TED is a non-profit organisation devoted to ideas worth spreading. It began as a small conference in America, and is now a giant global
movement of people making presentations about issues that matter – some serious, some humorous, some innovative, all passionate. TED
stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, but the range of topics chosen are far broader than this.
There is an off-shoot of TED talks, called TEDx. These are independently organised TED events, which anyone can set up and run. In this
Power Up! project, we are going to organise our very own TED event, TEDxBlackfen.
Many TEDx events have a theme, and our theme is going to be: How can we solve the biggest problems facing the world today?
The rules for TEDxBlackfen are simple:
1. students will work individually or in pairs
2. they will investigate and decide then what they think is the biggest problem facing the world today
3. they will then investigate and identify what they think is the best solution to this problem
4. (depending on time), they will then build a prototype / or test out this solution
5. they will then prepare their TED talk about this problem and solution, which will be not longer or shorter than 3 minutes
6. the best TED talks will go through to TEDxBlackfen, which will be held in the new school hall
NB Teachers and outside experts will also be invited to give a 3 minute talk at TEDxBlackfen.
To find out more, go to: http://www.ted.com/
Lesson 1: Problem-Finding
Learning Questions
Learning Steps
What are the biggest NB You may want to have your class sitting in a circle, depending on how you choose to lead the lesson.
problems facing the
READY:
world today?
Explain to the students that they are about to have the chance to make a TED talk!
Resources
TEDxLondon
talk in
Blackfen
Video
Library
TED is the most famous presentation event in the world. Only the very best speakers and thinkers are
invited to make a TED talk, and in this project they will have the chance to make one too. We are going Thick pens
to organise a special TED event here in Blackfen School called TEDxBlackfen, and invite lots of and lots of
important people – including you – to make a TED talk.
sheets of A5
paper
A few weeks ago, Mr Pattisson was invited to make a TED talk at the British Library in London. Watch
this video of him, and you will understand the challenge we are about to set you.
‘World’s
Biggest
Play TEDxLondon talk in Blackfen Video Library.
Problem’
Cards
TED talks usually have a theme, and the theme for TEDxBlackfen is:
How can we solve the biggest problems facing the world today?
Show the 2nd PowerPoint slide, which summarises their challenge.
GO!
Explain that the first step is to begin to think about what you think is the biggest problem facing the
world today.
Paper Problems!
Ask students to work in pairs. Give each pair a small pile of A5 sheets of paper and a thick pen. Ask
them to write down anything that they think is a major problem facing the world today. Only write down
one problem on each piece of paper. As soon as they have written one, tell them to put it on the floor so
everyone can see it. Carry on doing this until they have run out of ideas. Those who run out of ideas
first, can begin to put the pieces of paper in to groups of similar or identical issues. Don’t let them put
them in piles – group them loosely so that other students can see how common that particular issue is.
This could also be done on tables with large groups – perhaps with two tables push together and with
A6 sized sheets of paper.
STEADY:
Lead a short de-brief:
 Why did you choose Problem X or Y?
 Which do you think is the most serious problem, and why?
 Are there any problems you don’t really think are very serious? Are there any missing problems,
which should be here?
 What difficulties did you have doing this activity – the answer may be that students simply don’t
yet know many problems facing the world. If so, this will lead on nicely to the next activity…
Problem Sort:
Ask students to work in groups of 3 – 4, and give each group a set of Problem Cards. Ask students to
rank these problems in order of the most serious to the least. There are facts on the back of each card
to help them.
STEADY:
When they have finished, lead a short de-brief:
 Which do you think is the most / least serious problem, and why?
 Are there any problems you don’t really think are very serious? Are there any missing?
 What criteria did you use to decide something was very serious or not so serious?
 Since the first activity (Paper Problems), have you changed your mind at all about, which are the
most serious problems? If so, why? It may be that the facts on the back of the card have been
significant – link this to the next stage which is about the need to research these problems.
STEADY:
Explain that for this project, you will either make your TED talk individually or in pairs. In order to help
you plan the right resources for next lesson, ask students to now decide who they will work with (or
whether they will work alone), and what problem they think they will try to solve. They do not absolutely
have to decide yet.
HOMEWORK:
To research a range of serious problems facing the world, and decide which one they would like to find
a solution to for their TED talk.
If there is time, show some of these films to illustrate some of the serious problems facing the world.
Malaria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LftEavUydNk
Sanitation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orIFs72HGmM
Nuclear weapons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCt78ms_Koc
Lesson 2: Problem-Sorting – The Voice Battles!
Learning Questions
Learning Steps
What are the biggest NB: this is NOT the main research lesson – students will have more time to do this later – this is
problems facing the a lesson to help them decide what problem to choose for their TED talk by testing their ideas out
Resources
‘World’s
Biggest
world today?
against other students.
How can we make a Start the lesson with a 10 seconds clip from The Voice Battles, then introduce the lesson and explain
convincing argument? that while The Voice Battles are about being a brilliant singer, for this lesson its about being a brilliant
speaker.
These Voice Battles will help students test out their ideas for the world’s biggest problems against each
other. This will help them think through which issue they want to choose for their TED talk. This is NOT
the TED talk itself – it’s a way to help students decide what issue they want to tackle for their
TED talk.
