Series

OK Go Sandbox

36 episodes

The band OK Go breaks down how its videos actually get made, which turns out to be a science and math problem every time. "Needing/Getting" was shot by driving a car past a thousand instruments; "A Stone Only Rolls Downhill" ran on 64 phones at once, and a companion video walks through the planning that took. Other entries cover slow motion as a counting problem, circular motion as spin art, chain-reaction and pitch-matching challenges, a two-part flipbook how-to, and the collaborative "Art Together Now" animations built from drawings kids sent in. The band is candid about how often a take goes wrong, which is half the point.

what this series covers

What OK Go Sandbox covers

36 episodes in the library, tagged for 1st–6th. Heaviest coverage: Science, Art and Math. Between them they line up with 25 distinct standards across 6 frameworks.

Episodes per grade

1st: 2
2nd: 15
3rd: 35
4th: 36
5th: 35
6th: 29

Episodes per subject

Science: 15
Art: 14
Math: 4
Social-Emotional Learning: 4
Technology: 4
Music: 2
For Fun: 1

NGSS (Science) 10

1-PS4-1Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate.
3-5-ETS1-1Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
3-5-ETS1-2Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
4-PS3-3Ask questions and predict outcomes about the changes in energy that occur when objects collide.
3-5-ETS1-3Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.
3-PS2-1Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.

+ 4 more

4-PS4-1Develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude and wavelength and that waves can cause objects to move.
5-PS2-1Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down.
3-PS2-2Make observations and/or measurements of an object's motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion.
4-PS3-2Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.

Common Core — Math 2

3.MD.A.1Tell and write time to the nearest minute and measure time intervals in minutes; solve word problems involving addition and subtraction of time intervals.
4.MD.A.2Use the four operations to solve word problems involving distances, intervals of time, liquid volumes, masses of objects, and money.

National Core Arts 5

VA:Cr2.1.4Explore and invent art-making techniques and approaches.
VA:Cr1.2.4Collaboratively set goals and create artwork that is meaningful and has purpose to the makers.
MU:Cr1.1.3aImprovise rhythmic and melodic ideas, and describe connection to specific purpose and context.
VA:Cr1.1.3Elaborate on an imaginative idea.
VA:Re7.1.3Speculate about processes an artist uses to create a work of art.

CASEL (Social-Emotional) 5

CASEL.SM.5Use planning and organizational skills to break a task into steps and manage time and materials.
CASEL.RS.3Practice teamwork and solve problems collaboratively.
CASEL.SA.6Hold a growth mindset: treat effort, practice, and mistakes as how ability grows.
CASEL.SM.4Set personal and group goals and track progress toward them.
CASEL.SOA.5Understand and express gratitude.

ISTE (Technology) 2

ISTE.1.4.aDesign process: follow a deliberate design process to generate ideas and possible solutions.
ISTE.1.6.bOriginal and remixed works: create original work, or remix digital resources responsibly and with credit.