Today's Update Includes:
- Countdown to Mystery Class: Three Months to Go!
- Preparing Students for Mystery Class: Observe, Ask Questions, EXPLORE
- Coming in November: Practice Packet for Teachers
- What is Mystery Class?
- About "Countdown to Mystery Class"
This fall, invite students to think about the relationship between sunlight and seasonal change. Prior to the official start of Mystery Class in February, build students' interest and background knowledge through real-world observations, intriguing questions, and exploratory, inquiry-based investigations.
1.
Observe the View from Space
Each day the Earth makes a complete counterclockwise rotation in a 24-hour period. Each year, the Earth revolves around the sun in a 12-month cycle.
Introduce your students to the view of Earth from space by visiting the image galleries at the links below. As students examine the images, use guiding questions to assess their understanding about how portions of the Earth move in and out of the sun's light each day, and how the Earth moves in a nearly circular orbit around the sun each year.
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When students are ready to search for answers, encourage them to locate resources that may help them find information. Have them design and assemble a classroom learning center with the gallery images, guiding questions, and available reference materials, such as library books, science magazines, dictionaries, globes, and atlases. Ask them to think about ways to collect, save, and share any information they gather as they investigate the science of sunlight and seasons.
2. Ask Questions that Lead to Inquiry
Start an ever-growing chart of questions that students ask as they observe the sun's position in the sky, watch seasonal changes taking place, and study satellite images of the Earth in space. Use their questions to build interest and lead the way to inquiry-based explorations.
3. EXPLORE Vocabulary to Build Background Knowledge
Build background knowledge and sleuthing skills with a vocabulary challenge.
Use the Mystery Class Glossary to create a list of words that may be unfamiliar to your students. In small groups, have them track down definitions and relevant information for each word you provide. Next, have them use the information they find to create word riddles on index cards. |
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For example: I am an imaginary straight line running through the center of the Earth from the North Pole to the South Pole. What am I? (Answer: axis). Each week, assess their growing knowledge by reading aloud several riddle cards for the class to solve. |
In next month's Countdown message, we will post a practice packet for teachers that includes an abbreviated set of data from last year's Mystery Classes.
Working with the start-to-finish data and clues for three sites will help you understand how students use sunrise/sunset times to narrow their search for specific locations. We will also provide samples of students' graphs, data sheets, and longitude worksheets, as well as weekly journal pages with guiding questions.
Mystery Class is a global game of hide-and-seek where students follow the sun to locate ten top-secret sites "hidden" around the world. Using sunrise and sunset times, students try to find out where in the world each mystery class is located. As they search for the sites students discover the reasons for seasons.
Explore the: Mystery Class Home Page
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Five, four, three, two, one . . . the Countdown to Mystery Class has begun! As you count down the months to Mystery Class, keep these preparation goals in mind: build students' interest with real-world observations; ask and generate intriguing questions to spark curiosity; assess students' understanding of key words and concepts; invite them to explore a variety of resources to track down information and build their sleuthing skills.
- For additional details, visit all the Countdown Updates on the
Mystery Class "News" page.
This Fall, Watch for Additional Monthly "Countdown" to Mystery Class Updates.
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