Why We Love Mystery Science

Did you know the Ancient Greeks referred to the planets as wandering stars? Recently during science time, we watched a short video in which we learned this and some other fascinating facts about the planets including: landers that have been sent to Venus to take photos melt within a couple of hours, Mercury has craters and looks a lot like the moon, Uranus spins on its side, and it takes almost 10 years to get to beautifully blue Neptune! Then we sketched and labeled a picture of each planet and headed out into the backyard. At one end of our yard we placed the sun, and then at specific proportional distances from there placed each of the other planets. My youngest exclaimed, "If the planets were waiting in a line to do something, Neptune would be the boredest!" For part of the activity, I called out a planet and they would run to it as quickly as they could. They weren't reciting "My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Noodles" to figure out which way to the planet in question; they started to internalize where the planets were with this game. After a bit, they took turns calling them out for each other. When it was W's turn to call, he would sometimes give M hints by referring to how "bored" was the planet in question. The video and the active components were both so fun and effective, and left all of us thinking of the worlds of the planets in new ways. 

The above is just one example of an awesome science session that we regularly have, thanks to the online "open-and-go" lessons from Mystery Science. The company was started by a science teacher in California-- the kids call him "Mystery Doug." They love how he always reminds kids, in his upbeat, friendly tone, to "Stay curious." 

In the classroom, before I found Mystery Science, I used to feel that science was a lot of work to plan for-- to find several age-appropriate, engaging activities to teach a topic and then to gather the resources and plan the time for it-- especially while trying to teach every other subject as well. On the flip side, I think homeschool science, specifically, can run the risk of being helter-skelter, driven solely by fun project ideas-- a baking soda volcano here, a nature sketch there. For our homeschool, I feel Mystery Science solves both these potential issues. We do our share of museum outings and seasonal adventures-- like a couple of recent treks to a vernal pool near us-- and we do just-for-fun projects when a new Kiwi crate arrives or when other inspiration strikes. But Mystery Science lessons are the backbone of our science work, providing cohesive units of study without a lot of extra work for me. I've now taught with Mystery Science at the first-grade, kindergarten, fourth-, and fifth-grade levels, so I feel qualified to say that it's great. Here's why we think so. 

This session was so inspiring, she had to go change into her astronaut costume in the middle of it.

Reasons we Love Mystery Science 

Lessons begin with an engaging story. My son told me recently that the story Doug tells at the beginning always gets him hooked and is his favorite thing about Mystery Science. Here's an example: recently, at the start of a lesson to learn and graph the amounts of fresh water vs. saltwater on earth, we heard the true, mesmerizing story of Jose Alvarenga, who was lost at sea for over a year but survived by eating raw animals he caught with his bare hands and collecting rainwater to drink-- because, as the lesson ensures kids understand, you can't drink saltwater. That's the hook for a lesson that got us thinking of all the ways we use water and what it would be like if we had to worry about how to get it. 

It is interactive. While lessons are online and video-based, they are hardly passive sessions. Amid the introductory information, there are regular "stop and talk" moments for students to share their hypotheses. Then there's a hands-on activity, with discussion and wrap up afterward.  

It regularly takes kids through the scientific process. They have to make predictions, choose variables to test, engineer products with specific constraints, work with a partner often, gather data, and make conclusions. 

Trying to figure out how to get the sun to shine on a town shaded by a mountain (lesson fueled by a story of a real town in Norway)

It is aligned with the standards. Mystery Science lessons are based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and their disciplinary core ideas. The way the activities are organized incorporates specific engineering practices. I like knowing that we aren't studying life cycles for the fifth year in a row, and also that the complexity of the ideas covered is age-appropriate. 

It is affordable. We paid less than $70 as a homeschool family for the entire school year (regardless of how many grades worth of material we utilized).

It requires minimal materials. The materials for each lesson I find ingeniously simple; from paper and regular office/school supplies and containers from the recycling bin we have made ramps for marbles, a "universe in a box" showing constellations to be seen in different months of the year, a model of the water cycle, and so much more. I rarely have to buy materials for science. 

We could "see" sound when tuba music came out the speakers.

