There’s a TED Talk for nearly every topic imaginable making them an excellent resource to use in your classroom! Whether you’re teaching academic content or a life skill, TED Talks allow your students to hear about the topic from another perspective. You can use these videos as an engaging hook to get your class interested in the upcoming lesson. Read on to learn about some of our favorite TED Talks for middle schoolers!
1. A Pro Wrestler’s Guide to Confidence
Help your students build their confidence by listening to the personal story of Mike Kinney. This video is perfect for anyone who struggles with a constant fear of rejection and they’ll benefit from listening to Kinney’s wise words about finding inner confidence.
Learn More: TED
2. Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator
Procrastination is something we’re sure all your kiddos are familiar with! This eye-opening talk shows them that although procrastination might feel beneficial in the short term, it won’t help them achieve their greater life goals. This single story of Tim Urban’s procrastination will teach your learners to work hard for their goals.
Learn More: TED
3. How a 13-Year-Old Changed ‘Impossible’ to ‘I’m Possible’
The story of this amazing 13-year-old is sure to inspire your little ones. Sparsh Shah is a true child prodigy whose inspirational words will show your kids that nothing is impossible if they truly believe in themselves. His fearless story will encourage your students to take risks and never give up.
Learn More: YouTube
4. My Story, From Gangland Daughter to Star Teacher
This TED Talk tells the true story of Pearl Arredondo and the challenges she had to face growing up around crime. Pearl Arredondo’s story teaches your kiddies the importance of education and how it’s possible to rise up from a challenging situation. She also shares her experiences of becoming a school teacher.
Learn More: TED
5. The Power of Vulnerability
In this video, Brené Brown will open your kiddos’ eyes to emotions and brain functions. Ultimately, her goal is to show kids the importance of being sincere with their words and showing their emotions in an empathetic way.
Learn More: TED
6. The Danger of Silence
Clint Smith talks about the importance of standing up for what you believe in in this informative TED talk. He encourages everyone, even everyday school students, to speak their minds to prevent false or hurtful information from spreading. Be sure to check out his other incredible videos too!
Learn More: TED
7. How to Build a Fictional World
Everybody from book authors to video game designers needs to know how to build a fictional world. But how do they do it? This video will teach your kiddos how to create characters and a setting for a fictional world.
Learn More: TED-Ed
8. Gettysburg College Commencement 2012 – Jacqueline Novogratz
In this graduation speech, CEO Jackqueline Novogratz encourages listeners to take action to solve problems, no matter how big the problem may seem. This is a college lecture that your older students will be grateful to have viewed!
Learn More: TED-Ed
9. Can You Outsmart the College Admissions Fallacy? – Elizabeth Cox
If you’ve got students who are headed for college then this is a TED talk you’ll want to show them! This unique video discusses the issues in the college admission process! Your kids can learn about how the process has changed over time and how it impacts their opportunities today.
Learn More: TED-Ed
10. A Brief History of Video Games (Part I) – Safwat Saleem
Kids love all things video games so they’re sure to love this incredible video series that explains how video games were first created. This video is great for budding engineers and software designers and shows them that a lot of thought and creativity is put into creating video games.
Learn More: TED-Ed
11. We Should All Be Feminists
In this video, the amazing Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie discusses the importance of feminism and how everybody needs to be a feminist in order to see progress for women. She shares her story and teaches your learners the importance of never giving up.
Learn More: TED
12. “High School Training Ground”
Malcolm London teaches students about high school through poetic expression. This video is perfect for older middle schoolers who are preparing for high school. London is a wonderful speaker who will capture your students’ attention.
Learn More: TED
13. Can You Solve The Bridge Riddle? – Alex Gendler
For a fun and educational activity in class, look no further than this excellent riddle series. These videos are a great way to get your students to think both logically and creatively. TED-Ed has over sixty riddle videos for a challenging activity in class!
Learn More: TED-Ed
14. “All the World’s a Stage” by William Shakespeare
If you’re looking to make your poetry unit more interesting, try one of these animated videos that bring poems to life. In this specific video, your kiddos can watch a visual of Shakespeare’s “All the World’s a Stage”. Breathe new life into the poem and let your learners make connections between the text and the images.
Learn More: TED-Ed
15. The Unexpected Math of Origami – Evan Zodl
This video clues your kiddies in on the complex work that’s needed to create a piece of origami. Even the simplest pieces require so many precise folds! Have your class watch this video and then try origami out for themselves – they’ll quickly see that this magnificent art form is far more complicated than it seems!
