In this way, children can both see themselves in Super Grover and learn from his errors. His questions may seem silly to adults, but that’s because Super Grover represents children, whose thinking is uninhibited by rules about how things should function. This lack of inhibition “is true with most of the great scientists that we’ve had over the decades,” Sweetman said. And, like the cow, children quickly learn from Grover’s observations and exaggerated mistakes.

“It’s a great way to teach kids without being pedantic and teachy,” Ferraro said. “It’s allowing the viewer to be more invested in the story and discovery and conclusion because they’ve been kind of correcting Grover as he goes along.”

Teaching STEM and scientific inquiry to children early is important—a 2016 study published in Educational Researcher found that general knowledge gaps in kindergarten and first grade can predict science achievement gaps in third grade, which persist through eighth grade.

Even so, experts haven’t always believed that young children should be learning science.

“In the past, there were some theoretical assumptions that young children couldn’t learn some of these concepts or it wasn’t appropriate,” said Christina Pelatti, an assistant professor at Towson University and co-author of the 2014 study “Mathematics and Science Learning Opportunities in Preschool Classrooms.” “Since that time, research has shown that’s not true, especially in cognitive processes.”

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Pelatti’s study found that on a given day, only 24 and 26 minutes are given to math and science, respectively, in preschool classrooms. While low, that’s more time than was found in past studies; one documented as little as three minutes. And what happens during those minutes isn’t as productive as it could be.

This is primarily because preschool educators are uncomfortable teaching math and science. “There’s a lack of confidence and a lack of knowledge,” Pelatti said. Sweetman recommended ongoing professional development for preschool teachers, as well as funding for hands-on science learning in the early-childhood classroom.

While Sesame Street is no replacement for preschool, it can help shrink the gap by introducing children to STEM concepts they might not otherwise be exposed to. A 2015 study by two economists found that the earliest cohort of Sesame Street viewers who watched the show when it first aired in 1969 were better prepared for school than their peers who did not, and consistently stayed on grade level. This was especially true for children in low-income areas.

Ferraro has been writing Sesame Street scripts for more than 20 years—and every script she creates goes through a rigorous vetting process. She writes an outline first, sometimes shooting questions to researchers like Sweetman along the way. Then she sends it to the head writer, who reviews it with producers and the curriculum research team to make sure the story is on the right track. Ferraro then takes the outline and writes a full draft, which will go out to the team again to gather notes. Lately, Sesame Street has started doing storyboard tests with children—a simply animated video with voiceover and soundtrack—to get their feedback.