Use the Free Global Problem Solvers Video Series with Kids at Home

Watch Global Problem Solvers: The Series with students and talk about the value of STEM problem solving, the engineering design process, teamwork, and social entrepreneurship.

Global Problem Solvers: The Series is an animated video series from Cisco's Corporate Social Responsibility team. Free and available for online viewing in a browser, GPS: The Series offers two seasons (14 mini-episodes) of exciting STEM-powered content for students.

Featuring a team of teens, each with special skills, GPS: The Series emphasizes the value of teamwork, the application of STEM for problem solving, and the importance of social entrepreneurship to create sustainable solutions within communities.

GPS: The Series is an excellent choice for educators looking for engaging content for remote learning. Classes can watch episodes via shared streaming (e.g., a teacher plays a video during the online class), or students can watch episodes independently and then complete assignments to turn in or gather for online discussions.

Seasons 1 and 2 of Global Problem Solvers: The Series are available in full-season format (25 minutes per season) or as individual mini-episodes (about 4 minutes each). Depending on the structure and timing of your classroom, you can use either format. Below, you will find both full-season videos and all individual episodes to make it easy to add videos to Google Classroom.

Note: Videos are also available on the Global Problem Solvers: The Series YouTube channel. (At YouTube, all videos are available in English, Spanish, French, and Hindi.)

Get Started with GPS: The Series

To use Global Problem Solvers: The Series with students remotely, try this simple sequence to watch, discuss, and reflect:

1. Watch the first season. (It's about 25 minutes.)
2. Have students name the characters that form the GPS team and identify one strength each character has. Why does Putri, the leader, bring these teens together?
3. Have students describe the problem the team is solving in Season 1.
4. Have students summarize the solution the team comes up with. What are the STEM elements of the solution?
5. Have students write about teamwork and why they think teamwork is or isn't important in solving problems. Do they like working as part of a team? Why or why not?

You can also use the videos as a starting point for discussions about the Engineering Design Process, social entrepreneurship, and real-world community (and global) problems and projects.

Full Season Videos

Individual Episodes

Season 1:

Here are all seven episodes of the first season of Global Problem Solvers: The Series, individually assignable in Google Classroom:

Season 2:

Here are all seven episodes of the second season of Global Problem Solvers: The Series, individually assignable in Google Classroom:

Why Watch GPS: The Series?

If you haven't explored GPS: The Series before, we encourage you to give it a try. We think you will find it a really compelling resource for STEM education. The series is fun, entertaining, empowering for students, and packed with great STEM content.

The series:

• presents a diverse group of teens as heroes, and these teens have awesome STEM skills
• focuses on real-world problems, but each season has a positive ending that reinforces the power of STEM and teamwork
• shows that approaching problem-solving with a series of repeatable steps can make any problem solvable
• employs a step-wise approach that pairs with the steps of the Engineering Design Process
• highlights critical 21st-century skills like teamwork, critical thinking, communication, creativity, and innovation in conjunction with STEM and social entrepreneurship

GPS: The Series at Science Buddies

For more insight into the value of GPS: The Series for your student, see these summary posts:

• 5 Reasons Global Problem Solvers: The Series Will Inspire STEM Interest in Your Students
• Put Global Problem Solvers: The Series in Action with Free Lesson Plans

These free NGSS-aligned Science Buddies Lessons have been developed specifically for use with GPS: The Series:

• Build a Machine to Lift Water
• Solar-Powered Classroom
• Use Technology to Solve a Local Problem

Teacher resources on the GPS: The Series site include a downloadable teacher's guide, storyboards for each season, and worksheets for each episode. The Teacher's Guide provides teachers with a full overview of the series, core concepts, and objectives. The worksheets include prompts for discussion and reflection.

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• Use the Free Global Problem Solvers Video Series with Kids at Home