CBC Learning

The Nature of Things: Surviving :) the Teenage Brain

Focus Questions

BEWARE! BEYOND IS AN EVIL THAT DOES NOT SLEEP
Assigned Viewing Goals

  1. Recognizing that focus questions help guide analysis and that this helps with both reflection on and retention of ideas.
  2. Recognizing some of the characteristics of documentary film and television.
  3. Identifying main ideas in a television documentary.
  4. Identifying major segments of a program and understanding how they relate to each other (similar to understanding plot elements in fiction.
  5. Identifying the elements of an argument: thesis, support.
  6. Relate the content to one’s own life and the lives of friends and family.
  7. Make connections between the program and literature as well as other programs.

Main People in the Program

  1. David Suzuki: Narrator
  2. Marshall Zhang: young scientist
  3. Trevor Kristjanson and his Mum, Jennifer (Performer of high risk stunts)
  4. Dr. David Bainbridge – psychologist?
  5. Stan Kutcher: adolescent psychiatrist
  6. Jay Giedd – neuroscience researcher
  7. Dr. Helen Fisher – researcher on human love
  8. Dr. Arthur Aaron – neuropsychologist
  9. Dr. Christian Bear –
  10. Don Tapscott – author on digital revolution

Questions

  1. Overall: What are the key ideas in the program and how are they supported? amy: the key idea in the program are that teenagers are needed for human development. if teenagers weren’t the way they are humans would not be a successful. we can use this in a positive way, like become gineuses and discover new things, or we can do stupid things that can lead to failure or sometimes success.
  2. Why is Mr. Albright showing this documentary on the third day of classes?julia :to give us an understanding of how we impact society deven:also for us to comunicate with one another amy: to get us to communicate with our group and show how we can coaporate and work together.
  3. How does it connect to friendship? amy: it connects to friendship because teenagers feel the need to have someone that understands them and can be there for them. or people to spend time with to have fun and just talk and hangout.
  4. What are the similarities between the program format and the expository essay?
  5. What are the elements in the introduction? Felix: We’ve been given two different views, one positive, one negative. Then we learned that both come from the same place, the ability to take risks and do things others think are impossible.
  6. Why is Marshall successful?Yuri:because he took risks and went beyond what the older people told him didn’t work Kevin: The older scientists told him that the two things that he was going to combine would cancel each other out, but he took the risk to still try it even though they told him not to. amy: he didn’t see any limits and he didnt mind giving the experiment a shot and trying it out the worste thing would be a comfirmation of the things they already knew.
  7. How is Trevor’s behaviour similar to Marshall Jenny: they both like taking risks. Ayraj: they both didn’t listen to the their authorities but challenged them instead.
  8. What is Trevor’s motivation? Bianca: Kevin: Trevor saw Mr.Bean drive a car on the top of it, and he decided that it would be pretty cool to go try it out for himself. He saw TV shows and videos so it inspired him to go try those things out. He had friends beside him which also gave him the motivation to go do those kind of things.
  1. What are some commonly held ideas (media stereotypes) about
  2. Hormones
  3. Anguish of adolescence
  1. When did mutations lead to the development of teenagers? What were the mutations? Kamyab: The mutations occurred about 300-400 thousand years ago. The mutations caused the brain to increase in size.
  1. What is interesting about the prefrontal cortex?Joel, Mike, Stephanie, Kaelyn. The prefrontal cortex is interesting because it is the most human part of the brain and it allows us to think about the past, present, and future.
  1. What is interesting about the prefrontal cortex?
  1. What is the connection between the limbic brain and the prefrontal cortex? Increased drive and emotionality and later, better judgement) Joel, Mike, Stephanie, Kaelyn. They are similar because both these parts grow and develope at the same pace. But the limbic brain is quicker right now as we are younger but it slows down as we age.
  1. What is the secret weapon? Who is wiring the teenage brain? Joel,Mike, Stephanie, Kaelyn. The secret weapon is that the teen wires their own brain.
  1. What does the “hard wired for success” metaphor mean? Joel, Mike, Stephanie, Kaelyn. It means we try things to see if it works, risk, reward and motivation, if things we try don’t work we won’t do it again if it does we know we can do it.
  1. Taking risks, breaking the mold, questioning authority are characteristics of what?
  1. What is the Occupy Wall Street movement? Is it explained in the program? Why is it included?
  1. What guides each person’s wiring of the brain?
  1. What is payoff that makes risk seem so attractive and what has not yet caught up to prevent unacceptable danger? (Car accidents)
  1. What is the relationship between dopamine and risk, reward and motivation?
  1. Do friends help raise dopamine levels? What else does? If presence of peers raises risk taking, how does that relate to car accidents?
  1. What are the good and bad risk-taking behaviours discussed in the program? amy: good risk taking would be what marshal did and bad risk taking would be doing harmful things like what trevor and his friends where doing
  1. How would you describe the reward system in the human brain?

Jaeden: when you take a risk and succeed you will end up by wanting to do it again hi (:

  1. What is the reward system’s Achilles’ heel? (Nucleus Accumbens)
    Thalia: The Achilles’ heel was part of the brain that also produces and recognizes dopamine and goes with addiction.
  1. What anti-sexist strategy is used by the writers and narrator in their language?

25. What is the upside of addiction as recounted by the narrator?
Ayraj: If someone is addicted to a good habit and they keep on doing it you will become successful.

  1. this question teleported out of here. because it was scared of 46 people watching it.
  1. What is the conventional theory about love? deven:The doctor just said that love is just a tool for reproduction
  1. How does Dr. Fisher’s work see this?
  1. Where is love active in the brain? (VTA)
  1. What are the counterproductive reactions to rejection?
  1. How do the reactions of girls and boys differ? Alexis: The difference between the boys and the girls when it comes to rejection is boys tend to drink and speed when they are driving and also tend to think about suicide. girls on the other hand talk to their friends and eat more then normal.
  1. What are useful treatments?

Susie: I think the useful treatment is to make teenage to find something is stupid by themselves.

  1. What is the Catch-22 of serotonin boosters being used to deal with the loss of love? Christian: Serotonin boosters dampen the effects of the dopamine system. This means a lot of the rewards and excitement of life are taken away and makes it extremely difficult for someone to fall in love again.
  1. What major leap is this generation being asked to make? (Role in the digital revolution)
  2. Friendship: boon or bane? What are the different points of view and who holds them?

Susie :Boon.

  1. Is it so clear-cut?

Susie:Not really.

  1. What’s Trevor’s perspective?

Susie:He thought doing something crazy can make him proud Deven: he also likes having fun and doing crazy things for future ;)

  1. What is the narrator’s, the writers’ and the program’s conclusion?

Susie:Teenagers should to be encouraged to do something positive.
Larger Questions

  1. How does risk-taking connect with current world concerns and opportunities?
  2. How dangerous is it to show teenagers performing high risk behaviours? Who would be susceptible to thinking they are a cool idea to go out and try right now?
  3. What questions does this program raise for you?