Using Popular YouTube Videos to Engage Students in Critical Thinking

There are some incredible YouTube Channels for almost every content area and grade level. Many of these are incredibly well done and have a lot of potential to engage students in essential concepts and ideas. I've even shared some of my favorites in the past. Still, the use of these videos in many eLearning experiences is still mainly about the consumption of content. Content matters, but I think we can do much more with YouTube than just distribute content.
I've already shared how much I like using Classhook as a tool to engage students in my content, but today I wanted to share another activity using YouTube videos to engage my students in thinking critically about Environmental Science (That's what I teach, but this could work with about any subject area.)

I will be sharing the assignment and collecting the responses use Google Classroom or maybe as a TED-Ed Lesson. 

1. I am going to start by asking my students to watch the "We Didn't Start the Fire" video by Billy Joel.

2. I will ask the students to choose 5 events mentioned in the video that they are curious about. (The number doesn't really matter, it could be 1 or 10?)

3. Students will then research the events they've chosen and then put together a brief description for each event with images in a Google Slide Deck or on an Adobe Spark Page. (If I want a little more creativity students could even use a tool like Google Autodraw to sketchnote their research.) 
If my students need a bit more help recognizing some of the events, I can also share the version of the video that has all of the historic pictures. (Billy Joel - We Didn't Start The Fire (Historically Accurate Almanac)

4. Students will post their events descriptions in a collaborative Padlet because having an authentic audience matters. 

5. Here is where we get to thinking critically. I will ask students to explore 3 different posts created by their classmates and then make a connection to an environmental concept for a 3 different events. They will make 1 connection for each of the descriptions they explore. Students will use the comment feature in Padlet to describe the concept and how it connects to the event.

What videos would you use to engage students in this activity?

This is a work in progress, so let me know if you have questions or ideas in the comments below.