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December 13, 2018

TED Talks Lesson Plan: A Radical Experiment in Empathy

Can two countries at war dare to empathize with one another? Step by methodical step, sociologist Sam Richards gives his audience an extraordinary challenge: to allow a group of (mainly) Americans to understand — not approve of, but understand — the motivations of an Iraqi insurgent. A powerful talk. This lesson is aimed at developing listening comprehension and dialogue that...
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December 11, 2018

TED Talk Discussion: How We’ll Earn Money in a Future Without Jobs

Machines that can think, learn and adapt are coming — and that could mean that we humans will end up with significant unemployment. What should we do about it? In a straightforward talk about a controversial idea, futurist Martin Ford makes the case for separating income from traditional work and instituting a universal basic income. Useful Vocabulary Explosion of interestDisplace...
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December 11, 2018

TED Talk Discussion: How A Driverless Car Sees the Road

Statistically, the least reliable part of the car is … the driver. In 2015, Chris Urmson was head of Google’s driverless car program, one of several efforts to remove humans from the driver’s seat. He shares fascinating footage that shows how the car sees the road and makes autonomous decisions about what to do next. Useful Vocabulary UnbelievableSubstantiallyIncrementalAssistance systemsConvincedIntersectionAnticipateRespondCrosswalkSteeringTransformative Comprehension...
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December 11, 2018

TED Talk Discussion: How Protest Is Redefining Democracy Around the World

The democratic process is messy, complicated and often inefficient — but across Africa, activists are redefining democracy by putting protest at its center. In an illuminating talk, political scientist Zachariah Mampilly gives us a primer on the current wave of protests reshaping countries like Tunisia, Malawi and Zimbabwe — and explains how this form of political dissension expands our political...
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December 11, 2018

TED Talk Discussion: Where is Home?

More and more people worldwide are living in countries not considered their own. Writer Pico Iyer — who himself has three or four “origins” — meditates on the meaning of home, the joy of traveling and the serenity of standing still. Useful Vocabulary Undergraduate educationI’m very much of the United StatesStraightforwardEncircledCoincidenceLiberationEnmityBlack and white divisionsIntriguedCritical decisions Comprehension Questions Where does Pico...
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December 10, 2018

TED Talk Discussion: New Insights on Poverty

Researcher Hans Rosling uses his cool data tools to show how countries are pulling themselves out of poverty. He demos Dollar Street, comparing households of varying income levels worldwide. Then he does something really amazing. Useful Vocabulary MindsetPer capitathe world is a messy placeProportionallyMotorMillMicro-creditIndustrialised countryDeveloping country Comprehension Questions What old mindset does he say is wrong? What do the bubbles...
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December 10, 2018

TED Talk Discussion: How to Use Data to Make a Hit TV Show

Does collecting more data lead to better decision-making? Competitive, data-savvy companies like Amazon, Google, and Netflix have learned that data analysis alone doesn’t always produce optimum results. In this talk, data scientist Sebastian Wernicke breaks down what goes wrong when we make decisions based purely on data — and suggests a brainier way to use it. Useful Vocabulary Ratings –...
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December 10, 2018

Ted Talk Discussion: Are We Over-medicalized?

Reuters health editor Ivan Oransky warns that we’re suffering from an epidemic of preposterous preconditions — pre-diabetes, pre-cancer, and many more. In this engaging talk from TEDMED he shows how health care can find a solution… by taking an important lesson from baseball. Useful Vocabulary AcnePreposterousConservative estimateto medicalize – to treat a medical problem without a real reason.PubertyMenopauseto get suedSwinging...
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