Loveable, furry, old Grover has become Sesame Street’s go-to character to teach STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) principles to children. Why? Because he represents the children he is teaching. Rarely does Grover get things right, right? He is constantly finding himself in sticky situations that he doesn’t know how to get himself out of and that's exactly why the producers of the show chose him to be their spokesperson for STEM.
Along with Grover, the Sesame Street audience can find out the answers to some of science’s toughest questions and they can do so without feeling preached to or undervalued for their lack of information. Grover is just like them.
When Grover has to get a cow down a flight of stairs, children can watch him ask the pertinent questions while other characters, more knowledgeable than he, answer them. Grover is the curious scientist STEM activists are asking children to be.
Spoiler Alert: It’s a ramp. A cow needs a ramp to get down a flight of stairs.
Read the full article from The Atlanic here.
