Hey science teachers -- make it fun
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0:01 - 0:03Let me tell you a story.
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0:03 - 0:07It's my first year as a new high school science teacher,
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0:07 - 0:08and I'm so eager.
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0:08 - 0:12I'm so excited, I'm pouring myself into my lesson plans.
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0:12 - 0:17But I'm slowly coming to this horrifying realization
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0:17 - 0:22that my students just might not be learning anything.
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0:22 - 0:25This happens one day:
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0:25 - 0:28I'd just assigned my class to read this textbook chapter
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0:28 - 0:32about my favorite subject in all of biology:
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0:32 - 0:35viruses and how they attack.
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0:35 - 0:38And so I'm so excited to discuss this with them,
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0:38 - 0:41and I come in and I say, "Can somebody please explain
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0:41 - 0:45the main ideas and why this is so cool?"
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0:45 - 0:48There's silence.
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0:48 - 0:52Finally, my favorite student, she looks me straight in the eye,
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0:52 - 0:56and she says, "The reading sucked."
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0:56 - 0:59And then she clarified. She said, "You know what,
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0:59 - 1:03I don't mean that it sucks. It means that I didn't understand a word of it.
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1:03 - 1:07It's boring. Um, who cares, and it sucks."
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1:07 - 1:11These sympathetic smiles
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1:11 - 1:14spread all throughout the room now,
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1:14 - 1:19and I realize that all of my other students are in the same boat,
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1:19 - 1:22that maybe they took notes or they memorized definitions from the textbook,
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1:22 - 1:28but not one of them really understood the main ideas.
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1:28 - 1:31Not one of them can tell me why this stuff is so cool,
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1:31 - 1:33why it's so important.
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1:33 - 1:36I'm totally clueless.
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1:36 - 1:39I have no idea what to do next.
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1:39 - 1:42So the only thing I can think of is say,
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1:42 - 1:46"Listen. Let me tell you a story.
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1:46 - 1:52The main characters in the story are bacteria and viruses.
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1:52 - 1:55These guys are blown up a couple million times.
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1:55 - 1:58The real bacteria and viruses are so small
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1:58 - 2:01we can't see them without a microscope,
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2:01 - 2:03and you guys might know bacteria and viruses
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2:03 - 2:05because they both make us sick.
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2:05 - 2:09But what a lot of people don't know is that viruses
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2:09 - 2:12can also make bacteria sick."
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2:12 - 2:14Now, the story that I start telling my kids,
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2:14 - 2:19it starts out like a horror story.
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2:19 - 2:22Once upon a time there's this happy little bacterium.
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2:22 - 2:24Don't get too attached to him.
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2:24 - 2:28Maybe he's floating around in your stomach
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2:28 - 2:30or in some spoiled food somewhere,
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2:30 - 2:34and all of a sudden he starts to not feel so good.
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2:34 - 2:36Maybe he ate something bad for lunch,
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2:36 - 2:39and then things get really horrible,
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2:39 - 2:42as his skin rips apart, and he sees a virus
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2:42 - 2:44coming out from his insides.
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2:44 - 2:47And then it gets horrible
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2:47 - 2:50when he bursts open and an army of viruses
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2:50 - 2:53floods out from his insides.
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2:53 - 2:57If -- Ouch is right! --
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2:57 - 3:00If you see this, and you're a bacterium,
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3:00 - 3:03this is like your worst nightmare.
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3:03 - 3:06But if you're a virus and you see this,
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3:06 - 3:08you cross those little legs of yours and you think,
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3:08 - 3:11"We rock."
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3:11 - 3:15Because it took a lot of crafty work to infect this bacterium.
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3:15 - 3:18Here's what had to happen.
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3:18 - 3:21A virus grabbed onto a bacterium
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3:21 - 3:25and it slipped its DNA into it.
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3:25 - 3:28The next thing is, that virus DNA made stuff
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3:28 - 3:32that chopped up the bacteria DNA.
