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I'm Adam Todd and welcome to Classroom Dynamics, a teacher podcast.

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I've always believed that the best way to engage students in a 21st century classroom is to

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Welcome to Classroom Dynamics, the podcast where we get into the exciting world of technology and

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education. Hi everybody, I'm your host Adam Todd and today we're exploring the fascinating

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and relatively new world of brain pop science. Featuring my special guest, Dr. Michelle Nusdap,

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a dynamic educator and science enthusiast who serves as the senior director of STEM Learning

3:26

Design for Brain Pop Science. With a wealth of experience in middle school education,

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Dr. Nusdap brings energy and innovation to STEM learning and is dedicated to making science

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education engaging, interactive, rigorous, and accessible to students and teachers worldwide.

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Her passion for inspiring middle school students is palpable when she speaks about

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phenomenon-based science and evidence-based writing as a means to develop student

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science knowledge and practices. So prepare to be inspired as Dr. Michelle Nusdap joins us

3:55

to explore how multi-dimensional science education can benefit you and your students.

4:00

But before we chat with Dr. Nusdap, let's unpack what brain pop science is all about.

4:05

What distinguishes brain pop science from brain pop, the product you may already be familiar with,

4:10

is its focus on middle school science, transcending traditional and sometimes stagnate textbook learning,

4:16

brain pop science elevates middle school science learning to new heights with ready to use

4:21

student-driven investigations, engineering projects, and interactive activities such as simulations,

4:27

three worlds, and data manipulators. Brain pop science embraces the power of active learning,

4:34

challenging students to gather information and explain phenomena, especially with a focus on

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the expression of ideas through writing and investigations are meticulously structured to

4:44

activate prior knowledge, encourage observation and verify understanding through checkpoint activities.

4:50

Additionally, students are prompted to reflect through self-assessment opportunities and describe

4:55

what they noticed during an investigation. Interactive data graphs add an extra layer of engagement

5:01

for students which can lead to a much better and deeper understanding of what's being studied.

5:06

But don't worry, brain pop fans, brain pop science also has engaging movies integrated strategically

5:12

within the investigations, therefore enriching the overall learning experience. Students watch

5:18

these familiar style movies that are woven in recording observations that tie back to the guiding

5:24

question. And when it comes to the teacher, you can take control of your online class environment by

5:29

creating a class, generating assignments, and accessing helpful class data, including student skill

5:34

performance. This not only helps the teacher keep tabs on what's going on throughout, but also

5:40

helps teachers make better informative instructional decisions. In essence, brain pop science helps

5:45

make science copper-hensible and enjoyable while providing an advanced and interactive learning

5:50

environment, transforming the way students experience science-related topics. Now coming up next,

5:56

we'll chat with Dr. Michelle Nusdat as she shares insights and tips into the captivating world

6:00

of brain pop science. Get ready for an educational journey that's sure to inspire how you view the

6:06

process in which we teach science and how we can unlock scientific curiosity in every student.

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motivated on teachers-paid teachers where knowledge meets inspiration.

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She's the senior director of STEM Learning Design for Brain Pop Science and her passion for

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making science education engaging, interactive, rigorous, and accessible has helped to shape

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brain pops approach to science education. Dr. Michelle Newstat brings expertise in educational research,

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pedagogy, and the integration of technology to ensure that brain pops STEM content not only meets

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academic standards, but also fosters a love for learning. Through her leadership, Michelle continues

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to contribute significantly to the evolution of STEM education, empowering students to explore

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and understand the wonders of science and technology. I'd like to welcome Dr. Michelle Newstat

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to Classroom Dynamics. It's so great to have you here today. Awesome. Thanks so much for having me.

7:54

So before we even start and get into what brain pop science is, and it really is amazing,

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just tell everyone a little bit about your background in science and also in STEM education,

8:03

and of course your role with brain pop today. Sure, absolutely. So, sort of going way back,

8:08

I was a geology major. I love to get out into the field and really see science all around me.

