5 Reasons Why Mystery Science's Curriculum Model Should be the Future of Education

 

5 Reasons Why Mystery Science Should be the Platform for the Future of Education Curriculum

Well, we can all safely say that this year was rough.  However, like every challenge we learn something new about ourselves as we plan and innovate for the future.  We spend a lot of money on curriculum that promises equity, standards, exciting lessons.  We open that teacher edition and if you are not prepared for the influx of information right down to what you are supposed to say and when you are supposed to say it.  It can be overwhelming, daunting, and down right exhausting. Two years ago when I was asked to teach 4th grade science,  I scoured our outdated curriculum from 2004, only to find that combing through the curriculum that I was given was another full time job.  I searched for new solutions and  I stumbled on to this great education website called Mystery Science.  For us old folks, this is different from Mystery Science Theater, which today I learned is apparently still creating content. 

If you are unfamiliar with this program, let me give you a little rundown.

The video starts and the phone rings....It's Mystery Doug from Mystery Science. He has a question that he needs to answer. ..(it's a mystery...get it?). So, he continues to break down how to get the information to answer his questions.  He thinks of an idea to get him started and we explore that idea with him.  Usually, each step has a video, "think-pair-share" time and a quick activity.  This repeats until you find the answer to the questions Doug poses at the beginning of the lesson or in other words, solve the "Science Mystery" .

There are five reasons why we need more curriculum like Mystery Science. 

1. Minimal Prep Time

First and foremost, the lessons for each topic are clearly mapped out with objectives, core standards, informational videos, and think-pair-share activities for students to go deeper into the lesson. 

2.  Relevant Video Content

The video content is interesting and keeps students attention.  Let's face it, we live in a time of Youtube videos.  These videos are not going away anytime soon and as teachers we are competing with this type of entertainment.  We MUST use educational videos in the classroom to keep student interest.  With this curriculum being web-based, it can be updated easily.  No need for text books with outdated information.

3.  Equity/Differentiation

I was amazed at the ability for Mystery Doug to grab the attention of my high achievers and my  SSN students.  This platform made differentiation and equity easily attainable without much thought from the teacher.  This is a much deserved break for teachers and takes a huge responsibility off of our shoulders, making teachers less stressed out.  I don't know how you are around kids when you are stressed, but kids today deserve less stressed out teachers.  

4. Engaging and Hands On Activities

Each lesson builds upon an activity.  You may be building tracks for a roller coaster experiment  which will eventually become a Rube Goldberg machine or plotting out areas on a map and eventually discovering the Ring of Fire.  The engagement of each lesson kept us all busy through out the period.  Often times, we forgot about the time and ended up going a bit over and Science Class flew by each day.

5. Students Looked Forward to Science Class

My students always looked forward to science class.  Almost, every time that I told my students they had science that day, I was met with a lot of "yay"s.  Which to hear something other than, "Do we have to do this?" is like a pay raise for a teacher.  No one wants to slave over a lesson, when you hear that phrase.  To know the students were excited for the lesson made my job more enjoyable.

I would encourage curriculum companies to take a look at Mystery science.  It takes the pain out of planning and delivers captivating content. As an elementary school teacher with 5/6 topics to teach a day, outdated curriculum and not enough hours to plan well,  this was a lifesaver website for me.  I have tried to use this model to teach other topics, however, it is just so much easier and better when you have a company like this that clearly thinks everything out.

If you are an elementary science teacher, I encourage you to check this program out.  It will change the way you plan and give you some of your life back.