Series

Learning Mole

119 episodes

Learning Mole answers the questions kids actually ask, one short clip at a time. A friendly narrator takes on a single wonder, such as how sound is made, why reptiles have scales, what the Colosseum was, or how to find an average, and explains it in a minute or two with clear pictures and everyday examples. The videos here are vetted picks across science, geometry and number, grammar, and ancient history and biography. Each is quick enough to drop into a warm-up or a spare five minutes, yet rich enough to open a class discussion. A handy way to spark curiosity across the elementary grades.

what this series covers

What Learning Mole covers

119 episodes in the library, tagged for K–6th. Heaviest coverage: Science, Social Studies and Reading & Writing (ELA). Between them they line up with 25 distinct standards across 6 frameworks.

Episodes per grade

K: 3
1st: 9
2nd: 22
3rd: 87
4th: 113
5th: 106
6th: 44

Episodes per subject

Science: 55
Social Studies: 53
Reading & Writing (ELA): 6
Math: 4
Health: 1

NGSS (Science) 8

4-LS1-1Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
4-LS1-2Use a model to describe that animals receive different types of information through their senses, process the information in their brain, and respond to the information in different ways.
1-PS4-1Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate.
5-ESS3-1Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth's resources and environment.
3-ESS3-1Make a claim about the merit of a design solution that reduces the impacts of a weather-related hazard.
4-ESS3-2Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.

+ 2 more

4-PS4-2Develop a model to describe that light reflecting from objects and entering the eye allows objects to be seen.
5-PS2-1Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down.

Common Core — Math 5

K.G.B.4Analyze and compare two- and three-dimensional shapes, in different sizes and orientations, using informal language to describe their similarities, differences, and parts.
4.NF.C.6Use decimal notation for fractions with denominators 10 or 100.
5.NBT.A.3Read, write, and compare decimals to thousandths using base-ten numerals, number names, expanded form, and >, =, < symbols.
6.SP.A.3Recognize that a measure of center for a numerical data set summarizes all of its values with a single number, while a measure of variation describes how its values vary.
K.G.A.3Identify shapes as two-dimensional (lying in a plane, "flat") or three-dimensional ("solid").

Common Core — ELA 5

L.1.2Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
L.2.2Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
L.1.1Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
L.3.2Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
L.5.2Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Social Studies (C3 / NCSS) 5

D2.His.2.3-5Compare life in specific historical time periods to life today.
D2.His.3.3-5Generate questions about individuals and groups who have shaped significant historical changes and continuities.
D2.Civ.2.3-5Explain how a democracy relies on people's responsible participation, and draw implications for how individuals should participate.
D2.Geo.4.3-5Explain how culture influences the way people modify and adapt to their environments.
D2.Geo.2.3-5Use maps, satellite images, photographs, and other representations to explain relationships between the locations of places and regions and their environmental characteristics.