8:15

And my college science experience really inspired me to get more involved in, you know, to continue

8:23

with the field. So I actually taught me on high school science in New York City, and then my learners

8:29

kept asking me these questions and sometimes demonstrated different struggles, or they had

8:35

alternative conceptions about something in science. And I found myself I was asking more and more

8:40

questions. So of course, that brought me back to grad school. And at grad school, I studied

8:47

science education, specifically a focus on curriculum and instruction. And I was incredibly

8:52

fortunate to be on some National Science Foundation grants using to see how we use technology

8:59

to really enhance learning for all of our learners. And then I looked at post-post grad school. I did

9:05

a postdoc, and I looked at science literacy and students writing in science, specifically,

9:11

and how peers can give feedback. And that was really, really great again in the text space. So I started

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work in a startup and doing all sorts of curriculum design and looking how learners sort of take bite

9:26

size pieces and learn. And then I moved into the nonprofit world. And I looked and I was part of the

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innovation team and the research team. And then fortunately about three years ago, I started at

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BrainPop Science. And at BrainPop, I am the senior director of Learning Design and my focus is STEM.

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And what that means is I have an amazing team who not only generates the content,

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the engaging quirky BrainPop content, but we also help create the learning experience. We want to

9:58

make sure it's accessible for all of our learners. And we also create the teacher experience. So how do

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we support teachers in the act of inquiry-based science? You actually said a really important word

10:09

there experience, right? Because experience for you and myself, when we were little is not the same

10:15

experience as the kids have today, just because of the amount of technology that they have at

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their fingertips, right? So that's actually a really important part of BrainPop Science, isn't it?

10:24

Absolutely. So what we do is we want to make sure when a learner comes into BrainPop Science that

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we level the playing field. They start with a phenomenon. And this is intentional to activate prior

10:36

knowledge, bring in past experiences. But if a learner, for example, has never made a smore before,

10:42

and we're asking about chemical reactions or physical changes, we start with someone roasting a

10:48

marshmallow and making the smore. So everyone engages at the same time. And then we purposely scaffold

10:54

the experience throughout to ensure that if a learner has a bit of a struggle, that's okay. There's

11:00

purposeful struggle built in for every learner. And the experience is a cohesive experience. So it

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brings each learner to a really high cognitive demand task at the end, which is our claim evidence

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in reasoning. So BrainPop Science is relatively new. It's a new offering that's designed for middle

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school. Tell us about BrainPop Science. And can you walk us through its unique approach with that?

11:21

Absolutely. So BrainPop Science is new. Many of you probably know BrainPop. We're celebrating

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our 25th anniversary, but BrainPop Science just launched about two and a half years ago. And it is

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absolutely designed for the middle school audience. In our design, we really want to focus on learners

11:38

practicing the practices. So what does that mean? That means that every investigation, which is a

11:44

lesson is built around the idea of learners should be using models and they can analyze data and they

11:53

really use mathematical thinking in their everyday approach. So we have designed these lessons,

11:59

these investigations to start with a real world phenomenon. How can we get learners interested? How

12:04

can we get them engaged and see science all around them? And then our learners are the doers. So they

12:11

need to engage with all our interactive resources. So we have simulations, data manipulaves that

12:17

have real world data sets from like NOAA NASA. We have related readings and primary source materials.

12:24

And throughout all this, learners answer questions. They also make observations. So these observations

12:30

then carry through the whole investigation. And at the end, they have to answer this guiding question.

12:35

The guiding questions given to them at the beginning of the investigation so they can continually

12:39

think about it. So for example, why can't you un-bake a cake is one of the guiding questions? So it's a

12:45

scientific question, but it's engaging. It's interesting. It's something that many of us have experienced

12:50

before when you put something into the oven for like cupcakes or cake or cookies, whatever can

12:56

un-bake. So students then answer that at the end in a claim evidence and reasoning format.

13:00

I love that. So you have investigation, observation, experience, and claim-based, you know,

13:07

all it just really takes the whole circle of STEM and science really and it kind of does really

13:12

combine it into one new, almost a new topic. Yeah, I'm trying like a new topic of study, right? It really

13:18

is. Because if you think about it, right? You we always had science and that was good. And then

13:24

the technology came into play. You could even put the A for steam in there if you really wanted to

13:28

and add another layer to that onion. But it really almost has evolved in the last couple of years as

13:33

almost a whole new topic, you know, comparatively to just either looking at it as science or STEM.

13:39

I love that framing because I've never heard that before, but if I think back to my early years in,

13:47

you know, elementary school, middle school, a lot of the science expectation was memorization.

13:51

It was so unbelievably different. So now we're in this really unique and I think incredible time.

