Behavioral Economics, Cognitive Biases, and a Balloon Museum Field Trip (Session 1, Week 5)

Greetings, parents, grandparents, and families!

Welcome to Week 5 of the Journey Studio newsletter. This week, learners continued exploring behavioral economics through Genre and Quest while researching the inventions of radio and television in Civ. They also enjoyed an exciting field trip to a balloon museum!

Genre: Exploring Behavioral Economics

This week, learners participated in several experiments exploring how our brains process information and influence our decisions.

One highlight was the Invisible Gorilla experiment. Participants watch a video of two groups passing a basketball and are asked to count the passes. During the video, a person wearing a gorilla costume walks across the screen. The experiment explores whether viewers notice the unexpected visitor while concentrating on their assigned task.

Interestingly, the original experiment found that about half of the participants failed to notice the gorilla. This demonstrates how focusing on one task can cause us to overlook things happening right in front of us!

Quest: Understanding the Brain and Our Biases

For Quest, learners researched how the brain works and reflected on their own cognitive biases.

They reviewed a list of 12 common biases, selected the three they felt best described their own thinking, and wrote explanations for each choice.

On Wednesday, learners also began creating their trifolds for the experiments they will present at the upcoming Exhibition. It was a great opportunity to connect their research with the practical application of behavioral economics.

Civ: Radio vs. Television

In Civ, learners researched the inventions of radio and television and considered how these technologies changed the way people communicate and access information.

The question that sparked the most interest was: Which was the more important invention—radio or television? Why?

It was an opportunity for learners to consider the impact of each invention and develop arguments to support their opinions.

Field Trip: Exploring a Balloon Museum

This week, the Journey learners enjoyed a field trip to a balloon museum, where they explored a variety of interactive exhibits.

Highlights included a room filled with green balloons and another space where learners could lie on the floor and see reflections of themselves in the ceiling. The exhibits offered a fun and immersive experience that encouraged curiosity and exploration.

Thank you to all our parents, grandparents, and families for reading this week’s Journey Studio newsletter. We look forward to sharing more of our learning, discoveries, and adventures with you next week!

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