INSIDE AN INVESTIGATION
Writing like a scientist starts with thinking like one
BrainPOP Science investigations kick off with a phenomena, then provide structured interactions in which students gather the observations and evidence they’ll eventually use to defend their claim.
Click through to see how students’ Claim-Evidence-Reasoning responses become a space where they can synthesize their knowledge.
Activate prior knowledge
Curiosity is the best hook for real-world science.
Phenomena: Real-world phenomenon sparks a guiding question that grabs students' attention. Think: Why do icebergs float? Why don't we fill party balloons with helium instead of hydrogen?
Vocabulary: Lock in essential terms through imagery and context clues. Instead of relying on memorized definitions, students analyze and think through how language works in science.
Investigation shown: Periodic Table
research
The NGSS you expect. The writing gains you can measure.
BrainPOP Science prepares students for high-stakes assessments—while improving state test scores, closing equity gaps, and strengthening cross-disciplinary literacy.
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From observation to argument
Explore classroom-tested strategies to help your middle schoolers think, write, and act like scientists.
Frequently Asked Questions
BrainPOP Science works alongside whatever science curriculum a school runs—an established core or one teachers have assembled themselves—and fits within existing science instructional time.
Teachers can use complete investigations or engineering projects, or pull individual resources—phenomenon, simulations, data manipulatives, related readings—depending on what a lesson needs. An optional AI grading assistant applies the CER rubric consistently across student responses, and built-in reports track student activity and standards mastery.
For Teachers: Track student performance at the assignment and question level, as well as monitor student progress against specific science standards, practices, and concepts.
For Administrators: Track school-wide engagement and instructional coherence to see which units are being taught and pinpoint areas for targeted support.
Yes, BrainPOP Science holds an Instructure Level 3 ESSA rating, backed by two independent studies.
At a Title I middle school, students who used BrainPOP Science at least six times scored 8+ percentile points above their state-projected score—moving the school from a projected 33% to an actual 51% proficiency. Students who started in the bottom 25% of baseline performance gained nearly 12 percentile points, and active users also saw a significant boost in ELA scores.
A separate study of 7,555 eighth-graders across 32 Florida middle schools found that each BrainPOP Science investigation students completed correlated with a 2 percentile point increase on the state science assessment, with English Language Learners seeing the strongest gains.
BrainPOP Science is licensed at the school or district level, with pricing based on size and needs. Contact our sales team for a quote.
BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. cover science topics as part of a broader curriculum spanning many subjects.
BrainPOP Science is a standalone science program for grades 6-8. Students work through full investigations and engineering projects across Life Science, Physical Science, and Earth and Space Science—with phenomena, simulations, data manipulatives, related readings, and assessments—and every investigation ends in a written scientific argument.
Every investigation starts with a real-world phenomenon and a guiding question students actually wonder about, like "Are viruses living things?"
As students work through readings, simulations, data manipulatives, and primary sources, they make observations along the way. At the end, they write a Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) response: a claim that answers the guiding question, evidence drawn from their saved observations, and reasoning that connects the evidence to scientific principles.
Experience BrainPOP Science by unlocking a sample investigation.
An engineering project gives students a concrete, real-world problem—like a kickball stuck in the gym ceiling—and asks them to design a solution. Students brainstorm, research the science involved, design against set criteria and constraints, build with everyday classroom materials, then test and evaluate their solution.
Yes. Every investigation and engineering project integrates the three NGSS dimensions: Disciplinary Core Ideas, Science and Engineering Practices, and Crosscutting Concepts.
Many NGSS programs offer strong lessons for individual NGSS standards and leave teachers to connect them. In BrainPOP Science, every activity in an investigation builds toward the final written argument, with vocabulary support and auto-graded, formative checkpoints along the way.