13:57

It's an awesome opportunity for teachers and learners to really dig in, have evidence-based statements

14:05

and arguments and really critically think my goal as a as a teacher wasn't necessarily for every

14:12

learner that I had to become a scientist. But I wanted every learner that I had to see that they can

14:17

think and be a scientist. They can think critically. They can analyze. They can write and have an

14:24

evidence-based statement at the end. And I think that's the evolution of the science classroom these days.

14:29

It really has morphed into, like you said, steam or STEM, but it has this multi-dimensional component

14:37

that it all has to come together, you know, the parts, you know, the holes is greater than the some of

14:42

the parts kind of feeling in our modern day science classroom. And that's not always easy for a teacher to do.

14:48

No, it's a huge challenge. It's absolutely, it takes more time. The approaches students have to dig in.

14:56

They have the multi-modalities to interact with to really start making connections. And again,

15:02

like the students are expected to be critical thinkers and bring creativity and the same challenges

15:07

for the teachers, you know, this is new. I like to think about my first year as a teacher and

15:14

I thought I was just rocking it. And then I look back and I kind of cringe. I'm like, oh, those poor students,

15:19

I really, I thought I was doing great, but did I, you know, was it okay? And it's similar with these new

15:25

standards coming out, with these new expectations. Teachers have to give themselves some grace. And

15:30

the educational community has to support them. So, for example, in BrainPop Science, we know this is

15:36

hard work. Everyone on our team has been in the classroom and taught this way. So all of our resources

15:43

are embedded that teachers, we help support say, hey, this is where a student might struggle. This is

15:47

how you can help them through it. Here's another resource you can provide. Or hey, this claim evidence

15:52

and reasoning thing, we know students often really struggle with the reasoning part. Let's give examples

15:59

that you might see coming out of your classroom in ways that you can support the learner to get to

16:03

the next level. So it should not fall in the teacher. It has to be a whole community. It's really the

16:08

responsibility of everyone generating content, any technology or anything like that. We need to offer

16:14

different supports for every teacher who is at a different point in this inquiry based approach.

16:19

So I've asked this question a couple times during the STEM series that we have going on for this

16:24

month, STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. But what is your own

16:30

personal definition of STEM and how does it play a role with BrainPop Science? Yeah, I love that

16:35

question. So for me, it's that multi-dimensional component. It's the interdisciplinary, everything

16:41

coming together. So if you think about a scientist, and I'm not talking about someone in a lab,

16:48

necessarily, I'm talking about the baker, you know, there's science everywhere. They're, they're

16:54

needs, there's math in that, right? I don't know a single scientist or someone who does the act of

16:59

science without thinking and having computational skills, engineering components. I love the idea

17:05

of engineering embedded with the sciences. So often in the past, when engineering was taught, it was

17:11

when I was a learner, and I did this as a teacher too, you know, I didn't realize I built like the

17:17

classic toothpick bridge, right? But it was, it didn't have the science with it. So STEM and STEM to

17:23

me are the idea that none of this should be taught in isolation. It all builds on itself as an

17:29

educational community. We need to build resources that embed that together. Because it's the fabric

17:35

that holds that whole thing together anyway. Absolutely. Like once you start pulling them apart, we take

17:39

the context out of it for the learner. So for example, in our engineering projects, we make it a very

17:45

specific point to pick the, the content standard that we're aligning to first before we develop a problem

17:52

statement. Because if we can't tie it to the science content, then they're engineering or

17:57

agitering, but they're not necessarily designing a solution to the problem. And similarly, on the flip

18:03

side, if we just make it that there's a single solution to a engineering problem, then they're not

18:09

bringing in the steam that creative components are not bringing in the math. They're not bringing

18:14

in the technology in different design pieces to figure it out, to prototype, to iterate, and then

18:19

see failures. Okay. So when you bring it out altogether, all of a sudden you have this thinker who's

18:24

thinking in these different dimensions. And I think it's incredible. I like how you said that too,

18:28

because failure is okay. And I don't think a lot of teachers, even students to some degree, I think

18:33

when I was a kid, I was afraid to fail more than anything. And I think if somebody would have said to me,

18:38

it's okay to fail. That's the best way you're going to learn. I maybe I would have taken that,

18:43

you know, or I wouldn't have. I don't know if I would have run with that at the age eight or nine. But

