Brains On! en Español
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this podcast.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Brains On! en Español is a science-based podcast encouraging kids' curiosity and intended to bridge the gap in STEM education for Hispanic and Latino children. It's the Spanish-language counterpart to Brains On!. Themes addressed are relevant and interesting, including smelly bodies, dreams, insect vision, and feelings. Host Molly Bloom is a strong leader, giving kid guest hosts lots of opportunities to shine as budding scientists. The fast pace of information delivery and use of technical scientific terms can be a challenge for younger listeners. The podcast is presented in Spanish, but it's explained at the beginning of each episode that the experts featured are dubbed by actors. While it's a reliable Spanish-language resource, it's not necessarily reflective of Latino culture. It also should be noted that there are only six Spanish-language episodes, while its English-language counterpart has hundreds and continues to produce episodes weekly. Even so, this is a great starter podcast to invite Spanish-speaking children to fall in love with science or even to teach Spanish during science lessons.
What’s It About?
BRAINS ON! EN ESPAÑOL is a Spanish-language STEM podcast for curious kids. Kids and adults can relate to themes in the episodes, which include explanations for bodily smells, dreams, and feelings. Host Molly Bloom invites kids who've sent in questions to co-host along with her so that they can help present the answers to their questions. Scientists and experts share their scientific process for researching and verifying information and offer real-life examples to help solidify understanding for kid listeners. The fast pace of information delivery and use of technical scientific terms can be a challenge for younger listeners, but humor and the many examples given may help clarify the lessons.
Is It Any Good?
This Spanish-language STEM podcast offers meaty scientific material on several topics. Brains On! en Español's variety-show approach is likely to appeal to kids and adults, since it makes learning far more entertaining than your average science lesson. Molly Bloom brings her themes to life in a way that helps kids understand complicated scientific topics and see themselves as curious scientists. While each episode is in Spanish, the opportunity to represent Latino scientists is missed, as scientists and experts included in each episode are not native speakers, but are Spanish-dubbed.
The podcast's audio quality and use of sounds make it humorous and entertaining. Kids will feel a connection to the show as they enjoy the interactive nature and hear questions from their peers answered in each episode.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Brains On! en Español demonstrates how curiosity is important to scientific inquiry. Why is curiosity an important character strength? What do you want to know more about, and where can you find reliable answers to your questions?
The podcast helps us understand how feelings are part of our scientific makeup as humans. How do feelings help us? What can you do when you are feeling scared, worried, or anxious? Does learning that feelings are part of science make them less intimidating?
Can you think of a scientific experiment that you can try out with your favorite adult? How would you plan it, and what materials might we need?
Podcast Details
- Release date: January 18, 2021
- Genre: Science & STEM
- Average Run Time: 31 minutes
- Website: https://www.brainson.org/page/es
- Host: Molly Bloom
- Publisher: American Public Media
- Pricing structure: Free
- Topics: STEM, Bugs, Middle School, Science and Nature
- Character Strengths: Curiosity
- Last updated: October 13, 2022
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