Teaching overview
Learning points
- Chocolate causes our body to produce a chemical called dopamine, which improves our mood.
- The bald eagle is just one example of an animal species that mate for life.
- Some animals kiss, although it isn't always meant romantically.
Curriculum keywords
- Body systems
- Culture
- Hormones
5 things you didn't know
Why chocolate?
1. In the UK, many people give chocolate as Valentine’s Day gifts – chocolate helps the brain to produce a chemical called dopamine, which is sometimes referred to as a “happy hormone” because of its effect on our mood.
Hormones
2. Being in love causes the body to increase the production of many other chemicals, which ultimately make our hearts race, our palms sweat and our cheeks flush!
Animal relationships
3. Many animals mate for life – bald eagles, for example, fly solo for the winter but pair up with the same partner again each year for the breeding season.
Red-blooded
4. The colour red has long been associated with love and passion because it’s the colour of the heart – and indeed the blood that pumps through it.
Do animals kiss?
5. Very few animal species kiss one another, and even then it doesn't always mean romance – chimps kiss and hug to apologise after a fight.
Spark a discussion
- How does eating chocolate affect our mood?
- Are there any animal species that stay with the same partner for life?
- Are humans the only species that kiss each other?
Twig Science: A Complete Pre-K–8 Program for the NGSS
Immersive Investigations with High-Quality Multimedia
- Investigating, designing, building, and understanding phenomena
- Hands-on, digital, video, and print investigations
- Synchronous/asynchronous distance learning