Gizmos

Get hands on with math and science with Gizmos.

Unleash the "power of doing".

ExploreLearning Gizmos are interactive online simulations and case studies for math and science that power inquiry and understanding through hands-on learning and experimentation. With more than 450 Gizmos covering STEM topics for grades 3-12, students can dig deeper into subjects and really understand challenging concepts as they form, analyze, and test ideas to find solutions, just like real mathematicians and scientists.

What's so great about Gizmos?

Excite curiosity and invite interaction in STEM.

Gizmos uses an inquiry-based instructional approach that promotes investigation and discovery. Their highly visual, interactive design fosters active learning by doing.

Build deep conceptional understanding.

Studies show that simulations are powerful tools for effective STEM instruction. Through interactive “what-if” experimentation, Gizmos allow students to learn by doing as they explore a concept or phenomena and then apply it to new situations and problems.

Support teachers with resources they can use to create impact.

All Gizmos come with extensive teaching resources that help make classroom implementation easy. They are classroom-ready, standards aligned, and easily adapted for the needs of every learner in whole class, small group, 1:1, or individual instruction.

Gizmos gets more "ah-ha!" moments.

Inquiry-based Exploration

Gizmos uses a proven “structured inquiry” approach. In a typical activity, students perform specific actions and record the results. They then make predictions about new situations and verify their hypotheses using the Gizmo.

Real-world Experiences

Gizmos interactive STEM Cases put students in the role of STEM professional tasked with solving a real-world problem. Students learn foundational knowledge and use virtual labs solve it and save the day!

Visualization and Data

Extensive visualization and data analytics tools help students easily see and experience phenomena and concepts, capture and compare results from experiments, and share their findings with others.

Instant Insights

Reporting tools help assess and manage student progress. Embedded formative assessments evaluate student progress as it happens. And real-time data heatmaps immediately uncover student problem areas.

Classroom-ready Support

Gizmos are standards aligned and lessons easily adapt to whole class, small group, or 1:1 instruction. Plus, our support includes trainers and learning communities. It’s everything educators need to implement, teach, and succeed with Gizmos.

Featured Gizmo

Ocean Tides

Explore ocean tides and understand how the moon and sun affect them in this Gizmo.

View Gizmo

Everybody's Talking About Gizmos

“Gizmos STEM Cases improve students’ content knowledge and critical thinking ability. The kids are putting more thought into things and they’re asking better questions.”

- Gizmos Director of Science, Gwinnett County Public Schools, GA

“Using Gizmos has had a positive impact it had on student learning. Gizmos allows them to dig deeper and manipulate variables to lead them to a higher-level depth of knowledge. There were plenty of students who had a ‘light bulb’ moment using a Gizmo!”

- Gizmos Teacher, Racine Unified School District, WI

“With Gizmos STEM Cases I love how the students can input their data, then go and look at the graph and interpret the data. It’s a great way for them to learn through inquiry and as a hands-on lab.”

- Gizmos Teacher, Divine Savior Holy Angels High School, WI

“Teachers deserve a tool like Gizmos to empower students to conduct their own investigations, learn without reading lots of text but by doing lots of reasoning.”

- Gizmos Teacher, Los Angeles Unified School District, CA

“I really love Gizmos as they help students grasp difficult concepts that can’t always be seen. They make abstract ideas come to life.”

- Gizmos Teacher, Foothills School Division, Alberta, Canada

“I love using Gizmos. Students get the opportunity to play with science that they cannot see. And they love to explore on their own and see the product of their experiments. I have seen a huge difference in students understanding of difficult concepts and their ability to explain science because of Gizmos.”

- Gizmos Teacher, Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District, OH

“I found Gizmos to be incredibly important on our state assessments. If you cannot collect data, look at a chart with data, or make a conclusion based on that data you will not do very well. Last year 80% of my students tested proficient or advanced in science. Gizmos is what pushes us over the top.”

- Gizmos Teacher, Uinta School District, WY

Success Story

Four Districts and Two States: Gizmos Bring Results for High School Science Teacher

“I have used Gizmos in four different districts and two different states from rich to impoverished, urban to rural, large to small. I have yet to have them not improve the scores and overall scientific knowledge of my students.” Read on to discover how veteran teacher A.C. Russell sees classroom results with Gizmos.