Using NewsHour Extra Worksheets

Overview: NewsHour Extra worksheets can help students follow along and identify key points in NewsHour science broadcast pieces.

Warm Up: Introduce the topic of the broadcast piece and find out how much your students know.

Main Activity: Hand out the worksheet and have students answer the questions as they watch the NewsHour segment.

Need a DVD of the science segment?: Write to science@newshour.org.

Story: Music Provides Window into Brain Function, 2/5/07
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/jan-june07/music_02-05.html

Worksheet Questions: (click here for printout)

1. What kind of work did Daniel Levitin do for more than a decade before he became a scientist? Who are some of the musicians he worked with?

Levitin was a record producer. He worked with Stevie Wonder and Eric Clapton, among others.

2. What does all sound, including music, begin as?

All sound begins as a pattern of sound waves moving through the air, before striking our eardrum.

3. How long does it take the brain to process and put together the various components that make up music, such as pitch, rhythm, tempo and timbre?

Only milliseconds.

4. When Levitin scanned the brains of people listening to music they liked, what did he find?

The "reward circuit" -- the same parts of the brain that light up when people eat food they like or get a reward -- also lights up when they listen to enjoyable music.

5. According to Levitin, why do we find Stevie Wonder's drumming on the song "Superstition" interesting?

Because Wonder changes the timing and beat of the drumming slightly throughout the song, which confounds our brain's expectations about what's coming next, and we find that interesting.

For more NewsHour Science Reports, go to www.pbs.org/newshour/science.

For more science lesson plans and worksheets, go to www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/science.