Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Sponge Bob's House Is Not a Pineapple

For Students 9th - 10th
Are SpongeBob's pants really square? Is Gary's shell a logarithmic spiral? No. But, how can we figure out if SpongeBob's house is actually a pineapple? There's math everywhere! Let's use Fibonacci numbers to help us determine this...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: What's an Algorithm?

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
An algorithm is a method of solving problems both big and small. Though computers run algorithms constantly, humans can also solve problems with algorithms. David J. Malan explains how algorithms can be used in seemingly simple...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Candy Factory

For Students 9th - 10th
Ready, set, count! It looks easy at first, but paying close attention to the candies coming out on the conveyor belt gets trickier as the pace picks up. It also gets much funnier. Let's see just how accurate our counting abilities really...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The Mathematics of History

For Students 9th - 10th
What can mathematics say about history? From changes to language to the deadliness of wars, Jean-Baptiste Michel shows how digitized history is just starting to reveal deep underlying patterns. [4:26]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The Magic of Vedic Math

For Students 9th - 10th
There is more than one way to reach a correct answer in mathematics. Vedic math, an ancient Indian method, sidesteps traditional computations in a manner that provides a shortcut, while being fun to use and to learn. Gaurav Tekriwal...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: What Is Zeno's Dichotomy Paradox?

For Students 9th - 10th
Can you ever travel from one place to another? Ancient Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea gave a convincing argument that all motion is impossible- but where's the flaw in his logic? Colm Kelleher illustrates how to resolve Zeno's Dichotomy...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Euclid's Puzzling Parallel Postulate

For Students 9th - 10th
Euclid, known as the "Father of Geometry," developed several of modern geometry's most enduring theorems--but what can we make of his mysterious fifth postulate, the parallel postulate? Jeff Dekofsky shows us how mathematical minds have...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Let's Use Video to Reinvent Education

For Students 9th - 10th
Salman Khan talks about how and why he created the remarkable Khan Academy, a carefully structured series of educational videos offering complete curricula in math and, now, other subjects. He shows the power of interactive exercises and...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Pi With Pies

For Students 9th - 10th
Numberphile did something crazy - attempted to calculate Pi using real Pies. Watch and see how close they got to the real figure of 3.14159265359. [3:13]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How to Organize, Add and Multiply Matrices

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
When you're working on a problem with lots of numbers, as in economics, cryptography or 3D graphics, it helps to organize those numbers into a grid, or matrix. Bill Shillito shows us how to work with matrices, with tips for adding,...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How to Defeat a Dragon With Math

For Students 9th - 10th
Having trouble remembering the order of operations? Garth Sundem creates a world in which PEMDAS is the hero but only heroic when in the proper order. [3:46]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Average Speed and Rich Eisen's Ineptitude in the 40 Yard Dash

For Students 9th - 10th
At the 2010 NFL draft, NFL Network anchor Rich Eisen was dared to run the 40-yard dash. The 40-something reporter in a suit was no match for the 22-year-old NFL draft prospects. Eisen's colleagues put together this segement mocking his...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Where Do Superstitions Come From?

For Students 9th - 10th
Are you afraid of black cats? Would you open an umbrella indoors? How do you feel about the number 13? Stuart Vyse shares the weird and specific origins of some of our favorite superstitions. [5:10]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Mary's Room: A Philosophical Thought Experiment

For Students 9th - 10th
Imagine a neuroscientist who has only ever seen black and white things, but she is an expert in color vision and knows everything about its physics and biology. If, one day, she sees color, does she learn anything new? Is there anything...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Would You Sacrafice One Person to Save Five?

For Students 9th - 10th
Imagine you are watching a runaway trolley barreling down the tracks.
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Who Was Voltaire?

For Students 9th - 10th
Voltaire was one of the wisest, funniest and cleverest people of the 18th century. He continues to have a lot to teach us about toleration, modesty, and kindness. [2:15]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The Egyptian Book of the Dead: A Guidebook for the Underworld

For Students 9th - 10th
Ancient Egyptians believed that in order to become immortal after death, a spirit must first pass through the underworld. Tejal Gala describes an Egyptian "Book of the Dead" a customized magic scroll written by the living to promote a...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Why Do We Dream?

For Students 9th - 10th
Amy Adkins reveals the top seven reasons why we might dream. [5:38]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Would You Opt for a Life With No Pain?

For Students 9th - 10th
Imagine if you could plug your brain into a machine that would bring you ultimate pleasure for the rest of your life. The only catch? You have to permanently leave reality behind. Hayley Levitt and Bethany Rickwald explore Robert...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Who Was Confucius?

For Students 9th - 10th
Most people recognize Confucius' name and know that he is famous for having said something. Bryan W. Van Norden reveals the man behind the mystery. [4:29]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The Scientific Origins of the Minotaur

For Students 9th - 10th
The myth of the Minotaur tells the story of an enraged beast forever wandering the corridors of a damp labyrinth, filled with a rage so intense that its deafening roar shakes the earth. But is this story just fiction, or an attempt of...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Inside the Minds of Animals

For Students 9th - 10th
Do animals think? It's a question that has intrigued scientists for thousands of years, inspiring them to come up with different methods and criteria to measure the intelligence of animals. Bryan B Rasmussen navigates through this...
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Plato's Allegory of the Cave

For Students 9th - 10th
Twenty four hundred years ago, Plato, said life is like being chained up in a cave forced to watch shadows flitting across a stone wall. Alex Gendler unravels Plato's Allegory of the Cave, found in Book VII of The Republic. [4:33]
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How Do You Know You Exist?

For Students 9th - 10th
How do you know you're real? James Zucker investigates this in this mind-boggling tribute to Rene Descartes's Meditations on First Philosophy. [3:02]