18:47

I think for teachers, I think they're almost afraid to fail at the lesson or have the end result fail

18:54

when that's not really the whole purpose of it anyway. You almost want somebody to fail in this

18:58

in this situation because you want them to have that, okay, how am I going to figure this out? How do I

19:02

get over the problem? What else is connected to it that could help me figure it out? Absolutely. Yeah. I mean,

19:08

in our engineering projects, we have purposely built in the idea that, hey, your first attempt at

19:16

a prototype, it likely is not the best one. Even if you solve the problem that we gave you, we're

19:22

going to put in another component. We call it sort of the rack constraint internally, which is the

19:27

idea of we're going to make it more challenging. So if you didn't fail the first time, we're going to

19:31

push you to fail and figure out how to improve on the second time. Similarly for teachers, like

19:37

having an engineering project, having something that is is very new to you as a teacher. I mean,

19:44

that's terrifying. And you're up in front of 30 plus kids and middle schoolers. I mean, I love the

19:49

middle school age group, but middle schoolers can be, you know, all don't look through you with daggers,

19:54

right? Absolutely. So I see, I, you know, I feel for the teacher as well in terms of, you know,

20:00

if a lesson fails, can we be upfront about it to our learners and say, oh, that didn't go well,

20:05

but what did go well? What part of the process and how can we improve together? And that's also a

20:09

part of like the steam component, but yeah, the failure piece. I know as I know for my students,

20:15

that was the absolute toughest thing. I know for my own kids, building in the idea that perfection is

20:20

not part of it and perfection is definitely not part of science. So yeah, I think it's really interesting

20:27

to think about it that way. Okay. So with that answer, how do teachers then use brain pop science to

20:33

make it just engaging? Because I think the engagement part is probably the biggest piece, especially

20:39

from especially for middle schoolers. And of course, accessible for everyone. How does brain pop

20:44

work that out? So that's a huge focus for us. As you said, the engagement piece is incredibly important.

20:50

So what we start with is actually during our brainstorming sessions, we say to ourselves, okay,

20:57

here's the standard, here's the topic we want to hit. And we start thinking of all the different sort

21:03

of quirky, odd things that might hit that topic. And we really try to approach it in a different way

21:10

than a teacher may have and help do some that heavy lifting for them. So that's where we start in our

21:16

brain storming sessions. And then we go into the idea of what phenomenon can we show? So sometimes

21:21

we're very purposeful and do something that really all of our learners can really say, oh, I've seen

21:28

that before on the street or something like that. And other times, we really are purposeful of

21:33

exposing learners to new situations that they may never have seen, heard of or anything like that.

21:38

And then in our phenomenon, we're extremely purposeful in the video or the image that we show

21:44

and the scaffolded questions to make sure everyone's understanding and engaging to start. And then

21:50

brain pop is really known as and brain pop science for engaging learners where they are and making it

21:56

sort of fun. I've used a word quirky a few times, but like our related readings in our movies

22:02

are purposely giving analogies and ideas that really kids can relate to even the concept is

22:08

complex. We're approaching a learner and the child at the at the level where they are and acknowledging

22:14

that they are fully capable of understanding this tough concept. So we do that. We also our simulations

22:23

are purposely built in a way that we help learners focus on the key ideas and the key practices.

22:29

We do that through questioning because I know in my classroom sometimes middle schoolers have

22:35

a tendency to be a little click happy when we get into things. So we make it in a way that they have

22:40

freedom and autonomy to look around, but we also create some guardrails so they don't get too far off

22:47

track so they can stay in that in that in that in that concept. We also make sure that our resources

22:54

that are embedded in our investigation are about 10 to 15 minutes long max. So if the investigation is

23:01

being broken up over several class periods, a learner can have a natural stopping point. So we do all

23:07

that and we've heard from the field that teachers are able to different kids like different things,

23:13

but it tends to be that phenomenon that brings everyone together and it starts that discussion

23:18

in class and they're there's your prior knowledge too right you're bringing that in and that's usually

23:23

what will gain a lot of engagement you know. So if a kid is sitting there going okay no I understand

23:28

I experienced that I've seen that before I've heard that before it does at least lend to the spring

23:33

board into the investigation. Absolutely and we also want the teachers to be above an opportunity

23:39

to surface those ideas because you know when we're in the classroom and a learner brings something up

23:44

it's often not completely wrong but sometimes they start out with a slight alternative conception

23:51

coming in which is totally fine we just need to know about it so we can continue to bring in

23:55

additional ideas so the learner can do that or they might come in with a ton of background knowledge

24:02

and we might need to push them and differentiate and that's what we do in brain pop science. We offer

24:06

differentiation for that learner that needs that extension but also for that learner that might

24:12

need a little bit more of that you know foundational knowledge it's there and can be assigned to a learner.

