BrainPOP, a popular US EdTech platform, has launched a middle school STEM solution comprising a variety of simulations, videos and educational activities

BrainPOP, the online EdTech solution that makes learning experiences accessible and engaging for students, today announced BrainPOP Science – a new middle school STEM solution designed to help 6-8th grade science teachers navigate recent shifts in science, engineering, and technology standards, assessments, and learning environments. Through scaffolded investigations, embedded assessments, and actionable diagnostics, BrainPOP Science facilitates “three-dimensional” learning and builds student mastery in science.

Recent research from Gallup and the RAND Corporation shows that BrainPOP is already one of the most widely used EdTech tools that elementary and middle school educators turn to for teaching STEM. In the last year alone, more than 3.1 million students have completed at least one science activity on BrainPOP’s platform.

“BrainPOP has always provided educators with resources to make difficult topics understandable, relatable, and relevant for students,” said Scott Kirkpatrick, CEO of BrainPOP. “New standards challenge educators to rethink how they teach science and meaningfully measure student learning. Science has become such a focal point during the last year, and we are especially excited to support educators who are inspiring kids to truly engage in scientific thinking and practice.”

Each BrainPOP Science investigation includes student-driven activities: examining phenomena, collecting evidence, articulating claims and reasoning, and checking for understanding along the way. BrainPOP Science was designed with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in mind and can be aligned to all state standards. Districts will also have the option to align BrainPOP Science units to their unique curriculum needs.

“BrainPOP Science’s standards-aligned investigations provide my students with the opportunity to explore scientific concepts through real-world applications. All of my students found the phenomena-driven investigations to be engaging learning experiences,” said Donna Falk, a middle school science teacher in Manalapan, New Jersey. “The customizable activities make it easy to enhance my lesson plans, and the actionable diagnostics allow me to track students’ mastery against our state’s standards.” 

Key features of BrainPOP Science include:

• Simulations allow students to strengthen their conceptual understanding by observing science principles in action, manipulating models to test hypotheses, and collecting evidence.
• Data manipulatives empower students to improve data literacy skills by interacting with scientific data used in real-world scenarios.
• 3D Worlds enable students to explore real-world phenomena, and encourage scientific argumentation and debate.
• Exclusive science movies leverage the power of BrainPOP’s animations to explain hard-to-teach concepts.
• Unit-level diagnostics and embedded formative assessments deliver actionable insights on student mastery aligned to NGSS and state standards.

Collectively, BrainPOP Science investigations address all three dimensions of learning – crosscutting concepts, science and engineering practices, and disciplinary core ideas. They also align with the 5E Model of Science Instruction, which invites students to engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate. BrainPOP Science builds on advances in science education, learning and assessment design, psychometrics, and data science, supported with evidence from efficacy studies conducted over the years in collaboration with EdTech researchers, educators, and students.