Open-and-go lessons that inspire kids to love science.

Science curriculum for K—5th grades.

90 sec
  • Hands-on — lead students in the doing of science and engineering.
  • Standards-aligned science lessons — Cover core standards in 1-2 hours of science per week.
  • Less prep, more learning — prep in minutes not hours. Captivate your students with short videos and discussion questions.

Sign up now to try Mystery Science for free.

Sign up

Learn more

Open-and-go lessons that inspire kids to love science.

Sign up now for tons of free lessons like this one!

Back

Mini-lessons

Video Bonus Vote
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Slide Image
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Slide Image
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
5
Watch this penny pyramid being built. It’s made of more than a million coins! (It’s worth over $10,000!) What other shapes can you build with coins?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
5
Look at these tower shapes! Notice how careful these builders are being. Their towers fell down thousands of times before they got this good! Challenge: Try to make coin stacking into a game!
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
4
It takes steady hands to balance dominoes. You might accidentally knock them all down—or if you have a pet, they might do it instead! How could you test if your pet is careful around dominoes?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
4
If you have a pet, try out their skills at this game! Or try it yourself! You don’t need to have dominoes—you can balance any small objects to walk in between!
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
3
Don’t touch the lasers! Have you ever seen a laser maze in a movie? You don’t need lasers to sneak like a spy. How could you create your own “laser maze” with objects you have at home?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
3
These people are zigzagging through laser mazes made of string. You don’t even need tape! Just wrap string around doorknobs, chair legs, and tables, and let the challenge begin!
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Slide Image
2
Imagine that you had a bunch of cones or poles like these and lots of space to move around. What games could you play? Could you make up your own game? Use your imagination.
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
2
Athletes zigzag around poles and cones to win competitions! Set up bottles or stuffed animals in rows to try it out! Can you quickly walk around them? The more you practice, the faster you’ll be!
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Slide Image
1
These look like ordinary cups. But could they also be instruments? How many sounds can you make with a plastic cup? If you have one nearby, give it a try!
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
1
Here’s one way to do it! When you use your imagination, ordinary objects can turn into extraordinary music. Kids and even college students make these beats—Harvard even has a cup music club!
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?
Slide Image
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Full Screen
Controls Icon Exit Full Screen
Video trouble?

Voting for this episode is now closed. Would you like to vote on the most recent poll?

We pulled three questions from our jar. Which question do you want to explore?

  • Why do pandas only eat bamboo?

    -Korban, 3rd Grade

  • What is a drought?

    -Aaliyah, 2nd Grade

  • How do windmills work?

    -Junichiro, Kindergarten

How are video games made?

Watch the video to discover the answer and don't forget to vote for next week's question. There are mysteries all around us. Have fun and stay curious!