Smash Boom Best Meets Neurons and Endorphins

Lesson Plan

In this activity, the Smash Boom Best podcast show format is used to engage students in debate through an active encounter with information on neurotransmitters and hormones. Through research and collaboration, the debaters use facts and creativity to make their case, and the listeners learn how things work and how to defend their own opinions.

This lesson was inspired by Smash Boom Best, a podcast debate show for kids and families with every episode taking two things, smashing them together, and letting you decide which is best (https://www.smashboom.org/about). The lesson was originally used with high school AP Psychology students, but it could be adapted for any level and the structure can be used for any subject in which students are asked to engage in inquiry and research.

SUBJECT:	Science
GRADE LEVEL:	High School Middle School
OBJECTIVES:	Students will talk about the different types of neurotransmitters and the effects of drugs on them, including agonists, antagonists, and re-uptake mechanisms. Students will know what serotonin, dopamine, and monoamine oxidase inhibitors are, in preparation for their AP Psychology test. Students will use research strategies based on the Be ObservANT research model. Students will collaborate during research and presentation. Students will think critically as they apply research in a creative personification of their findings.
MATERIALS:	Smash Boom Best podcast https://www.smashboom.org/ Be ObservANT Research Model https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Home/Display/2337711
TIME NEEDED:	Four class periods (two class periods for exploration in the library with quality resources and two class periods for debates)

INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURE

Prepare:
Have students listen to a Smash Boom Best Podcast episode in class (or as a homework assignment) to experience debate scenarios and to build excitement.

Selecting Debate Topics:
Students select a gland or neurotransmitter randomly from the list given and work in pairs to explore resources and information about the topics. Examples of topics in this lesson:

Pituitary gland vs. adrenal glands
Pineal body vs. thymus
Pancreas vs. thyroid/parathyroid
Dopamine vs. endorphins
Serotonin vs. acetylcholine
Glutamate vs. GABA

Research:
Students should do a quick read (Wikipedia, encyclopedic, or popular magazine article) on their topic, taking notes and building background information.

Instruct students with the Be ObservANT research method (Harrington).

Be ObservANT (Ask, Navigate, Think) Research Method

Ask: What is my inquiry? What do I already know about my topic? What do I want to know? What do I need to know? What are the connections? (Building background knowledge). Learning to ask "I Wonder" questions. Students spend time brainstorming, asking questions in the beginning of the research process. These questions will help anchor them throughout the search process. As students gain more knowledge about their topic they will probably find that some of their initial questions fall by the wayside and others will begin to surface. Students should continue to check in on these questions as they process through their research.

Navigate: Time is spent exploring library resources, digging in, learning search strategies, gathering, taking notes, interpreting (making sense) as they connect to their initial questions to build new knowledge.

Think: Students REFLECT and think about the following questions:
Did this source answer any "I Wonder" statements?
Do I have new questions?
What are the gaps in either my information or my process?
What help do I need to seek from my instructors (classroom teacher/librarian)?

This reflection should be constant and ongoing and recorded in a research journal during an extended unit. Students should persistently and regularly check for gaps in understanding both of their topic and in how they are searching.

The Debate Rounds:
Round 1: Declaration of Greatness

Facts with Finesse!
Why is your topic so amazing? (2- 3 minutes)
Rebuttal by opposing team (30 seconds)

Round 2: Micro Round. The debate groups will select, at random, from topics like these examples (be creative, make your own list):

If your topic were an influencer or had a YouTube channel: be your topic (personify) and prepare your show (two minutes)
International holiday for your topic—how would it be celebrated?
Your topic is running for Mayor of Bodytown. Why should we elect you?
Ultimate getaway—your topic is a really cool vacation!
Movie franchise—which franchise would you belong to?

Round 3: Sneak Attack
Students are assigned one of these prompts on the spot, and they have only a few minutes to prepare for this round. It will be fast!

Write a toast in honor of your topic (wedding, graduation, mitzvah)
Spirit animal—which animal is your topic's spirit animal and why?
Style sense—if your topic had a fashion line, what would it be called, and what would the aesthetic be? Walk us through an outfit inspired by your topic
Commercial jingle
Slogan (short and sweet like "got milk?")
If your topic had a real life job, what would it be? Provide a job description

Final Round: The Final SIX
Six words to stick the landing! Describe your topic in just six words.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Harrington, LaDawna. 2010. Guided Research in Middle School: Mystery in the Media Center. 2nd ed. Santa Barbara: Linworth, an imprint of ABC-CLIO.

Kuhlthau, Carol Collier, et al. 2015. Guided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st Century. Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited, an imprint of ABC-CLIO.

Manis, Jennifer, and LaDawna Harrington. 2023. "Smash Boom Best Meets Neurons and Endorphins." School Library Connection, https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Article/2294194.

"Smash Boom Best." n.d. www.smashboom.org. Accessed February 7, 2023.

For more on this activity, see Steven Tetreault's editorial, "Activating Student Inquiry and Creativity with Debate" and the accompanying episode of the SLC Podcast, "One Lesson at a Time," where LaDawna Harrington shares with us the process of bringing this lesson to students.

Did you learn from your time with us? Then take advantage of our professional development certificate of completion! Listen to the podcast that accompanies this lesson and take the related PD Certification Quiz to earn a certificate for one hour of PD. (Consult with your supervising organization about applying these to your professional development requirements.)

About the Author

LaDawna Harrington, MLS, started her library career at Ohio University and Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis. She has worked as the corporate librarian for a biopharmaceutical company. As a school librarian she has been featured on NJ ClassRoom Close-up TV show, has won many awards including Library Media Specialist of the Year. LaDawna is the past president of NJASL and LibraryLinkNJ, sat on the Board for the Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries, been a part-time lecturer at Rutgers University has worked on the NJ State Library Network Review board and was the co-chair of the Leadership task force for Future Ready Schools NJ, working on indicators for librarians' section. LaDawna spent several years as the NJ delegate to the AASL affiliate assembly and recently retired as the HS Librarian at Millburn High School in NJ. She is the author of Guided Research in Middle School: Mystery in the Middle School a co-author of Guided Inquiry Design in Action: Middle School, with Dr. Leslie K. Maniotes and Patrice Lambusta. Her and her husband love bicycling all over and spending time with their 3 grandchildren.

MLA Citation

Harrington, LaDawna. "Smash Boom Best Meets Neurons and Endorphins." School Library Connection, April 2023, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/LessonPlan/2337598?topicCenterId=2247900.

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https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/LessonPlan/2337598?topicCenterId=2247900

Entry ID: 2337598