Mystery Science 5th 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!
Spaceship Earth: This astronomy unit helps students develop a new perspective on the world they’re standing on. They will be given evidence that the Earth beneath our feet is actually moving through space, both spinning on its axis, and traveling in a great orbit around the Sun. They will see how these movements account for the patterns we see in our sky (the paths of our Sun across the sky, the changing seasons, and the changing constellations). Accompanying us on this journey are the Moon and planets, which the students will observe have their own patterns of movement in the sky. Throughout this investigation students will engage in actual and simulated observations of the sky, and they will engage in the process of inquiry: beginning with observations, debating a range of possible causes, and reasoning to possible conclusions.
Web of Life: This unit on ecology helps students develop the idea that plants, animals, and fungi form a system of interdependent parts, with each part dependent on the other parts for its material nourishment. By the end of the unit, teachers will be able to guide their students to the conclusion that organic matter is cycling through the living world.
Chemical Magic: This unit helps students develop the concepts of “substances” and “chemical reactions.” Students see that chemical reactions enable us to make new materials by transforming the ones we have. The results of these reactions are interesting and sometimes profoundly useful.
Watery Planet: This unit helps students develop the idea that water is a profoundly important natural resource, but one which requires surprising ingenuity to find and maintain.
