This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
At TED Education, we're obsessed with learning. Whether it's about the history of the cell theory, or how to write a slam poem. And since I happen to be obsessed with science, I have a particularly fond place in my heart for our science lessons. Which brings me to you, Scientific American reader, because I know you're probably obsessed, or at least a little curious, about science too. TED-Ed needs your help. What are you curious about? What do you want to learn about? What do you want to teach the world? We're looking for your lesson ideas, science or otherwise, to create a whole new set of TED-Ed lessons.
But first, let's back up. What is TED-Ed? We're an initiative of TED Conferences, known for TED Talks. Our focus is on creating and sharing lessons to spread great ideas for all educators and learners--mainly high school and college students. So we team up with educators and animators to make short, beautiful and educational videos that anyone who's curious about the world can enjoy.
Some of my favorite science lessons that we've done so far range from pizza physics, to the origins of the universe. To get a taste of TED-Ed, here are a few of those science lessons that I love.
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This amazing and wacky animation takes you through the life and times of a blue whale. Why are they so big? How do they even survive?
Why do New Yorkers fold their pizza? And what does that have to do with physics? Let a talking pizza explain it to you:
In a partnership with CERN, we explored the origin of the universe. Tom Whyntie's conclusion? The universe is a good thing, and it would be awesome if we could figure out how it was formed:
And this beautiful hand-made animation explains why cancer patients hair falls out - and how cancer works in general.
These lessons came to us from educators of all types - people like you who are passionate about an idea, who want to teach others about the world. We say educators for a reason, you don't have to be a traditional teacher to get involved. In fact, we want your ideas, and we want them now! Want to help write a TED-Ed lesson? Send us your lesson ideas here, and you could see your vision in classrooms and computer screens all over the world: