The Pythagorean theorem is Hilarious: A Look at Some of the Top Funny Educational Videos
While the Internet is pretty well stocked with educational videos of all kinds, ones that make you chuckle while learning about various math or science concepts are pretty rare. Sure, there’s drunken professors discussing the paranoia surrounding swine flu on Funny or Die but there are surprisingly few videos that mix humor with science, math, and any other subject on your class list. Funny educational videos range from the clever to the hilarious, and pretty much all of them can be found on YouTube. Top humorous educational videos include those from YouTube channels Charlie Is So Cool Like, ViHart, and Khan Academy..
Many of the videos found through the Khan Academy’s YouTube channel feature scribble-y drawings against black space, yet this does not detract from their ability to educate students and make them smile. The Academy’s Introduction to Evolution and Natural Selection video features funny drawings on the evolution of humans, with our four-legged ancestors drawn with little hats. Khan Academy is a non-profit organization whose website works as a virtual school, giving students access to free educational tutorials on all kinds of subjects including linear algebra, chemistry, biology, calculus, computer science and finance.
The mathemusician behind the ViHart YouTube channel and blog has recently partnered with Khan Academy, so it will be interesting to see what funny and educational gems they come up with. ViHart videos are all about dry humor, and generally feature a hand scribbling assorted math and science concepts in a notebook with voice overs, though videos are sped up so all drawings and graphs come instantly come to brilliant life. Her video denouncing Pi, for example, is downright awesome. She begins the video talking about how “boring and stupid” trigonometry is thanks to Pi, a concept that has “gone uncorrected for thousands of years.” Another great one is her origami proof of the Pythagorean Theorem, where she proves the theorem over and over again by folding a piece of paper a bunch of different ways.
Though just as entertaining as ViHart’s video collection, the clips from the Charlie Is So Cool Like are perhaps the funniest in that they will actually make you go “Hahaha!”, “Haw haw haw” or whatever it is you do when you laugh. A cute British dude named Charlie McDonnell explains assorted science concepts, such as light, sound, time travel,stars, and why the world is not going to end in 2012. The sound video features Charlie singing about the science of sound–how it vibrates at different frequencies, and what sound does when it hits various types of surfaces. It’s nifty. All videos end with what sounds like an old British guy saying “You’ve had the almost imponderable joy of watching Charlie is So Cool Like, which makes you…like cool.”
If you browse long enough you’ll find entertaining educational videos from old YouTube users who haven’t updated their channel in a few years, such as the Physics of Superheroes videos from Karnage Studios, which uses superheroes to demonstrate physics concepts. However Khan Academy, Charlie and Vi Hart all provide plenty of content to keep you and your brain occupied for hours. Use them for further explanation and assistance on some of the harder math and science ideas you want help on, or just for a good laugh!
Kent Page McGroarty is a blogger for Tutor Delphia.