If you are using the video,
ask questions 1&2 before viewing.
1. What is a hero?
2. Who is one of your heroes? Why, what makes
that person a hero?
Questions to ask after showing Act I
3. What happened in the video so far?
4. Why did Nubbs pick Captain Planet as
his hero? How do you feel about Nubbs' choice? Who did Nubbs' friends
pick as their heroes? How do you feel about their choices?
5. What does Captain Planet mean by, "the
power is yours"?
6. Burna says "we're just kids, and kids
have no power." Do you agree that kids have no power? Why,
or why not?
7. Burna says kids are supposed to play, and
adults are supposed to do all the important stuff. Do you think
Burna is right? Why, or why not?
- What important stuff can kids do?
8. Nubbs wanted to plant trees in order to help
the environment. How do trees help the environment? (Clean
the air, release oxygen, provide shade, prevent erosion, etc.)
9. What did Nubbs' friends think of his idea
about planting trees? What were their objections? (Can't
plant enough to make a difference, it's
a lot of work, it might rain, where would they get the trees?)
10. Do you think Nubbs' idea to plant trees
is a good one?
-Do you think that kids can really accomplish anything like that?
Why or why not?
- Would you go along with Nubbs' plan?
11. In the song, Nubbs sings, "Maybe their
help is too much to ask. Maybe it's just too big of a task."
Do you think what Nubbs wants to do is too big of a task? Why?
- Is there a way Nubbs could make the task smaller? Would it still
be worth doing?
12. How is Nubbs feeling at the end of Act I?
Why do you think he feels this way?
13. Nubbs' friends think he should drop the
idea and give up. What do you think he should do? What do you think
he will do?
Questions to ask after showing Act II
14. Socrates called Nubbs a good citizen. What
reasons does he give for saying that? (Because
Nubbs cares about more than just himself. He cares about his community,
he cares about the world, and he tries to help.)
15. Why did Socrates ask Nubbs where big cities
come from? (To make the point that big
things are the result of lots of individual people doing their share.)
16. Socrates helped Nubbs see that big things,
like cities, are the result of a lot of individual people each doing
their share. What does that have to do with Nubbs' tree planting
- Do Nubbs and his friends have to plant a million trees to make
a difference? What do they have to do to make a difference? (Plant
however many trees they can.)
17. How much of a difference will Nubbs and
his friends make if they don't plant any trees at all?
18. Nubbs got an idea when Diotima asked him,
"what if your tree project could give your friends a way to
be just as powerful as their heroes?" What do you think Nubbs'
idea is? Do you think he can convince his friends to help? How could
he do that?
Questions to ask after showing Act III
19. In the first part of this video, Nubbs wanted
to plant a million trees. Was that realistic?
- In Act III he wanted to plant a grove of shady trees in an ugly
vacant lot. Was that more realistic? Was that a good idea? Why,
or why not?
20. How did Nubbs convince his friends to do
the tree planting project? (He showed them
that they had the power to transform an ugly vacant lot into a beautiful
grove of shady trees.)
21. What problems did they have to solve? Did
each of them have an important job? What did each of them do? (Nubbs
organized the project. Groark and Burna got volunteers from the
neighborhood to help. Essie got the garden center to donate the
trees, Muggsy got permission from the owner of the lot to plant
the trees.) What would have happened if any of them had
not done their job?
22. Why did Nubbs' friends make him their hero?
Do you think Nubbs is a hero?
23. Who is your hero? Is your choice different
now than it was before you watched the video?
24. How did Nubbs and his friends feel about
what they accomplished? Have you ever felt that way? What did you
do that made you feel that way?
25. What makes your neighborhood or community
a nice place to live? What could you do
to make your neighborhood or community a better place?
26. By improving the vacant lot, Nubbs and his
friends performed a community service. What does good citizenship
have to do with community service?
27. What do you think a good citizen is? In
what ways are you a good citizen? What is a bad citizen?
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