24:16

So then let's go into an investigation what does a brain pop science investigation look like and

24:21

let's take like a seventh grade middle school level like what does that look like how do you you know

24:26

how does a teacher go about starting you know what's the process what's the overall lesson what does

24:32

it look like for them. Yeah so I like to start at the end so I'm going to start at the end of an

24:37

investigation sort of to give a little bit of a where we're going on the journey so every investigation

24:44

ends with a scientific explanation or an argument and this is an opportunity for students to

24:51

write their open text boxes and the end result is an evidence-based writing statement so the claim

24:58

is a one sentence claim answering the guiding question that carries throughout the investigation

25:03

students gather observations that turn into evidence so the evidence statements that we encourage

25:08

them to have at least two four two pieces of evidence from different resources and then the

25:13

reasoning which I mentioned earlier is the toughest piece. So are and the reasoning encompasses

25:20

you know scientific principles and they really connect their claim and their evidence so that's

25:24

sort of the end result that's the package that learners end with for teachers we like to think

25:30

about it it's 45 minutes plus a C.R. claim evidence and reasoning and we provide classroom slide

25:38

decks that the teacher can start so we've noticed two approaches from our teachers they start with

25:42

a classroom slide deck so everyone's in the same spot everyone does the activate section with the

25:47

phenomenon together and then they move to the observe and check with all these interactive resources

25:53

they may have learners turn and talk to each other and share observations that they made from a

25:58

simulation or data manipulative so for example if we are doing what I talked about earlier can you

26:03

unbake a cake the end result is that no and then they're going to show all the evidence and they

26:10

then in the reasoning talk about the chemical reactions and what happens there so in the initial

26:16

phenomenon that they might watch as a group there's actually a video of a cake rising in a

26:21

nothing and you could see the browning and we often see teachers say hey what what are some signs

26:26

of chemical reactions what are we and turn and talk or we have a whole group and then in that

26:32

example they go into the observe and check there's a simulation where they gather observations

26:37

there's a reading where we talk about food and chemical reactions and physical changes we also

26:43

have embedded assessments so a teacher can get a quick snapshot of what they know and this is all

26:49

happening often in a class period and then they may do the CER the next day or they bring it home for

26:55

homework or sometimes teachers assign this and students work on their own or in groups and the

27:00

teacher might be working in small groups doing something else like a station activity. So you said

27:04

something important assessments I think a lot of teachers and even kids if you know if they are

27:09

listening but teachers for the most part do cringe too when they hear assessments mostly because

27:14

some teachers will you know fear a state kind of test assessment and some just fear the small little

27:21

tidbit kind of assessment where they're a little nervous that they're not picking up on it and they

27:26

have to go back and and what is that going to do to their lesson planning moving forward. So

27:30

what's your perspective on nurturing scientific curiosity and critical thinking while at the same

27:35

time getting students ready for assessments whether it is that you know embedded assessment in the

27:40

investigation or it is an end result you know end of the year state assessment because that is

27:47

problematic you know in terms of a teacher how do you balance all that and how do you get past it

27:51

and how much weight do you really put on it you know so what's the approach that brain pop signs

27:56

takes with that to help them. Yeah assessments are a reality of our our our field and the summit of

28:02

assessment is it's scary for teachers and learners so the way we approach it from brain pop science we

28:09

have we want to think about it as we're giving learners an opportunity to get ready in a very low

28:15

stakes environment. So if we start looking the assessment world is changing in science so this

28:22

multi-dimensional approach where learners have to have put it all together so the concepts the practices

28:28

the cross-cutting ideas all that needs to come together and these test questions are asking that.

