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Secret of the Wild Child
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Ideas from Teachers
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(Gr. 9-12)
I use NOVA's "Secret of the Wild Child"
program
as an introduction to the nature vs. nurture issue.
Before viewing, we brainstorm as a class a list of basic skills that
a 6-year-old has when he or she enters school for the first time.
After viewing, we compare this list to Genie's skills. The next day,
the students free write on their position on the nature vs. nurture
issue---are we who we are because we were born that way, or does our
environment make us who we are?
After the free write, I organize the students according to their
viewpoints, making some play devil's advocate. The students then
prepare a debate, complete with initial statements and rebuttals.
The kids really enjoy it.
Sent in by
Cynthia Hawkins
Thomas Stone High School
Waldorf,
MD
(Gr. 9-12)
I introduce the notion of language acquisition and
lead to a discussion of language and the ways in which we use it in
verbal interaction by showing NOVA's "Secret of the Wild Child"
program
about Genie, the 13-year-old found in California who survived years
of isolation and abuse. This program also launches a discussion of
ethical behavior, the need for nonverbal communication, and usually
leads my students to indict the social services system and the
manipulation of the legal system—all excellent topics for
discussion in an introductory communication class.
I understand that this program is frequently used in psychology and
sociology classes at the secondary and collegiate level.
Sent in by
Dixie Waldo
Westlake High School
Austin,
TX
(Gr. 9-12)
Before, during and after watching NOVA's "Secret of
the Wild Child"
program, we discussed how the brain learns. We did an experiment on
learning time by hiding the food of our rats in a covered dish. They
had to learn how to open it. Then we took the covered dish away for
a time and recorded how long it took the rat to remember or re-learn
how to get the food.
This was then compared to Genie and how she learned language and how
to walk and interact with others.
Students seemed to enjoy the experimentation parts best!
Sent in by
Ms. Groskopf
Vincent High School
Milwaukee,
WI
(Gr. 10-12)
This activity could be used with NOVA's "Secret of
the Wild Child"
program. With additional readings students debate the critical period
hypothesis for language development between such folks as B.F.
Skinner and Noam Chomsky.
Sent in by
Pam Hannah
Thomas Jefferson Science &
Tech
Alexandria, VA
(Gr. 10-12)
I have my Advanced Placement European History class
watch NOVA's "Secret of the Wild Child"
program
during our study of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment.
The basis for the lesson is to determine to what extent these
intellectual movements helped Genie and to what extent they betrayed
her.
The program is also useful for teaching John Locke's concept of
"tabula rasa" (that a person's mind is a blank slate at birth) and
for Rousseau's critique of the limitations of pure rationality.
Sent in by
Jim Gregory
Arroyo Grande High School
Arroyo
Grande, CA
jgregory@lmusd.org
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