About Odd Squad

If there’s a fire, call the fire department. A robbery? Call the police. But if you find that your dog has been doubled, or that your spouse has shrunk, or that you are somehow caught in a weird time loop — or that you are somehow caught in a weird time loop — that’s when you call Odd Squad. It’s a high-tech agency run by kids equipped with the world’s most advanced and unpredictable gadgetry.

Each episode of Odd Squad includes two 11-minute cases in which the agents investigate weird and unusual phenomena around them and use math to put things right. From recapturing a gallon-sized blob that has separated into smaller pieces, to dealing with a slew of unicorns, dinosaurs and wizards that have escaped from books, there is no occurrence that is too strange for the Odd Squad as they face off against various villains that wreak havoc around town.

Odd Squad emphasizes problem solving, teamwork and perseverance in every strange and hilarious new assignment the agents tackle. Agents use effective mathematical practices and critical mathematics concepts and skills to ultimately solve each case. In other words: Odd is the problem, math is the solution.

Learn more about the learning goals:

Problem solving: As they encounter and investigate each new case, Odd Squad agents model mathematical practices, including reasoning as they think aloud and ask questions to critique reasoning and clarify.

Teamwork: Odd Squad agents work as a team using mathematics to solve each case. This kind of project-based problem-solving follows the comprehensive and integrated approach to mathematics learning that young viewers are practicing in the classroom and experiencing in their everyday lives. In general, Odd Squad is a place where teamwork is expected and all kids are important contributors.

Perseverance: During each of Olive and Otto’s cases there is frequently an “all is lost” moment in which the trail runs cold or the reasoning turns out to be faulty. Instead of giving up, our heroes re-double their efforts, re-examine the evidence and inevitably come up with the solution that solves the case. Perseverance is valued here!

Humor: Odd Squad agents enjoy themselves. While fulfilling their roles as persistent problem solvers and collaborators, they’re also having fun. Like all kids, the agents learn through play, allowing them to work on their ever growing sense of self competence.

Mathematical understandings and skills: The specific mathematical understandings and skills covered in Odd Squad fall into the following categories:

• Numbers and number operations – Counting, number relations and operations
• Geometry and spatial sense – Two and three dimensional shapes and their attributes, spatial and mapping skills
• Measurement – Length, capacity, weigh, time, money and temperature
• Data – Collecting, organizing, presenting and analyzing data
• Algebraic thinking – patterns, working with expressions and equations, and deductive reasoning