“The visuals and directions were incredibly clear and engaging for students. The guided discussion allowed kids to come to their own meaningful conclusions. Such a fun lesson to do with the class! ”

“The best part was honestly that the kids GOT it. I will do any activity you tell me to if it will show the concept to the students and they GET it!! The mountains were perfect to illustrate the water flowing, and the tasks and concepts were so spot on with how developmentally appropriate lessons for 2nd graders should be (markers, crumpled paper, partner jobs instead of teacher help). You made it easy for me to understand and implement. I feel like we "team teach" the lesson when my class is solving the mysteries. It does take a little bit of time to digest the lessons (preview, etc.) but that's a suggestion I can take to my district on how to best support teachers as they implement this in their classrooms. Thank you for helping me to help my students understand concepts that I would not really know well enough to design an experiment and explain it myself. The videos, stopping points, directions, and guided questioning allows me, the teacher, to truly "facilitate" learning in my classroom. And having so many connected ideas lets me pick & choose what's best for my group of kiddos right now. How trend-setting and future-focused of you for our 21st century learners! Thanks.”

“The lesson went well. Students were really engaged and intrigued. They also thoroughly enjoyed the experiment. I ended up using 1 gigantic piece of paper and making 1 huge mountain; students helped to color the "peaks." Seeing the blue ink run down the "mountain" was the visual they needed to see where/why water flows downward.”

“This was an amazing lesson! I teach in a self-contained unit and all of my students have autism. Every single one of my students were able to tell me where rivers start and end. They were really excited when we sprayed the water on the marker lines and were able to see how rivers actually flow. I would highly recommend this activity.”

“This lesson was amazing! So much so that my kids couldn't stop talking about it at the dinner table last night - then my daughter (8 years old), on her own, built another mountain and repeated the experiment before bed. When they talk about it and repeat it on their own you know they're learning! Mystery Science is the best science we've ever done (and we've tried a lot!)”

“This was a great way for students to experience where rivers begin and flow to the ocean. I absolutley loved the step -by step video instructions! The video was excellent in showing where rivers begin on the map also. I love your program and how it truly teaches our students science concepts through hands on "mysteries"! They gain a thorough understanding of the concepts at their levels. My students love science now! Thank you!”

“The kids really enjoyed the hands on activity of making it rain on their mountain. We went outside on the picnic tables, and unfortunately, left some marker stains behind. I'm hoping it will eventually clean off, but next year, I'll put plastic down outside. I thought the map of the rivers showing where they end up and then where they begin was an awesome visual! I'm learning new things along with my class!”

“The activity really brought the lesson to life and was easy to do with simple materials I already had on hand. ”

“Was able to teach the lesson with a mix of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders.”

“The students loved seeing how rivers start at mountains and hills through the experiment.”

“Simple, clear information that my kids could really understand (they are mostly ELL) and the hands on activity was great -they loved it!”

“The students were so engaged! I love how they are really thinking through the questions that are posed during the mystery. During their turn and talk times I never heard students off task with their discussions.”

“I love the interesting information/facts. The whole lesson is a perfect combination of video, turn and talk to partner, and hands-on activities. Brilliant! ”

“The paper mountains are perfect, the wrap up video helps better explain it, and the best part is as the paper mountains sit for a minute the color stripes show up down the sides of their paper mountains and they see where their rivers would actually be if this were a real mountain. Very helpful!”

“The videos were engaging for students, and the discussion breaks give students time to process the information and the teacher time to check for understanding. The students loved the experiment as well, and it helped to solidify their thinking about the topic.”

“My students loved building the mountains and watching a "river" form and flow down the sides!”

“the simplicity but extreme effectiveness of the paper mountain as a viusal aid.”

“Students engaged the whole time and did not want the lesson to end. They asked so many questions about the topic and discussed many different ideas with each other! ”

“The kids were so engaged and the whole lesson just flowed so smoothly. I especially appreciate the narrator (Doug) explaining the "how" and the "why". Kids loved it, as did I. Plan to do more, for sure!”

“The kids loved the activity. I appreciated how the directions were given one step at a time. The best line was "Don't worry crumplers you will have a turn."”

“The models were a priceless way for my kids to understand currents. They had a blast and learned so much! We also loved the interactive river map that was in the extras. We were able to trace the river that runs by our school to its source and discover where it ends. It was fascinating!”

“How engaged my students were! They loved to see their theories tested. HIGHLY recommend this activity.”

“Great hands-on learning helped students to really understand the concepts! Supporting activities such as leveled reading passages were great and integrated language arts into our science unit.”

“Wow! I LOVED it! What a very cool program! The students all said the wind moved water. I was thinking how am I going to explain this and it was like ya'll heard them! The first thing it said was "You may think it is the wind." I had the students write reflections afterwards and everyone understood the concept. I am so happy ya'll made this program!! LOVE the find a partner pictures too. It is everything I need and so easy! :) ”

“love the video and the spray bottle with the color running down with water. My high school teacher for our district love the activities we use her son is in my class.”

“The activity was fantastic. It was easy, super fun, and really led the kids to self discovering the mystery answer”

“I teach special education and my students LOVED this first lesson. They were engaged the entire time!”

“Students loved drawing their own conclusions about where rivers begin and end before we did the activity. They were highly engaged right away. ”

“The entire lesson was very engaging. I like that we need inexpensive and basically easy materials for the lessons. The pace is also easy to follow.”

