Critical Thinking & Research

Skills

Presentation #1
 The Tooth Fairy


When a tooth falls out, leave it



under your pillow when you go to

sleep. During the night, the Tooth
Fairy will visit your room, take the
tooth and leave a small amount of
hard cash.
A Brief History of the Tooth Fairy
myth.
The myth of the tooth fairy began
many centuries ago in a culture
where folklore and legends were
tradition.
In later centuries fairies became

popular during the days of

Shakespeare when writers gave
them prominent roles in their plays
and poems.
A Brief History of the Tooth Fairy myth.
con’t
In European folklore there exist
many myths, superstitions and
legends. The Tooth Fairy, although
widespread appears to have many
different variations, but most of
them deal with teeth having an
element of power, even able to
ward off evil.

A Brief History of the Tooth Fairy myth.
con’t
One of the more common stories is


that the teeth were buried so as to

hide them from witches and evil
spirits who would be able to use
the power of the lost tooth and cast
a spell on the child.
A Brief History of the Tooth Fairy myth.
con’t
Some believed that it evolved from


the tooth mouse, a French fairy tale

called “La Bonne Petite Souris”
Where a mouse changes into a
fairy to help a good queen defeat
an evil king by hiding under his
pillow to torture him and knocking
out all his teeth.

Properties of the Tooth
Fairy.
Small
Winged (ability to fly)
Female
Caucasian
Magical
Quick
Trying to prove her
existence
Isthere just one tooth fairy or is
there a troop of tooth fairies?
What does the tooth fairy do
with all the teeth she has
collected?
Does the tooth fairy visit children
without beds? If no why not?
How does the tooth fairy get to
all the children who have lost a
tooth in that night?
Trying to prove her existence.
con’t
Why does children from different
socio-economic background
receive varying sums of
money?
How is the tooth fairy informed
when a child has lost a tooth?


EXPERIMENTS
Experiment 1
 Conduct a simple survey. Ask
several friends of their
experiences with the tooth
fairy, have they ever seen her
and how much cash did she
leave them.
 Did wealthier children receive
more cash than poorer kids?
 Why?
 Is it that that the tooth fairy was
prejudice?

Experiment 1 (con’t)

 Or is this just proof that our parents

were the ones who were really
removing the tooth and leaving
the cash.
 Go to an orphanages and ask the
children there if they get cash
from the tooth fairy for their
tooth.
 The results will prove if she exists
or not, if she is prejudice and only
prefers well-off children, or if
parents are really behind the
myth.
Experiment 2

 Stay awake all night after you

have told your parents that
your tooth fell out.
 That night you might want to
have a camera to take a picture
of the tooth fairy just in case
she does exists. You don’t want
to get your one chance and not
be able to prove she exists.
Experiment 3

 When your tooth falls out instead

of putting the tooth under the
pillow put it in a different
location.


Conclusion
Based on the evidence gathered
it can be concluded that the
tooth fairy is not responsible for
taking the tooth and leaving
any cash.
It is just the act of parents
playing out a tradition that has
been about for hundreds of
years.