Learn More: TED-Ed
16. Is Google Killing Your Memory?
It might surprise you and your kids to learn that researchers study the impact of Google on our memory and how constant searching is impacting our ability to recall learned information! This video is great for kids of any age as they’ve grown up with this tech at their fingertips. What are the long-term effects of constantly searching and not needing to learn information? Watch this video to find out!
Learn More: TED-Ed
17. What is Echolocation?
Let your kiddies learn more about echolocation, a term they hear a lot about in science class! This video is the perfect accompaniment to a science lesson and demonstrates the importance of echolocation with a bunch of cool animations. This video could inspire your students to study animal science!
Learn More: TED-Ed
18. How a Case Gets to The US Supreme Court
Encourage your kiddies to learn more about how major decisions are made in the U.S.! This video will explain some pretty complex details in a simple way for your learners and give them plenty of information to get them comfortable with the subject. You could even have them complete an activity on how Supreme Court decisions impact their daily life after they watch the video.
Learn More: TED-Ed
19. What would happen if you stopped brushing your teeth?
With personal hygiene becoming more and more relevant to middle schoolers, it’s helpful for your kids to learn about the reasons behind these hygiene habits. In particular, brushing their teeth is incredibly important for them to understand and this video will teach them all about the scientific reasons behind doing so!
Learn More: TED-Ed
20. Why Parrots Can Talk Like Humans
Kids always find talking animals hilarious. If you’re studying animals or communication in your class, this video is a great resource! Have your students watch this amazing video all about parrots’ communication abilities and then let them write a reflection on the importance of communication!
Learn More: TED-Ed
21. What Would Happen If The World Went Vegetarian?
Climate change is an extremely important topic to cover with kiddos. This video is the perfect way for you to share with students some of the ways they can directly help the environment. This activity could be followed with a worksheet about other ways you can help make a difference in stopping climate change.
Learn More: TED-Ed
22. Ruby Bridges: The Child Who Defied a Mob and Desegregated Her School
Ruby Bridges was an incredibly important figure in the Civil Rights Movement! This video is a must-watch for your learners if you’d like them to learn more about the fight for racial equality in America and how age does not impact their ability to make a change!
Learn More: TED-Ed
23. Is Fire a Solid, a Liquid, or a Gas? – Elizabeth Cox
Spark some interest in states of matter with this intriguing and informative TED talk! In this video, your kiddies can learn more about fire and how chemistry impacts their daily life. The visuals in this video allow your students to better understand fire and how it is not actually so simple!
Learn More: TED-Ed
24. Equality, Sports, and Title IX – Erin Buzuvis and Kristine Newhall
Teach your class about the importance of equality, especially in the world of sports! In this video, they’ll learn about Title IX and how the laws in America needed to change to make sure sports were fair to everyone who wanted to play.
Learn More: TED-Ed
25. The Complicated History of Surfing – Scott Laderman
Did you know that surfing is one of the most popular sports around the world? Let your kiddos learn about how surfing came to be and how the sport impacts the lives of so many people worldwide with this fun TED talk! Maybe some of your kids will even be inspired to try out surfing for themselves!
Learn More: TED-Ed
26. How Big is the Ocean? – Scott Gass
It’s estimated that despite them covering a large amount of our planet, we’ve only explored a tiny 5% of the world’s oceans! Learning about why these exciting environments are so important in science and social studies. Let your students watch this video to learn about the oceans and how changes in them would impact our daily lives.
Learn More: TED-Ed
27. Why Is It So Hard to Escape Poverty? – Ann-Helén Bay
It’s no secret that our middle schoolers are becoming much more aware of social issues. Explore the concept of poverty and how people can take steps to make a difference in the cycle that creates wealth inequality. This is sure to be an eye-opening video for your teens!
Learn More: TED-Ed
28. What Causes Migraines? – Marianne Schwarz
Migraines are a real pain! Use this video to explore the brain and how it functions with your learners. As teens, it’s likely that migraines are becoming more prevalent for them, so they might find it helpful to learn more about them and ways to prevent them!
Learn More: TED-Ed
29. We Can Help You Master Public Speaking – Chris Anderson
Uh-oh! It’s the words no middle schooler wants to hear – public speaking! If you’ve got class presentations or a debate coming up, this video could be a great choice! In this video, they’ll learn more about how public speaking will benefit them and how to become master public speakers!
Learn More: TED-Ed
30. A Brief History of Divorce – Rod Phillips
Divorce is a challenging topic to talk about with kids. Use this video as an SEL resource to help your students understand what divorce is and how it impacts so many people.