28:33

So what we do in brain pop science is we have our stimulus our data manipulative our simulation

28:39

our movie and we actually ask questions that are very very similar to what a learner might see

28:47

on a summit of assessment but it's super low stakes and it's also scaffolded so a learner is actually

28:53

practicing and getting ready for that assessment or getting ready for high school we're really building

28:59

that foundation in how we structure our investigations how we structure our individual resources it's

29:06

the same thing and then we also have opportunities we have what we call quizzes which are outside the

29:11

investigations that are very purposely using the item types that a learner will see on a summit

29:16

of assessment and we're asking like we've all seen it some of the questions tend to be very lengthy

29:22

so really it's how does a learner read through the question and decipher what's being asked

29:27

and we ask those types of questions as well so we are very aware of the fact that students need to be

29:34

ready at the end of the year specifically end of eighth grade for many areas for this summit of

29:39

assessment so we do it in an engaging way and I personally think if a learner is a critical thinker

29:46

if they can write using scientific ideas if they can interact and manipulate models and really engage

29:54

they'll be totally fine on a summit of assessment because they're learning those practices and those

29:59

ideas throughout and teachers can also use brain pop science to help reteach and go back and say hey

30:05

I know you saw this in sixth grade let's let's do a simulation or let's do a quiz that you may not

30:11

have seen the content in a while but you know the practices in the cross cutting concepts already

30:15

it's kind of a great segue into my next question with just even the claim evidence reasoning process

30:21

of brain pop science and you know just the whole writing component that is a huge component of

30:27

brain pop science why is the art of writing in science so important even even if it's just a standalone

30:35

but also with regards to stem as a field of study and the ability to be that effective critical

30:40

thinker and communicator what what puts that weight in that and makes that writing process so critical

30:46

if you if if you asked me that maybe 20 years ago I would have laughed and said I picked um

30:53

science as a major because I didn't want to read or write and boy it was I wrong I really the most

30:59

important skill that I have from the research side from the science side is the ability to write I

31:06

can communicate my ideas and also we know from from research learners that are learning literacy

31:12

skills like the writing like reading scientific concepts embedded within context that's actually

31:19

building their literacy skills as well learning that in context is so important it helps build that

31:26

prior knowledge it helps build the reading critical reading skills and that's one of the reasons

31:32

we stress it it's your buy one get one free exactly like situation isn't it yeah exactly and then

31:38

the other piece is we're going back to the assessment piece so if you look at a lot of our new assessments

31:43

a lot of the questions maybe give a claim and say we'll pick the evidence that supports it or they

31:49

might say what is the reasoning behind this or explain so by having the learners do it in a very

31:56

purposeful way and in an open text response they are really doing the heavy lifting they are the doers

32:03

there and they're building that so if we've we've seen that if learners really have an opportunity

32:09

at least four CERs claim evidence and reasoning that they're starting to really develop their

32:14

reasoning skills and we see a lot of growth in that so it's it's it's building that skill set and in

32:19

high school if you talk to any high school teacher they want their kids coming in with the ability to

32:25

write and reason I mean across the board I'm not just saying science teachers so right and it's one

32:32

thing to think it and and be able to understand it but then to process that out in writing can sometimes

32:38

be a hurdle that some kids can't get passed absolutely writing is so hard being clear and concise and

32:44

being able to articulate what you're you're thinking in words it's just so challenging it's just

32:50

such a great opportunity to practice it right so let's marry everything together now right so

32:54

with the growing emphasis on even project-based learning using your hands all that hands-on approach

33:00

good stuff the engineering the computer science how does brain pop science support teachers in

33:06

implementing engineering projects in the classroom that are going to be hands-on and what benefits

33:10

does that provide yeah engineering is popping up everywhere you know we see it in the next generation

33:16

science standards we see it in so many state standards and the question comes up how do you do this

33:21

how do you do it in a timely manner because if we think about some of the open-ended projects we do in

33:27

class they could just take a life of their own and really take weeks upon weeks and one thing we also

33:34

wanted to look at is how do we give learners a problem that they can solve without putting the

33:40

weight of the world on them so we don't want them to clean up all the plastics in the ocean and

33:45

their set of great science class it would be amazing if they came up with that but that's not the

33:50

expectation so the way we've approached our engineering projects is I think I mentioned earlier we pick the

33:56

the science concept that we really want to be at the forefront and then we start with our problem

34:01

statements we don't start with solutions yet because we want to see is this a true problem

34:06

that a learner might encounter so we do things like you want to recycle gray water from your

