Classroom Questions

Questions for ‘Concussion patients should avoid screen time for first two days’

a girl holds an ice pack to her head as a doctor holds up fingers for her to count

How many fingers, a doctor asks? Concussions can cause fuzzy vision, dizziness, headaches, forgetfulness and other problems. In the future, doctors may prescribe going screen-free for at least two days.

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By Science News Explores

To accompany ‘Concussion patients should avoid screen time for first two days’ 

SCIENCE

Before Reading:

  1. Imagine that your best friend was treated for a head injury at the doctor’s office and then sent home to recover. What instructions might the doctor give your friend to speed their recovery? What might the doctor advise your friend not to do? What might the doctor advise your friend to do or to do more frequently? Write down three possible instructions. Then explain your reasoning in a single sentence for each instruction.
  2. Consider this scenario. Due to a head injury, a doctor strongly advises you to avoid screen time for two days. “Screen time” includes things such as phones, computers and television. How would you respond to these instructions when you first hear them? How would you respond over the next two days? What might the doctor say to you that would increase the chances that you will follow through with these instructions?

During Reading:

  1. The Massachusetts study described in the story included two groups. Both groups received instructions from a doctor. Which part of the doctor’s instructions differed between the two groups? Which part of the doctor’s instructions stayed the same?
  2. A “concussion” refers to an injury in which body part? What did doctors use to judge when patients had recovered? Why was it important for the scientists in this study to know when a patient recovered?
  3. According to the study results, what effect did screen time have on recovery time? State the average recovery time for each of the two groups.
  4. According to Ted Macnow, what are two things that help brains heal?
  5. In terms of this study, what does the word “stimulate” mean? What two things about screen time might “stimulate the brain”? Does Macnow believe this kind of brain stimulation is generally helpful or harmful to people recovering from concussions?
  6. In addition to what’s discussed in the last question, what other ways might screen time affect recovery time? Identify two.

After Reading:

  1. As a class, search the end of the article carefully, then make a list of all the questions raised as a result of this study’s completion. Then as an individual, pick one of these questions. Design a follow-up experiment that would aim to find answers to that question. In this follow-up experiment, what kind of data would be collected? What are your expected results? In what way might the data provide evidence for your expected results? In what way might the data contradict your expected results?