“Students were able to visualize what causes rivers to flow. They also loved using the online maps to find the rivers and streams in our communities, and be able to follow their path to the ocean. Thank you!”

“Students were engaged and making predictions the whole time. They were able to monitor and fix their first thoughts. It was great to see my students wanting to know more!!”

“My students were excited to do the hands-on experiment. The visual is a great support for students with special needs.”

“The conversations the kids had about why the river flows were really eye-opening for me. I think maybe I kind of thought they would know that rivers start up high in the mountains and flow to the oceans but they had NO idea... and I mean NO idea! They suggested that the fish were moving the river by moving their tails back and forth, that the Earth spinning around was moving the rivers, and stuff like that. But by the end of the lesson I think they really understood it. This was my first mystery science lesson with my class. Went great!”

“I love that this has NGSS. I don't have to think very hard nor get a lot of "stuff" for the activity. Thank you Thank you Thank you.”

“I have taught this lesson three times now, to different groups, and all of the kiddos loved the activities! ”

“My fourth graders are buddies with a second grade class. All 60 of us did this activity together. Loads of fun and learning!”

“Very easy to prep. Videos are great, engaging for the students and informative. Everything worked exactly how it should and let the students to a logical conclusion!”

“the model with paper and fist was the BEST science experiment with landforms TO DATE. Excellent!”

“The kids loved the experiment with the crumple and fist.”

“The mountain-making idea was pretty innovative, simple, and realistic-looking. The sprayed water flowed well, and we even ended up with some inadvertent mountain lakes. They are now mounted on heavy stock with written descriptions of what is what (mountain lake, plains lake, raging river, calm river, and rain shadow), and displayed outside our room.”

“Students were very engaged and created a list of hypotheses, incrementally figuring out the answer to the question as new info was added. Fun!”

“Building the mountains really helped the students understand how rivers flow. Great idea!”

“Students making connection to local water sources and sharing their predictions of what would happen to their mountain model. All of the models looked different so we had various effects once the streams started forming. They loved looking at others' work, especially to compare rivers, lakes, and other interesting things that started forming.”

“The kids were super engaged. I was able to integrate several standards - map skills, landforms, etc. I appreciate these high quality, inquiry based lessons!”

“I love the real life examples and application. It was great that students got to connect their learning from a model to the real world! It was easy to do and a great learning experience! ”

“The students loved the hands on demonstration of creating their own landforms. Students like that they could see how the water moved down the mountains and how it would collect in some places but not others. It was a really great, visual lesson.”

“This lesson worked wonderfully. You could see the students face light up when they got the concept that rivers flow because rain runs downhill. I had the students spray their landforms in tubs instead of with table cloths and it worked great.”

“The lesson anticipates and respond to typical misconceptions that students have, such as the wind moving water. Well prepared!”

“The map, geography and science skills that were introduced in this lesson were amazing!!! My kids LOVED this lesson and activity!”

“They really got the concept when we sprayed the water - there were lakes and rivers formed and they understood it was from a high place! The kids loved being the rain too!”

“Loved it. Kids really got it. Loved how student misconceptions were addressed in the video, and then in the end it wrapped it all together. Wonderful job Mystery Science. ”

“I loved everything. The were engaged the whole time and it really made them think about the world around them and question things. I don't think any of them had ever even thought about why a river is always moving. It helped them see that there are mysteries all around us and that we can solve those mysteries through science. ”

“The students were highly engaged!!! The material was very interesting and easy to prepare for and the lesson was just plain FUN!!!”

“The kids got it--in fact the new principal walked in to introduce himself and he asked the kids to explain what we were doing. He was impressed when they used words like rivers forming in mountains, and gravity!”

“It was very engaging and provided an excellent visual representation of the watershed that we had been discussing.”

“They LOVED spraying the mountains. Best of all, most of them really made a connection with the formation of a river because they could see the trail(s) of water traveling down the side of the "mountain".”

“This was their 1st attempt at making a model. I was exciting to see the "lightbulbs" go on as they started spraying the water onto the their paper mountains.”

“This was a phenomenal lesson. I actually had an impromptu observation during this lesson and my principal was really impressed with the activity.”

“Very cool (and colorful) to see how rivers are formed and then locate the river nearest us to find out the same info. Thanks for a great lesson!”

“I have used this twice now and the students are very interested and loved the activity. The way the content is presented in these lessons helps students really get the point.”

“The investigation that students completed had materials that were easy to prepare for. My students were engaged with the video and the investigation. They were all very surprised because they were sure that wind was what made water in a river or stream move. I thought it was a great activity for students.”

“My students loved making mountains! The directions are so easy to follow and they haven't stopped talking about it since! Thank you for this great resource! We can't wait for the next Mystery!”

“Creating the model and watching as the water moved - helped solidify student understanding of the way water flows. I liked the video showing the map with rivers and arrows at the beginning, and then after the activity with the mountain. It really drove home the idea that rivers start at mountains and flow out to the ocean. ”

“The kids were really engaged by the video, and the pauses that allowed for discussion made it a thinking time, not just a watching time.”

“One of the best lessons I have ever taught! The kids totally "got" it!”

“This was a very simple, but very informative, lesson on showing how rivers begin in the mountains or hilly places. The materials for the experiment are easily on hand at home which is always a plus for homeschooling mamas. My kids were able to visualize how and why rivers begin in the mountains from rainwater, then flow to the oceans. Simple and smart. ”