequences of fake news and build skills needed to question and verify what they view online.
The classroom resource provides a video that will describe how certain environmental habitats can encourage or discourage the growth of a species' population. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.
The classroom resource provides a slideshow that will describe a variety of landforms and the processes that formed them. In addition, there is a sing-along video that students can perform karaoke-style that will help them remember the different landforms and the geologic processes that shaped them. After utilizing these two resources, the students can complete the short test to assess their understanding.
The classroom resource provides a video that will describe how the interactions of air masses can cause a variety of weather events in the atmosphere. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.
This resource presents a short slideshow about different weather instruments. This slideshow could serve as an introduction to the purpose of these instruments prior to students measuring weather variables themselves. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short test to assess their understanding.
The classroom resource provides a video that will describe the differences between ocean waves and ocean currents. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.
The classroom resource provides a video that will describe the different ways heat can be transferred from the sun through the atmosphere, as well as other applications of heat transfer. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.
The teacher will present an informational text from the website, ReadWorks. Students will interact with this non-fiction text by annotating the text digitally. The students will answer the questions associated with the article as an assessment. This learning activity will help explain the role of photosynthesis in cycling matter and energy into and out of organisms. The nonfiction text presents an experiment that will help explain the process of photosynthesis in an engaging, high-interest manner.
Cybersecurity is a set of techniques to protect the secrecy, integrity, and availability of computer systems and data against threats. In this episode, we’re going to unpack these three goals and talk through some strategies we use like passwords, biometrics, and access privileges to keep our information as secure, but also as accessible, as possible.
The teacher will present two pieces of informational text from the website, ReadWorks. Students will interact with these non-fiction texts by annotating the text digitally. The students will answer the questions associated with the articles as an assessment. This learning activity will describe two different threatened species, one plant, and one animal species, and explain how changes in the species' ecosystem led to a population shift.
Not all hackers are malicious cybercriminals intent on stealing your data (these people are known as Black Hats). There are also White Hats, who hunt for bugs, close security holes, and perform security evaluations for companies. And there are a lot of different motivations for hackers.
The teacher will present an informational text from the website, ReadWorks. The students and teacher can interact with this non-fiction text by annotating the text digitally. The students will answer the questions associated with the article as an assessment. This learning activity will describe how genetic mutations in organisms can lead to beneficial effects in the structure of the organism. This learning activity includes a StepRead: StepReads are less complex versions of the original article. StepRead1 (SR1) is less complex than the original article, and StepRead2 (SR2) is less complex than SR1. This will allow the teacher to use this learning activity with students of varying ability levels.
