Curated Video
Priming Heroism
Psychologist Philip Zimbardo (Stanford) describes how we can improve our situational understanding so as to be more likely to act heroically when the occasion arises.
Curated Video
From Song to Speech?
UC San Diego psychologist of music Diana Deutsch speculates that music and speech both evolved from one unified form that included perfect pitch, and that the diversity in the pitch of tone languages is increasingly under threat due to...
Curated Video
Between Two Extremes
Cognitive scientist Victor Ferreira (UC San Diego) discusses the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, while admitting that most cognitive scientists opt for the middle road between the two intellectual poles.
Curated Video
Distracted by Language
Particle physicist Nima Arkani-Hamed, Institute for Advanced Study, describes how we must make sure that we don't distract ourselves by the language that we use to describe the physical world, and must instead simply focus on precisely...
Curated Video
Taking the Right Path
York University psychologist Ellen Bialystok describes why she believes that, as a result of the brain’s plasticity, bilinguals have developed a better functioning executive control system that more accurately guides our attention when...
Curated Video
Structural Similarities
UCLA psychologist Martin Monti describes how he developed the hypothesis that language and mathematics might be linked to a certain syntactical structure in our brains and how he went about experimentally testing the idea using fMRI...
Curated Video
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Cognitive scientist Victor Ferreira (UC San Diego) describes a core question in linguistics concerning how language and thought are related.
Curated Video
Metalinguistic Awareness
York University psychologist Ellen Bialystok describes her research on how bilingualism increases metalinguistic awareness - knowledge about language and its structure.
Curated Video
Meaning vs. Grammar
Cognitive scientist Victor Ferreira (UC San Diego) sketches out an intriguing future experiment he'd like to conduct to probe the difference between meaning-level and grammar-level effects.
Curated Video
Language, Evolving
Cognitive scientist Victor Ferreira (UC San Diego) describes a current view in the linguistics community that our language systems evolve in response to our environments.
Curated Video
Heroes in Training
Stanford University psychologist Philip Zimbardo describes the thinking behind his Heroic Imagination Project, how all of us can consciously learn the social habits of heroism so that we can act heroically when a pivotal moment occurs.
Curated Video
The Physics of Information
Quantum physicist Artur Ekert, University of Oxford and NUS, describes how the field of quantum information science breathed new life into the foundations of quantum theory, while advances in understanding the physics of information...
Curated Video
Unlikely Mathematicians
UCLA psychologist Martin Monti describes how, contrary to what most of us naively believe, there is ample evidence that many animals can perform basic mathematical operations.
Curated Video
Preparing For Our Heroic Moment
Psychologist Philip Zimbardo (Stanford) describes how his extensive experience with how situational effects can trigger the dark side of human nature led him to “come into the light” and investigate how we might instead act heroically.
Brainwaves Video Anthology
Kerry McGarvey - Building Creativity and Confidence with STEM
Kerry McGarvey is a STEM & Technology teacher at PS24Q in District 25. She is also the SPOC and ed tech model teacher for her school. Kerry also provides technical support to students, families, and teachers. In addition to her work in...
Brainwaves Video Anthology
Melissa Henning - Using the Four Domains to Help ENL Students Learn
Melissa Henning is the Educational Content Manager for Source for Learning, the non-profit parent company of TeachersFirst. She has over 16 years of experience in education. Melissa is a frequent presenter at national and regional...
Brainwaves Video Anthology
Rachelle Dené Poth - Fearless Teaching: Embracing the Changes in Education
Rachelle Dené Poth is a Spanish and STEAM: What’s nExT in Emerging Technology Teacher at Riverview Junior Senior High School in Oakmont, PA. She is also an Attorney and earned her Juris Doctor Degree from Duquesne University School of...
Curated Video
Five Senses: Part 2
"Five Senses: Part 2" models how to identify the five senses and how each is used.
Curated Video
What Is Narrative Writing?
“What Is Narrative Writing?” describes the genre of narrative writing.
Curated Video
The Gullah Culture
A video entitled "The Gullah Culture" which explores the history, language, and traditions of the Gullah Geechee people of the United States' southeast coastal region.
Curated Video
Poetic Sounds
A video entitled “Poetic Sounds” which explores sound devices used in poetry, highlighting examples from several works by Edgar Allan Poe.
Curated Video
Idioms, Adages, and Proverbs
“Idioms, Adages, and Proverbs” is a video that explains the meanings of common idioms, adages, and proverbs.
Curated Video
The Pledge of Allegiance
All across the United States, its citizens regularly stand, with hands on heart, to make the Pledge of Allegiance. But what is it, what does it mean and why is it so important?
Curated Video
Mottos and Symbols
A motto is a saying that stands for what a person, an organization or a country believes in. The United States of America has had two mottos. Let’s learn what they are and what they mean.