Overview

Mystery Science provides ready-made science mysteries for elementary school students. Each lesson contains a central mystery, discussion questions, supplemental reading, and a hands-on activity. According to the company's website (as of September 2015), Mystery Science is free to use for the 2015-2016 school year.

APPROACH

Mystery Science provides a large number of ready-made science lessons, on subjects from biology to astronomy to geology. Teachers select the lesson they would like to use and simply hit “play.”

Each lesson is organized around a key question (e.g. “What happens when plates move along a fault?”) The lesson starts with a short introductory video, laying out the lesson’s key question. The video is followed by discussion questions for the class. Finally, the lesson ends with a hands-on activity designed to help students find the answer to the key question. Each activity comes with instructions and a list of materials needed.