34:12

cafeteria and use it in your school garden how can you build this so but you have a limited number

34:19

you have a limited space for this so in when we do this we come up with problem statements that are

34:24

engaging and relevant for the learners and then we start to think about are there multiple

34:30

solutions this if there's a single solution it's not going to be an engineering project for us

34:35

we want learners to approach it and as I said earlier we don't really the solution itself is not

34:41

that important but we don't want to learn and think there's a single right answer because that's

34:45

really not how engineering works in the real world right it's a good point too because you want them

34:50

to understand there's more than one way to scan a cat that you if you can't figure it out this way

34:55

there's always another way you can approach it yeah I love thinking about that so we see that learner

35:00

some time that learners work in a group here so our engineering projects are both online so they do

35:06

they're brainstorming and their research online and then they will build they'll actually design

35:12

and prototype a solution and they'll test it so for example one of our problem statements is you

35:18

dropped your keys when you came off the bus you dropped them down the sewer how can you get them out

35:23

so they have laundry baskets and they are creating simple machines to try to get them out often they

35:29

fail to pick them up and that's okay we say okay where did it fail how can you improve your design

35:35

and what we see during this whole process to the point about project based learning each learner

35:41

takes on a different role in the project and some of our kids are great with the brainstorm they have

35:45

these creative ideas it's awesome other kids are coming in with the science knowledge and really can

35:50

put that in and say hey remember when we learned about simple machines this is how it went another

35:55

kid might be great at building and they haven't been able to show and shine in their classroom at

35:59

other points and all of a sudden they're building this incredible hook and fishing rod type set up to

36:05

get your keys out of the sewer so it's really a great opportunity for students to learn from their

36:10

peers also to grow with their peers and these take usually about two to three class periods to do we

36:16

are very purposeful in making sure that the engineering projects take time to think about but it's

36:22

not this huge idea so they can a learner can really stay focused on the problem solution.

36:28

I love that example of the sewer that's great that's what a great idea for people to take if

36:33

they're listening to that you could probably almost see it tomorrow everyone's going to try something

36:36

along those. Oh please send pictures yeah I want to see the solutions I love it even with the simple

36:41

machines it's so just it's intriguing you know like wow okay that could happen to me I could come

36:48

up a bus I could drop something down the sewer how do I get it it's a real world problem absolutely I

36:53

love that so many people do look at stem as a male dominated subject I think that's been the case

37:00

for a long time now but as a leader in stem education what advice would you give to educators looking

37:06

to inspire students as a whole but more specifically foster a passion for stem with girls yeah you know

37:13

when I look left look right in my in my college classes you know it was there were very few females

37:20

and you know I look back and I said to myself well how did I get into this it was my eighth grade

37:25

science teacher and she just made science come to life and it was incredible and she pushed me she

37:32

asked questions so I know for myself that was a huge factor and then my parents were were very much

37:39

like hey this seems to be something you like why don't you try it so I was I was really fortunate to

37:45

have it both at school and at home and I fell in love with geology I didn't even know it existed

37:51

before I went to college just again it was a teacher who inspired me so for teachers out there I

37:57

would say build your kids up make it engaging make the aha moments and I know that that ends up

38:03

as an equal playing field if you do that absolutely absolutely and I know in the middle school space

38:10

it's a really important time for kids to continue to engage in science often if you talk to kids

38:15

coming out at elementary school I love experiments I love this I love that and then for whatever reason

38:20

in middle school it gets serious I don't know any other way to say it but we can be engaging and

38:26

serious and rigorous all at the same time and still inspire kids to continue on I think also

38:32

having girls see themselves in the fields also showing kids that like I mentioned earlier it's

38:38

I think lab scientists are great but that's not the only way to be a scientist it's everywhere so I mean

38:45

show different careers in STEM in agriculture you know in sports science physiology and baking and

38:54

all that because personally I didn't know any of that existed when I was growing up and I was I was

38:59

fortunate enough to be exposed to different things and I fell in love with it and I really I think

39:04

many learners would benefit from that and teachers now have the ability at the at their fingertips with

39:09

being able to access internet websites and videos to really bring that to life and show hey look this

39:16

can happen you can do this look how cool this is you know I think when you know if you go back 10 or

39:21

15 years ago that wasn't the case you know you might have had a story or you might have had something

