Stress responses aren’t unique to humans; they’re shared by almost all animals. Learn more about human stress and what’s going on with our bodies when we respond to challenges

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your SEL mini spark recording page: #17:  What can we learn about stress from birds?

2. Watch this video form the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Record 5-10 vocabulary words with a short meaning for each.

3. Research in birds is helping us to discover when natural selection favors a strong stress response, and when it is better to stay calm. Using examples from the video complete these sentence stems.

It was helpful for the bird to have a strong stress response when…..

It was not as good for the birds to have a strong stress response when….

In our evolutionary history humans respond strongly to challenges in the past so that…….

4. Write 3 examples of events/situations that cause stress for you?

5. While stress is sometimes viewed as negative, there is such a thing as good stress. Think of a time when it would be beneficial for you to have stress and record it here. 

6. Scroll to the bottom of this post to read about a situation when good stress is helpful for humans.  Write “I read it!” on your recording sheet. If you could not think of an example of good stress for step 5, go back and record an idea after thinking about the bike situation.

7.  Share your SEL mini spark recording page with your teacher or the EY coordinator in your building.

Good stress happens when we confront a challenge we believe we can manage or control. 

Here’s an example: A child is coasting down a hill on a bike with just one hand on the handlebars. When she sees a pothole up ahead, she feels stress and instinctively puts her other hand on the bars.

In less than a second, her brain goes into survival mode. It tells her heart to pump blood to her legs. Her vision gets a little better because her pupils open to take in more light. She’s ready for evasive action. She guides herself around the hole and continues safely down the slope.

In this case, she quickly handled the danger without a problem. It was good stress that helped her meet the challenge, because she believed she could do it.

The brain loves success and will store the memory of this event. The next time this child faces such a dangerous situation, this positive memory will help her deal with it. Good stress makes us stronger, ready to take on new challenges.