Explain that by the end of the lesson, they will have chosen the world’s biggest problem they want to
make their TED talk about, and chosen whether they will work alone or in a pair, and who they will work
with.
Mini-Research:
The question they need to answer in their Voice Battle is:
What is the biggest problem facing the world today?
Before they begin their ‘battles’, they have to build on the research they did for their homework. They
can use the ‘World’s Biggest Problem’ cards to help them prepare, and they should use The Voice
Battles sheet to help structure their sheet. Before they begin preparation, go through the success
criteria (on the PowerPoint) with students so they know what they are aiming for. Do not allow more
than about 15 minutes for the preparation, or there will not be enough time for the Battles.
The Voices Battles:
As students prepare, make a note of the issue they have chosen, and then pair up pairs against each
other. You obviously need to pair up students who are arguing for different problems.
After each ‘Battle’ students should vote for the winning pair. The best way to do this is by using the
Voting pods – if you want to use them, ask me the day before so they we can test them out.
Problem’
Cards
The Voice
Battle
speech
planning
sheet
Voting pods
(optional!)
HOMEWORK:
See last side on the PowerPoint
Lesson 3 & 4: Research – Problems & Solutions
Learning Questions
Lesson 3:
Why is my chosen
problem the biggest
problem in the world?
How can this problem
be solved?
Lesson 4:
How do I become a
great Internet
researcher?
Learning Steps
READY:
Begin the lessons with a game of Blockbusters, or some other snappy start!
Resources
A3 size
sugar / plain
paper
Review the project, and remind people that the best presenters will participate in the TEDxBlackfen
event.
Coloured
pens
Introduce the learning questions, and explain that their task is to plan out their speech using a ‘Roots &
Fruits’ tree. The tree should have 3 reasons why their chosen problem is the biggest in the world, and 3 ‘Roots &
solutions to this problem. They should do this on A3 sized paper with coloured pens (I have some good Fruits
ones you can use to show other students what they should be aiming for).
template
(different
STEADY:
from the
Tell students that before they begin, they need to convince you and others that the problems they have Year 7
chosen are indeed the world’s biggest. There is a tendency for them to choose quite local / British ones!)
problems. They can do this by sharing their chosen problem with another student and vice-versa, or ask
them to discuss it and then share it with the class. It doesn’t matter how, but it’s important they share Lesson 4:
their chosen problem and are prepared to justify their choice. You may want to have some of the videos Netbooks or
ready (from Lesson 1) to provoke argument or offer alternative choices.
a computer
room
GO!
Then they can start their research.
STEADY:
At various stages in this process, you will need to stop the students and challenge them to justify the
decisions they are making. For example:
 Is this really the world’s BIGGEST problem?
 Is this the WORLD’s biggest problem, or just a problem in Britain?
 Is giving to charity really an effective solution?
RESEARCH:
[In Lesson 4 probably] explain that finding a solution to these problems is very challenging, and doing
some research may help. Then give a brief input on how to use Google effectively – demonstrate this on
screen:



Put ‘BBC’ or ‘BBC Newsround’ or ‘Guardian’ in the search bar before you type in your search
topic. This will increase the likelihood of a reliable and relevant search;
show how to tell Google to only search for UK websites;
show how to tell Google which dates you want it to search.
In Lesson 4, students may want / need to do some research on the Internet. To do this, go to Google on
the school system, type in anything in to the search bar and click return. Then in the left hand side, you
will see the relevant headings ‘The Web: Pages from the UK’ and ‘Any time.’
Lesson 5: Presentation Preparation
Learning Questions
Learning Steps
How do you make an This is to cover 2, or even 3 lessons
awesome
presentation?
Recap the TEDx project, and show the launch film from Lesson 1 again. Ask students to judge Mr
Pattisson’s TEDx talk – what was good about it? What would have made it better?
Resources
TED
presentation
preparation
sheet
Explain that they have identified what they think is the world’s biggest problem; they have found realistic
solutions to these problems; NOW they need to prepare their TEDx talk.
In this lesson they will prepare and practice, and then in the following two lessons they will make their
TED presentation to the class. This will be assessed.
Presentation Success Criteria:
Spend the first part of the lesson establishing the success criteria for an awesome talk. Show one or two
of the following talks and then ask students to judge - what was good about it? What would have made
it better? Use their feedback to create a short and simple list of success criteria.
You may want to give a little bit of context to this before you play it. This is a speech by someone who
was on the plane that crash landed in the Hudson River, in New York (see picture on PowerPoint slide):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_zk2DpgLCs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FMBSblpcrc
Presentation Writing:
Then ask students to begin preparing their presentation. Use the TED presentation preparation sheet to
help them. One of the things to stress is that their presentation must be 2 - 3 minutes – this is quite a
long time! They must time their talk to make sure it last this long.
NB Their talks can include a demonstration or hands-on activity, or props etc.
Presentation Practice:
Then give students time to practice their presentations, in pairs and small groups, and then choose a
few of them to present to the class (for practice, not for real). Ask students to feedback, as they have
done before