Learn More: TED-Ed
31. My Invention That Made Peace With Lions
Richard Turer, a young Maasai man, has tended his father’s cattle since he was 9 years old. He also loved dismantling, fixing, and inventing electrical gadgets. When lion attacks on the cattle grew more frequent, and when he was 13, Richard designed solar power ‘lion lights’ to quickly scare away the lions.
Learn More: TED
32. Your Elusive Creative Genius
This is a wonderful TED talk from Elizabeth Gilbert about having a creative genius rather than being one. Your kiddos will be hooked as she talks about the burden of creating the ‘next big thing’ and the surprising ways in which creativity reaches out to people.
Learn More: TED
33. Where Are The Baby Dinosaurs?
Have you or your kiddos ever wondered where all the baby dinosaurs are? Jack Horner did and in this amazing, inspiring, and hilarious talk, he explains exactly where they are. Jack is the inspiration for the main character in Jurassic Park and his contagious enthusiasm for all things dinosaur shines through.
Learn More: TED
34. The Diseases That Changed Humanity Forever
Disease-causing pathogens have been around since before humans first walked the earth. As we’ve evolved, these microorganisms have evolved with us. This fascinating TED-Ed talk will teach your kiddos how that’s happened and how advances in healthcare and hygiene have helped those fortunate enough to live in the right places.
Learn More: TED-Ed
35. Zombie Roaches and Other Parasite Tales
Do you want to know about zombie roaches? We bet your kids do! Ed Yong paints a fascinating, and creepy picture of the life of parasites and how they influence their host’s behavior. This is one TED talk you don’t want to miss – your middle school students will love it!
Learn More: TED
36. Do Schools Kill Creativity?
One of the top TED talks of all time, Sir Ken Robinson’s moving talk is one that you and your kids can listen to again and again. His passion and inspiration shine through as he expresses the importance of nurturing creativity in children and the failure of the education system to do this. Watch this one with your kiddos and discuss ways you can ensure you’re fostering their creativity in your classroom!
Learn More: TED
37. How I Taught Rats to Sniff Out Land Mines
Hero rats that can search out landmines and sniff out tuberculosis? Although it sounds like science fiction, these trained rats are already out there saving lives. Bart Weetjens explains all in this talk about his project, Apopo, and shows footage of his rats at work.
Learn More: TED
38. Dancing With Light
Quixotic Fusion is what happens when a group of acrobatic, dance, fashion, film, music, and visual fx artists get together! Their experiment with light, sound, and movement produced a sensory-stimulating experience like no other that will have your learners captivated! In this ‘talk’, your kiddies will see three different dance pieces each more entracing than the last!
Learn More: TED
39. Why People Believe They Can’t Draw
How many times do we hear our students saying they can’t draw? If your kiddos think they can’t draw at the beginning of this TED talk, Graham Shaw will prove that they can by the end of it! Grab some pens and paper and prepare your middle schoolers to explore their creativity with this hands-on instructional talk!
Learn More: TED
40. Why Do Cats Act So Weird?
The cat lovers in your class will love this funny video! If you want to know why cats do the things that it does, then you’ve come to the right place! Although our favorite felines have some rather strange behaviors, a lot of it can actually be explained and Tony Buffington is the person to do just that. This is sure to be an interesting watch!
Learn More: TED-Ed
41. Surviving the coldest place on Earth
It might surprise you to know that there are over 8,000 species of sea life living in one of the coldest areas on earth! This TED talk introduces your kiddos to all of these bizarre creatures and the traits they need to survive and thrive on the coast of Antarctica, a few meters below the ice!
Learn More: TED-Ed
42. In The Internet Age, Dance Evolves
The LXD, or Legion of Extraordinary Dancers, will show and tell your class how street dance is emerging and evolving through the internet. In this awe-inspiring demonstration, they’ll see some incredible choreography that will simply blow their mind!
Learn More: TED
43. Why Is It So Hard to Break a Bad Habit?
We all know how hard it is to break a bad habit, like biting your nails. In this talk, you and your kids will discover why exactly that is! Delve into the science behind how habits evolve and some tips and tricks to help you stop!
Learn More: TED-Ed
44. The Surprising Secrets of Hummingbird Flight
Hummingbirds are the acrobats of the sky! This TED-Ed talk tells your kids all about how hummingbirds manage to fly and hover while eating, pollinating flowers, and escaping predators all at the same time! The coolest part? They do all of this in the speediest and some of the most spectacular ways – even upside down!
Learn More: TED-ED
45. How to Enter Flow State
What do people mean when they say that they’re ‘in the flow’? Being in a state of flow enables you to perform at your best with ease, confidence, creativity, and happiness. This talk explores how to get into this state even in the classroom!
