American Public Television Inks Deal For ‘Bug Bites’

American Public Television, Alegra Entertainment and Putnam Stern Enterprises have signed a distribution deal for children’s animated science show Bug Bites for the U.S. market. The 26 half-hour episodes will be released in January 2016.

Bug Bites, hosted by entomologist Adam Lazarus and animated character Gilbert the Roach, mixes animation, live actors, pop culture and a take on entomology that speaks to the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) crisis in American education.  

“The National Science Foundation ranks U.S. students at 23rd in the world in science and 31st in math,” said Lazarus. “We created Bug Bites to make a difference in the way kids see these dynamic subjects — the subjects that lead to careers that can really change the world.”  

Bug Bites also aims to teach about teamwork, acceptance, healthy eating, conservation and friendship. 

Working with education experts, Bug Bites is focused on improving how kids learn from shows they watch. Created by Lazarus and Topher Putnam, the show uses “Layered Learning,” a process for stacking information streams of varied sophistication into every show. The result, its creators say, is a program that can simultaneously engage a 4-year-ld, a 9-year-old and their caretaker, all while allowing the audience to grow with Bug Bites — episodes are designed to yield new knowledge with every viewing.

The STEM-focused approach is fully supported by Bug Bites’ cross-disciplinary content, which is built around the 5E Instructional Model and the Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures. It’s compatible with both Common Core and the newer Next Generation Science Standards (and Bug Bites supports teachers with downloadable documentation).  

“The confusion over how to catch our kids up on STEM is at a crisis level right now,” said Jeff Stern, CEO of Alegra Entertainment and Putnam Stern Animation. “Bug Bites speaks to that issue and hopes to offer a solution in closing the gap in our children’s learning.”