Subtle sexism. Protecting endangered sharks. Temporal heliavorturic attacks. These fascinating and complex topics wouldn’t be out of place in presentations on TED’s main stage. Perhaps, though, the more exciting reality is that this list is just a small sampling of the ideas that sparked the curiosity of students around the world as they endeavored to create their final TED-Ed Club presentations. We are thrilled to share the first batch of these final presentations — look for more in the coming weeks!

“My parents were huge proponents of equality in all capacities and even so, in retrospect — my brother and I were not raised equally.”

In this personal and political talk, Shayna O’Reilly from Waldwick High School in New Jersey tells her own story of being raised alongside her brother in a way that she later realized was not equal. Tracing strains of ‘subtle sexism’ in our cultural dialogue, media and marketing, Shayna goes on to provide a solid outline of steps on how to minimize this problem in our society.

“If you know a lot about brains and the way they work, you realize that everything I’ve said so far actually makes no sense at all. And that’s completely great.”

In this fascinating talk with a twist, Raeesa Omar from UWCSEA East in Singapore presents on a medical condition that affects the amount of scene changes in your dreams, thus disrupting your sleep. But some of her science seems a little … off. Watch this one until the end for some surprising insights on human psychology.

 

“What do you think of sharks? You may think they’re ugly, mean, rude and disgusting creatures. But that is totally not true. Ok … maybe a little.”

Willo Sheikh from Forest Hill School in Ontario urges people to rethink their stereotypes of sharks in her passionate and funny talk on this endangered species.

“If we have the potential to explore prolonging life, or improving the quality of life, just by printing plastic … what have we got to lose?”

In this talk, Anthony Richardsen from Cherokee Trail High School in Colorado makes a bold claim: 3D printing might be his generation’s answer to duct tape. Anthony explores some of the most exciting innovations in 3D printing, and offers some next steps for anyone interested in getting involved.

“In any day you may have up to 70,000 thoughts go in and out of your mind. Of these, most are about our social environment or ourselves. About 80% of the thoughts are negative, and the odds are that not a single one of them is a completely original idea. This isn’t something bad about us — it’s just how we’ve evolved. The problem is that we’re so involved in our own 70,000 thoughts every day that it doesn’t give us the time to look into the ideas of another individual.”

In this beautifully animated piece titled ‘Diversity of Thought,’ Haley Randall of James River High School in Virginia uses the invention of sliced bread as a jumping off point to illuminate the benefit of learning from and building on one another’s ideas.

Stay tuned for more of these TED-Ed Club Presentations in the coming weeks!

Want to start a TED-Ed Club at your school? Get more info here »

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