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3:32 - 3:35And now that we've gotten rid of the bacteria DNA,
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3:35 - 3:39the virus DNA takes control of the cell
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3:39 - 3:43and it tells it to start making more viruses.
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3:43 - 3:46Because, you see, DNA is like a blueprint
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3:46 - 3:50that tells living things what to make.
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3:50 - 3:53So this is kind of like going into a car factory
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3:53 - 3:59and replacing the blueprints with blueprints for killer robots.
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3:59 - 4:02The workers still come the next day, they do their job,
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4:02 - 4:05but they're following different instructions.
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4:05 - 4:08So replacing the bacteria DNA with virus DNA
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4:08 - 4:14turns the bacteria into a factory for making viruses --
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4:14 - 4:18that is, until it's so filled with viruses that it bursts.
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4:18 - 4:23But that's not the only way that viruses infect bacteria.
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4:23 - 4:29Some are much more crafty.
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4:29 - 4:33When a secret agent virus infects a bacterium,
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4:33 - 4:36they do a little espionage.
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4:36 - 4:43Here, this cloaked, secret agent virus is slipping his DNA into the bacterial cell,
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4:43 - 4:49but here's the kicker: It doesn't do anything harmful -- not at first.
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4:49 - 4:54Instead, it silently slips into the bacteria's own DNA,
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4:54 - 4:59and it just stays there like a terrorist sleeper cell,
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4:59 - 5:02waiting for instructions.
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5:02 - 5:08And what's interesting about this is now whenever this bacteria has babies,
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5:08 - 5:13the babies also have the virus DNA in them.
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5:13 - 5:17So now we have a whole extended bacteria family,
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5:17 - 5:21filled with virus sleeper cells.
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5:21 - 5:26They're just happily living together until a signal happens
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5:26 - 5:30and -- BAM! -- all of the DNA pops out.
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5:30 - 5:34It takes control of these cells, turns them into virus-making factories,
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5:34 - 5:36and they all burst,
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5:36 - 5:38a huge, extended bacteria family,
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5:38 - 5:42all dying with viruses spilling out of their guts,
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5:42 - 5:47the viruses taking over the bacterium.
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5:47 - 5:51So now you understand how viruses can attack cells.
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5:51 - 5:55There are two ways: On the left is what we call the lytic way,
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5:55 - 5:59where the viruses go right in and take over the cells.
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5:59 - 6:02On the [right] is the lysogenic way
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6:02 - 6:05that uses secret agent viruses.
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6:05 - 6:08So this stuff is not that hard, right?
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6:08 - 6:10And now all of you understand it.
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6:10 - 6:12But if you've graduated from high school,
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6:12 - 6:15I can almost guarantee you've seen this information before.
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6:15 - 6:18But I bet it was presented in a way
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6:18 - 6:22that it didn't exactly stick in your mind.
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6:22 - 6:25So when my students were first learning this,
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6:25 - 6:28why did they hate it so much?
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6:28 - 6:30Well, there were a couple of reasons.
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6:30 - 6:33First of all, I can guarantee you that their textbooks
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6:33 - 6:38didn't have secret agent viruses, and they didn't have horror stories.
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6:38 - 6:41You know, in the communication of science
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6:41 - 6:45there is this obsession with seriousness.
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6:45 - 6:47It kills me. I'm not kidding.
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6:47 - 6:50I used to work for an educational publisher,
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6:50 - 6:53and as a writer, I was always told never to use stories
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6:53 - 6:55or fun, engaging language,
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6:55 - 6:57because then my work might not be viewed
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6:57 - 7:01as "serious" and "scientific."
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7:01 - 7:03Right? I mean, because God forbid somebody have fun
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7:03 - 7:06when they're learning science.
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7:06 - 7:10So we have this field of science that's all about slime,
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7:10 - 7:14and color changes. Check this out.
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7:24 - 7:29And then we have, of course, as any good scientist has to have,
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7:29 - 7:32explosions!
