Imagine that you have a child (or perhaps you do) who is about to enter puberty. The only means to communicate is by writing a letter. You may select the sex of your child: male or female. Remember that gender identity is different from the physiological or biological changes that will occur due to hormones related to being XX (female) or XY (male). Write the letter worded so it can be understood by the child and give him/her/them a positive attitude toward the changes to be experienced (300-400 words). Adapted from Charlesworth, J. & Slate, J. (1986). Teaching about puberty: Learning to talk about sensitive topics. Teaching of Psychology, 13, 215-217.
Are you a formal operational thinker? Try this Piaget task: Your task is to mix chemicals until a yellow color is obtained. You are given four bottles of odorless, colorless liquid that appear to be identical except for being labeled 1, 2, 3, and 4. A fifth bottle, labeled X, is the “activating solution” needed to produce the chemical reaction that gives the color yellow. The amount of each chemical is not important, nor is the order in which the liquids are combined. Describe how you would approach this problem by writing down all the tests you would perform.
Adolescence is seen as a period of contradictions. Most often, adolescence is viewed with a negative lens. They spend more time with peers, take risks, are idealistic, etc. Discuss positive outcomes of adolescent brain, cognitive and socioemotional development (what adolescents do well?) (300-400 words).