Learn More: TED-ED
46. Three Tips on How to Study Effectively
There are so many hints and tips for studying effectively. This talk explains three amazing and proven study methods that will help your kiddies retain the information that they’re learning. It also explains how the brain learns and stores the information!
Learn More: TED-Ed
47. What Would Happen If You Didn’t Sleep?
It’s no fun being sleep-deprived! Studies show that sleep deprivation affects many of us and can cause us serious harm! Take a look at this TED-Ed talk with your middle schoolers that explains how not getting enough sleep affects their body and their brain.
Learn More: TED-Ed
48. How to Overcome Your Mistakes
It’s easy to say that we need to learn from our mistakes, but it’s not always so easy to put this into practice. Explore this with your students by showing them this TED-Ed talk explains why it’s sometimes so hard to see the learning moments in failure and what we can do about it.
Learn More: TED-Ed
49. What Adults Can Learn From Kids
In school, the focus is often on kids learning from adults. Adora Svitak, a child prodigy, challenges the notion that childish thinking should be disregarded! She explains why creativity, optimism, and bold thinking are essential and how adults can learn from children and their expectations. What could you learn from your kids?
Learn More: TED
50. To This Day…For The Bullied and Beautiful
Show your kiddies the power of spoken-word poetry as a means of expression. In this TED talk Shane Koyczan shows perfectly how it is to be young and different with his humorous and on-point viral poem “To This Day”. Get ready to be inspired!
Learn More: TED
50. A Plan to Recycle the Unrecyclable
Styrofoam takes 500 years or more to degrade and ends up on beaches and in landfills as it’s too expensive to recycle. Think this is a problem too complicated to solve? Well, think again! Watch and see how the amazing 14-year-old Ashton Cofer and his science fair team discovered – through a lot of experimentation, how to break down and reuse Styrofoam.
Learn More: TED
51. The Creativity and Community Behind Fanfiction
If you’ve any superfans in the room, this is the TED talk for them! This captivating video explores the vast and diverse world of fanfiction and how beneficial it is for young people to be able to have their voices heard. It’s an outlet for creative minds and enables young people to explore, learn, and improve their writing in safe, supportive, and welcoming communities.
Learn More: TED
52. A Teen Just Trying to Figure It Out
Being a teen can be a really tough time. When Tavi Gevinson couldn’t find any good female teenage role models, she created the teen web magazine – Rookie. In this TEDxTeen talk, Tavi expresses her feminist viewpoint, the strength in knowing when you’re still figuring it out, and the completely normal inconsistencies in simply being human. Your kids are sure to find this one relatable!
Learn More: TED
53. Underwater Astonishment
The underwater world has some of the most amazing and fascinating creatures living in the inky black depths and the shallows. Your kids will be hanging on every word as David Gallow talks about the beauty and shape-shifting capabilities of octopus, cuttlefish, and squid in this fascinating talk, reminding us that there is much to learn and explore here.
Learn More: TED
54. A Campaign for Period Positivity
Here’s one to add to your health class curriculum! Considering that 50% of the world’s population will menstruate for a considerable part of their lives, periods are still considered to be a taboo subject in many places. Ananya Grover talks about her campaign to promote menstrual health and raise awareness about periods.
Learn More: TED
55. What It’s Really Like to Have Autism
It’s likely that in at least a few of your classes, there are students who have autism. Ethan Lisi, who was diagnosed with autism as a youngster, explains why autism doesn’t need to be cured, it needs to be understood. In this talk, he shares some of the common misconceptions about autism and provides insights into often misunderstood behaviors such as stimming and masking.
Learn More: TED
56. My Obsession With Objects and the Stories They Tell
Your kiddies will be intrigued by this quirky TED talk! Adam Savage is a man who really enjoys following his ideas. In this amazing video, he explains where his fascinations with the dodo and the Maltese Falcon led him. This is a great talk for your kids that demonstrates the power of following your interests.
Learn More: TED
57. Meet a Young Entrepreneur, Cartoonist, Designer, Activist …
This kid can do it all! Maya Penn thought and felt deeply about the world and her responsibilities towards it from a super young age. She started her own sustainable fashion line at the age of 8 and has gone on to do even more! This inspiring talk shows your learners the power of staying true to their values.
Learn More: TED
58. How I Found Myself Through Music
Anika Paulson understands the world and herself through music. In this captivating talk, she plays beautiful melodies on the guitar while talking about how music connects and inspires. Everything is music and “If you ever feel lost, stop and listen for your song” she explains. If you have a few musicians in your class or even just some kids who love to listen to music, they’ll love this feel-good talk!
Learn More: TED
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