39:26

written in a textbook and you didn't get the full you know just brunt of what you could possibly

39:31

do down the line because it just wasn't there you know as a as a three-dimensional something that

39:36

you could hold in your hand or or something that you could wrap your mind around it was just a

39:40

story in a book or it was a story that someone was telling now to show video and show what people

39:45

can do in the real world to bring STEM in I think does make a difference and I think that will help

39:50

level the playing field a little bit yeah I kind of agree more well listen this has been so informative

39:54

such an engaging conversation you you had such amazing examples and suggestions I'm really glad we

40:00

had the chance to learn more about you and in what brain pop science can bring to bring two

40:05

of science or even a STEM lesson and in a classroom before we go just tell everyone where they can go

40:10

to find out more about brain pop science yeah absolutely thank you for having me this was so much

40:16

fun I could talk about this forever so to for brain pop science you could go to science.brainpop.com

40:22

and take a look we have an investigation up there that you could check out for free and yeah play

40:29

around if you do the keys in the sewer let me know I'd love to see a picture definitely we'll put

40:34

it up on our our Twitter and our our Instagram if they do and if anyone's out there listening and

40:38

you try this one we definitely want to see that we want to put that up well for those of you who have

40:42

been listening thank you for tuning in today and make sure that you share what you've learned

40:46

or any takeaways or reflections that you've had and of course tag us on Twitter at class dynamics or

40:51

Instagram at classroom dynamics podcast we always look forward to hearing your thoughts on our

40:56

episodes and sharing the different ways in which you're using what you've learned you can also

41:00

help support classroom dynamics with this little list three dollars a month at classroom dynamics podcast

41:05

dot buzzsprout dot com once again I'd like to thank michelle new stat from brain pop for joining us

41:10

today on classroom dynamics it's been such a pleasure having you on with us and I also want to give

41:15

a special thank you to a lot of koretsky the vice president of communications and social impact

41:20

at brain pop a lot of has been a big part of the brain pop episodes that we've had on this past year

41:25

and I just wanted to make sure that I gave both of you a proper thank you so thank you to you guys

41:31

and of course the whole brain pop team we couldn't have done it without you thank you so much this is

41:36

wonderful and that brings us to the end of this episode of classroom dynamics where knowledge and

41:42

inspiration meets innovation I hope you've enjoyed today's discussion and founded both insightful

41:48

and uplifting as always my goal is to provide you with practical strategies engaging stories and powerful

41:54

insights that can fuel your motivation as an educator I believe that when knowledge and inspiration

42:00

do come together incredible things can happen in your classroom and for all of you who may feel that

42:05

it's too late to strengthen your craft I challenge you to make it your mission to do so you've worked

42:10

hard to get to where you are today and it's never too late to infuse new life into your work so why not

42:16

make today that day to do so I'm Adam Todd and you've been listening to classroom dynamics a

42:22

teacher podcast you can follow classroom dynamics on x at class dynamics or on instagram at classroom

42:29

dynamics podcast if you haven't already go to apple podcast and subscribe rate and review this

42:36

podcast and if you know a teacher who may benefit from today's show please share it with them we'll

42:41

be back soon with more captivating conversations inspiring stories and strategies that you can

42:46

implement into your everyday routines until then keep igniting that spark in your classroom and

42:52

never stop believing in the incredible impact you have as an educator you are more powerful and

42:57

inspirational than you think if you like this episode you'll enjoy my episode with Dr. Barbara Hubert

43:04

the senior director of learning design at brainpop in this engaging conversation we discover how

43:09

brain pop designs its content to cater to a diversity of learners ensuring that education is

43:15

accessible and engaging for all Dr. Hubert takes us on a journey through the thought process behind

43:20

the creation of brain pops beloved characters including Tim and Obi and explores the fascinating

43:25

history behind these educational personas I often hear subject matter teachers say gosh I need

43:33

to help my kids with their literacy skills but I'm a social scientist teacher or a technology teacher

43:39

help how do I do that I can't do both right yeah like I don't have time to teach those

43:45

literacy skills and then there's another campus is overall literacy teachers and like brain

43:50

properly holds that ethos and says like we are and we're gonna embed those literacy skills which

43:54

are just their meaning making comprehension both have acquisition skills into different subjects

43:59

and sort of help do a little bit of the lift for you