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7:32 - 7:36But if a textbook seems too much fun,
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7:36 - 7:40it's somehow unscientific.
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7:40 - 7:44Now another problem was that
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7:44 - 7:49the language in their textbook was truly incomprehensible.
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7:49 - 7:52If we want to summarize that story that I told you earlier,
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7:52 - 7:54we could start by saying something like,
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7:54 - 7:56"These viruses make copies of themselves
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7:56 - 7:59by slipping their DNA into a bacterium."
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7:59 - 8:02The way this showed up in the textbook, it looked like this:
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8:02 - 8:05"Bacteriophage replication is initiated
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8:05 - 8:08through the introduction of viral nucleic acid
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8:08 - 8:11into a bacterium."
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8:11 - 8:16That's great, perfect for 13-year-olds.
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8:16 - 8:18But here's the thing. There are plenty of people
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8:18 - 8:22in science education who would look at this and say there's no way
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8:22 - 8:24that we could ever give that to students,
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8:24 - 8:29because it contains some language that isn't completely accurate.
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8:29 - 8:32For example, I told you that viruses have DNA.
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8:32 - 8:35Well, a very tiny fraction of them don't.
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8:35 - 8:37They have something called RNA instead.
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8:37 - 8:40So a professional science writer would circle that
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8:40 - 8:41and say, "That has to go.
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8:41 - 8:43We have to change it to something much more technical."
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8:43 - 8:46And after a team of professional science editors
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8:46 - 8:49went over this really simple explanation,
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8:49 - 8:54they'd find fault with almost every word I've used,
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8:54 - 8:57and they'd have to change anything that wasn't serious enough,
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8:57 - 8:58and they'd have to change everything
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8:58 - 9:02that wasn't 100 percent perfect.
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9:02 - 9:04Then it would be accurate,
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9:04 - 9:09but it would be completely impossible to understand.
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9:09 - 9:11This is horrifying.
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9:11 - 9:13You know, I keep talking about this idea
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9:13 - 9:16of telling a story,
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9:16 - 9:21and it's like science communication has taken on this idea
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9:21 - 9:24of what I call the tyranny of precision,
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9:24 - 9:26where you can't just tell a story.
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9:26 - 9:31It's like science has become that horrible storyteller
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9:31 - 9:34that we all know, who gives us all the details nobody cares about,
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9:34 - 9:38where you're like, "Oh, I met my friend for lunch the other day,
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9:38 - 9:40and she was wearing these ugly jeans.
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9:40 - 9:43I mean, they weren't really jeans, they were more kind of, like, leggings,
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9:43 - 9:45but, like, I guess they're actually kind of more like jeggings,
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9:45 - 9:48like, but I think — " and you're just like, "Oh my God.
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9:48 - 9:51What is the point?"
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9:51 - 9:55Or even worse, science education is becoming
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9:55 - 9:58like that guy who always says, "Actually."
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9:58 - 10:01Right? You want to be like, "Oh, dude,
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10:01 - 10:03we had to get up in the middle of the night
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10:03 - 10:06and drive a hundred miles in total darkness."
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10:06 - 10:11And that guy's like, "Actually, it was 87.3 miles."
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10:11 - 10:13And you're like, "Actually, shut up!
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10:13 - 10:17I'm just trying to tell a story."
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10:17 - 10:24Because good storytelling is all about emotional connection.
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10:24 - 10:26We have to convince our audience
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10:26 - 10:29that what we're talking about matters.
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10:29 - 10:32But just as important is knowing
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10:32 - 10:34which details we should leave out
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10:34 - 10:38so that the main point still comes across.
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10:38 - 10:41I'm reminded of what the architect Mies van der Rohe said,
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10:41 - 10:44and I paraphrase, when he said that sometimes
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10:44 - 10:48you have to lie in order to tell the truth.
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10:48 - 10:51I think this sentiment is particularly relevant
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10:51 - 10:54to science education.
