National Geographic Brain Games: Great for Psychology

by | Feb 6, 2015 | Education, Find a tutor, Latest News, Massachusetts, tutoring | 0 comments

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Brain Games by National Geographic has some amazing clips that can be used in a high school psychology class. I just discovered this show recently. As an activity, each student will evaluate an episode, sharing 1 – 2 clips with the class.

Objectives:

  1. To have students analyze an episode of Brain Game by National Geographic.

  2. To have students develop a deep understanding of a particular concept in Psychology / Sociology.

  3. To have students evaluate the quality of each game within an episode.

  4. To acquire enough knowledge to present a segment to the class.

Brain Games: The Assignment: For the next 3 days each student will watch one episode and dissect it carefully. The assignment will consist of a few parts:

  1. Show outline: This will be a brief outline the section should include. Very basic and complete as you go. This will be at the top of your document.

  2. Individual Game Analysis: List the game number, describe the game, explain the concepts, and person presenting. Very often the presenters are leaders a specific field. When possible include a link the person’s web page.

  3. Game Ranking: After writing up the game analysis, give a personal ranking of the games. Each student may to present to the class their top 1-3 choices.

Brain Games: The Draft: Each student will select a number from the hat for the draft order. The 1st student will choose an episode, we will continue the process until the last student has picked. Once an episode is drafted by a student, it is no longer available for other students.

Brain Games: The Process: Each student will have a Chrome Book and headphones. Students will view the episode. The outline should be an ongoing process. For games, students should be very meticulous. Complete the game analysis. At the end of each period, progress will be checked.

Advice would be to:

1st Viewing: Watch the game segment without stopping. Get a sense for the purpose of the game and the concept the game illustrates.

2nd Viewing: Watch the segment closely. Stop the video and write your analysis in the google docs.

Below is a list of the episodes.

  1. “Watch This” (21:27) October 9, 2011 (Season #1) Explore optical illusions and how our brain can mislead us.

  2. “Pay Attention!” (21:51) October 9, 2011 (Season #1) David Copperfield explores how we use attention throughout our everyday life

  3. “Remember This” (21:59) October 9, 2011 (Season #2) Former detective Greg Walsh exposes memory weakness. (Season #1)

  4. “Focus Pocus” April 22, 2013 (Season #2) Highlights our misconception that your brain is able to focus on everything important at any given time.

  5. “It’s About Time” April 22, 2013 (Season #2) Why does time fly when you’re having fun and slow down when you’re in danger?

  6. “Motion Commotion” April 29, 2013 (Season #2) Explore how your brain use and reacts to motion in order to make decisions.

  7. “Don’t Be Afraid” April 29, 2013 (Season #2) Explore how fear may actually be good for you.

  8. “Power of Persuasion” May 6, 2013 (Season #2) See how marketers, advertisers and even political candidates manipulate your brain to persuade you.

  9. “What You Don’t Know” (Season #2) Learn what you may not know about what’s happening around you.

  10. “Battle of the Sexes” May 20, 2013 (Season #2) Explores gender differences.

  11. “Seeing is Believing”  May 27, 2013 (Season #2) Illusions highlight how your visual perceptions can be surprisingly off.

  12. “You Decide” June 3, 2013 (Season #2) A team of experts show how you may not be in charge of your own destiny.

  13. “Use it or Lose it” June 10, 2013 (Season #2) The brain is similar to muscles – the more you use it, the stronger it gets.

  14. “Illusion Confusion”  June 17, 2013 (Season #2) Optical illusions highlight how powerful our minds can really be.

  15. “Liar, Liar” June 24, 2013 (Season #2) Learn how to determine if someone is lying.

  16. “In Living Color” January 13, 2014 (Season #3)

  17. “Laws of Attraction” January 13, 2014 (Season #3)

  18. “Trust Me” (22:00) January 20, 2014 (Season #3)

  19. “Battle of the Ages” January 20, 2014 (Season #3)

  20. “Stress Test”  January 27, 2014 (Season #3)

  21. “What’s Going On?”  February 3, 2014 (Season #3)

  22. “Retrain your Brain” February 24, 2014 (Season #3)

  23. “Mind your Body” March 3, 2014 (Season #3)

  24. “In It To Win It” March 10, 2014 (Season #3)

  25. “Follow The Leader” March 17, 2014 (Season #3)

  26. “Compassion” (22:00) July 14, 2014 (Season #4)

  27. “Addiction” July 14, 2014 (Season #4)

  28. “Language” July 21, 2014 (Season #4)

  29. “Risk” July 21, 2014 (Season #4)

  30. “Battle of the Sexes 2” July 28, 2014 (Season #4)

  31. “Superstitions” July 28, 2014 (Season #4)

  32. “Food” August 4, 2014 (Season #4)

  33. “Anger” August 11, 2014 (Season #4)

  34. “Patterns” August 18, 2014 (Season #4)

  35. “Intuitions” August 25, 2014 (Season #4)

  36. “Common Sense” January 19, 2015 (Season #5)

  37. “Left vs. Righth” (22:41) January 19, 2015 (Season #5)

  38. “Morality” January 26, 2015 (Season #5)

  39. “Money” February 2, 2015 (Season #5)

  40. “Paranormal” February 9, 2015 (Season #5)

  41. “Memory” February 16, 2015 (Season #5)

  42. “Misconceptions” February 23, 2015 (Season #5)

  43. “Peer Pressure” March 2, 2015 (Season #5)

  44. “Logic” March 9, 2015 (Season #5)

  45. “Faces” March 16, 2015 (Season #5)

 

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