Mystery Science 4th Grade
At Mystery Science, our mission is to help children stay curious. Young children love to ask questions. They’re naturally curious about the world: “Why does it get cold in the winter?” “Why do we need to cook our food?” “Why are flowers so colorful?” The sad fact is, by the time most children reach middle or high school, they've lost this curiosity. Every scientific conclusion began as a mystery. Someone wondered something about the world, and they set out to investigate it. At Mystery Science, we believe that if you take a child’s questions seriously and help them to investigate, their natural curiosity will develop into a scientific perspective on the world. This ability to think scientifically is fundamental to any career or subject a child chooses to pursue as an adult. It's the ability to look at a question or problem, systematically investigate and collect evidence, and come to an independent conclusion. This is why our mission is to help children stay curious. We believe teachers and parents deserve better resources to help children investigate the mysteries of this endlessly fascinating world!
The Birth of Rocks: This unit takes the perspective that every rock has a story. Students will develop an appreciation for the processes that shape the Earth’s surface. After considering where volcanoes form and how they erupt, they turn to investigations of rocks breaking apart and creating potential hazards. Through hands-on investigation, students explore the world of rocks and design ways of protecting humans from their dangers.
Energizing Everything: This introductory energy unit will encourage students to think about the energy that things need to move. Students will explore how energy makes things go, from powering vehicles to moving one’s body. Students will experiment with rubber band racers to discover the relationship between how much energy is stored in a material and how much is released. They will investigate the role that hills play in making roller coasters move and the energy transfer that happens when two objects collide. Students will realize that thinking about the world in terms of energy helps them make sense of how and why things speed up and slow down. Hands-on activities focus on engineering, testing hypotheses and using results to develop their ideas.
Human Machine: This introductory human body unit takes the perspective that we can think about our bodies as being like a machine. We have parts for moving around, sensors, and a built-in computer. Students explore their senses and consider how the information we process helps us understand and react to our environment.
Waves of Sound: This unit helps students develop the idea that sound is an actual thing, a wave of vibrations traveling through the air. Equipped with this understanding, students can begin to make sense of how sound and music work.