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10:54 - 10:57Now, finally,
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10:57 - 11:01I am often so disappointed
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11:01 - 11:04when people think that I'm advocating
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11:04 - 11:07a dumbing down of science.
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11:07 - 11:08That's not true at all.
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11:08 - 11:11I'm currently a Ph.D. student at MIT,
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11:11 - 11:16and I absolutely understand the importance of detailed,
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11:16 - 11:21specific scientific communication between experts,
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11:21 - 11:25but not when we're trying to teach 13-year-olds.
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11:25 - 11:30If a young learner thinks that all viruses have DNA,
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11:30 - 11:36that's not going to ruin their chances of success in science.
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11:36 - 11:40But if a young learner can't understand anything in science
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11:40 - 11:44and learns to hate it because it all sounds like this,
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11:44 - 11:48that will ruin their chances of success.
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11:48 - 11:51This needs to stop,
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11:51 - 11:54and I wish that the change could come from the institutions
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11:54 - 11:57at the top that are perpetuating these problems,
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11:57 - 12:01and I beg them, I beseech them to just stop it.
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12:01 - 12:03But I think that's unlikely.
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12:03 - 12:07So we are so lucky that we have resources
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12:07 - 12:10like the Internet, where we can circumvent these institutions
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12:10 - 12:13from the bottom up.
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12:13 - 12:16There's a growing number of online resources
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12:16 - 12:19that are dedicated to just explaining science
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12:19 - 12:23in simple, understandable ways.
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12:23 - 12:26I dream of a Wikipedia-like website that would explain
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12:26 - 12:29any scientific concept you can think of
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12:29 - 12:33in simple language any middle schooler can understand.
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12:33 - 12:36And I myself spend most of my free time
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12:36 - 12:41making these science videos that I put on YouTube.
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12:41 - 12:44I explain chemical equilibrium using analogies
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12:44 - 12:46to awkward middle school dances,
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12:46 - 12:48and I talk about fuel cells with stories
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12:48 - 12:52about boys and girls at a summer camp.
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12:52 - 12:56The feedback that I get is sometimes misspelled
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12:56 - 12:58and it's often written in LOLcats,
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12:58 - 13:00but nonetheless
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13:00 - 13:05it's so appreciative, so thankful
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13:05 - 13:08that I know this is the right way
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13:08 - 13:12we should be communicating science.
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13:12 - 13:15There's still so much work left to be done, though,
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13:15 - 13:18and if you're involved with science in any way
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13:18 - 13:21I urge you to join me.
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13:21 - 13:26Pick up a camera, start to write a blog, whatever,
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13:26 - 13:30but leave out the seriousness, leave out the jargon.
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13:30 - 13:34Make me laugh. Make me care.
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13:34 - 13:37Leave out those annoying details that nobody cares about
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13:37 - 13:41and just get to the point.
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13:41 - 13:43How should you start?
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13:43 - 13:47Why don't you say, "Listen, let me tell you a story"?
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13:47 - 13:49Thank you.
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13:49 - 13:50(Applause)
- Title:
- Hey science teachers -- make it fun
- Speaker:
- Tyler DeWitt
- Description:
-
High school science teacher Tyler DeWitt was ecstatic about a lesson plan on bacteria (how cool!) -- and devastated when his students hated it. The problem was the textbook: it was impossible to understand. He delivers a rousing call for science teachers to ditch the jargon and extreme precision, and instead make science sing through stories and demonstrations. (Filmed at TEDxBeaconStreet.)
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 11:20
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Hey science teachers -- make it fun | ||
Krystian Aparta commented on English subtitles for Hey science teachers -- make it fun | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Hey science teachers -- make it fun | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for Hey science teachers -- make it fun | ||
Thu-Huong Ha approved English subtitles for Hey science teachers -- make it fun | ||
Thu-Huong Ha accepted English subtitles for Hey science teachers -- make it fun | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for Hey science teachers -- make it fun | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Hey science teachers -- make it fun |
Krystian Aparta
The English transcript was updated on 1/9/2018.