It is focused on key points. One downfall of elementary science instruction is the temptation to do it all-- gathering every book and resource that is in any way related to the water cycle, for example. Better teaching is more focused, and Mystery Science keeps us focused. Each lesson has a clear focus and it is around this that kids are spurred to discuss, think, model. The objectives of the lesson are always made quite clear. (There is a selection of extras included at the end of each lesson as well for further exploration-- links to other great web sites, short videos, articles, and activities. We delve into more of these some times than others, depending on interest.)  

It provides beautifully simple, creative ways to teach concepts. Directions are clear and concise, given orally and visually, step by step. W was really affected after counting all the color-coded squares on a grid of the earth and graphing (on our wall with post-it notes) to represent how much saltwater there is on earth and how very little fresh water there is in comparison. Similarly, last year he understood the process of weathering and why rocks at the bottom of a mountain might be rounded while those are the top more jagged by shaking a container of sugar cubes and seeing how the shapes of them changed gradually after every few shakes. 

Using warm or cold water above and below, they had to figure out how to make it rain inside the upended plastic cup-- or recreate what happens in the water cycle.

It is age-appropriate. Science is my kindergartner's favorite subject. The kindergarten lessons are perfect for five- and 6-year-olds: they are brief to suit a short attention span, they engage with true stories, appropriate explanations, and probing questions for a kindergartner. There is always movement built in; when we were studying animal defenses, M had to get up and act out what each of several different animals did to defend themselves after watching footage of animals in action. She loves doing real experiments using her own handiwork, making hypotheses, and doing multiple trials. The fifth grade lessons are just as engaging and accessible, but expect a little more of students, from their reasoning to math calculations to having to write down more of their thoughts and data rather than just discussing it. (The lessons are easily adaptable for multiple ages as well. My daughter often tags along with her brother's science lessons and can participate in the activities, if not all of the written work.)  

Kindergarten engineering (how to keep boulders from hitting houses on a hillside)

It includes assessments. There are paper and pencil, printable one-page assessments after each "mystery." For younger grades, the assessment often involves a drawing, while for older students it is usually a few short-answer questions. It directly covers what we learned in the activity and provides documentation for their portfolio.

It is homeschool-friendly. Unlike so many programs and resources that are made specifically for schools or specifically for homeschoolers, Mystery Science is designed to work beautifully in both home and classroom. Some resources out there are so expensive they aren't an option for homeschoolers, but Mystery Science offers a reduced homeschool price. I can enter any number of students, right down to one, to calculate the amount of materials needed. The teacher notes for each session explain anything specific to homeschoolers, but there are never any big changes. Oral directions within the video always give directions for working with groups in a classroom and for working on your own or with a partner at home. (So much in our culture is built on the assumption that school is every child's world, so it's nice to feel noticed and included as a homeschooler in these small ways!)  

Prehistoric food web

It includes a super-fun bonus component: "mini lessons." These are approximately five-minute-long segments on a whole variety of topics. They are just for fun, when you have an extra few minutes here or there, and aren't tied to a particular grade or unit of study. Kids from all over the world can submit questions through the "Ask Doug" feature on the Mystery Science web site (my kids have each submitted a few). Some of these questions get chosen to be answered in the mini lessons. When you have a membership to Mystery Science, the mini lessons are always available. Some mini lessons include an optional small project with very basic materials, but most are just a short video with a few stop and talk moments for a little extra fun and learning. A few we've enjoyed this year: Do masks really stop the coronavirus?, How are video games made?, and Could people ever walk on walls?  

It frees me up to focus my energies and preparation time on other things. I can imagine being a parent or teacher who gets excited to plan the topics of study we do in science and to research great activities to teach those concepts (and I know some of those people), but I'm not one. I do that in other areas, though. So I like having somebody else's great legwork to keep us going in science.  

Force and motion: knock over the old building without wrecking the nearby houses

It encourages kids to question and wonder. I love that these science lessons don't just provide activities to teach science concepts. They espouse values, sometimes explicitly: how important and exciting science is, the value of asking questions, of failing and persevering, the need for collaboration and problem solving. 

Our worm terrarium last fall