Summit County Schools
Summit County, Colorado
With a flick of the switch, Ms. Leigh Guevara plunges her first-grade classroom into darkness. The space fills with hushed giggles as students, brimming with anticipation, clutch flashlights and eagerly await her next direction. Upon her instruction, the flashlights flicker on, like fireflies at dusk, and students shine their beams toward a paper gnome and watch its shadow begin to move.
This moment isn’t in effort to save the power grid. It’s a Mystery Science lesson, “Could a Statue’s Shadow Move?”, which allows students to investigate how altering the position of a light makes shadows shift. Students then relate these observations to shadows changing throughout the day and the Sun’s position moving across the sky. It’s one of many Mystery Science lessons Ms. Leigh (as she’s known to students) incorporates into her teaching, allowing students to actively learn and enabling concepts to stick.
Building Wonder, Confidence, and Connection
Ms. Leigh teaches at Breckenridge Elementary School in Summit County, Colorado, and has held various roles and taught multiple grade levels over the span of eleven years. But “Science is my jam,” she said. “I just love making connections with the kids, seeing the awe in their faces, and helping them explore.”
“Keep kids wondering” is part of Ms. Leigh’s teaching philosophy. “Our job is to get kids excited, keep them asking questions, and let them know what’s possible. And we want them to feel good about themselves!” she said.
She says the statues lesson is a perfect example of developing critical thinking skills through that lens of wonder. “At first, they can’t figure out how to move those flashlights. They had to ponder, and talk with their partner, and not give up but keep trying until they figured out which way it should go,” she said.
Movement + Engagement
Ms. Leigh feels strongly that “doing science” is essential for understanding, and Mystery Science meshes well with that ethos.
Plus, she says, students are happier. “They have fun with each other. And they teach each other! Watching them do that is really exciting.”
Ms. Leigh has taught nearly all the Mystery Science lessons and eagerly shares highlights. In Moth Hide-and-Seek, students learn about camouflage, then design and create their own insects to hide around the room for others to find. Another lesson, about animal trait inheritance, pairs students to explore why offspring look similar to (but not exactly) like their parents. Students flipped coins to determine outcomes such as head shape or fur color and learn how no two “babies” turn out exactly the same.
What do all these lessons have in common? Students learn by doing, building understanding though hands-on exploration. Curiosity becomes concrete thinking and lasting learning. “They can see cause-and-effect, start thinking critically, and make connections to the outside world,” said Ms. Leigh.
Engaging Lessons, Real Standards, One Trusted Resource
For Ms. Leigh and her fellow first grade teachers, Mystery Science is a great fit. “It’s something we can count on. We know it’s going to hit standards. It’s engaging for the kids, and the assessments are something all our kids can access. In the past I’ve spent hours trying to find the right content, but Mystery has everything in one place.”
Just like those first flashlight beams that brought a shadow to life, Mystery Science helps Ms. Leigh’s students discover that the best learning happens when they’re the ones shining the light.
