WASHINGTON, DC — It's a typical situation. A mother has to run an errand and leaves a note for her kids telling them to help themselves to lunch. There are eggs in the refrigerator, it says; but, some are hard-boiled and others are raw...and they look the same. How can the kids tell which is which without cracking them open? The students in the fifth grade science class at Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. have to think scientifically to solve the mystery. Samadhi says she had to try more than one idea to differentiate between the eggs. “It was kind of difficult, but it was fun too,” she explains. “You get to do things yourself. You need to try new things, you don’t have to do what the teacher tells you. You get to try stuff that you think might work for what you’re doing.” Samadhi discovered that spinning the eggs solved the mystery. Raw eggs spin more slowly than hard-boiled ones because the liquid inside slows them down. Think, solve and learn This puzzler - The Eggcellent Idea - is one of 65 in the "One Minute Mysteries” educational series. Each mystery takes about a minute and half to read and requires students to solve it using their math and science knowledge. Mundo Verde teacher Karen Geating Rivera notes that the series was created by Eric and Natalie Yoder, a father-daughter pair. “And when they were first written, the daughter was still a middle schooler. So it’s not just written for children, but it was actually written in part by the child herself." “Every single mystery is written with characters that are children, and children that are facing real world situation that they need to solve using their background knowledge on math and science,” she explains. “So they’re not expected to have a bunch of formulas in their head that they already know. It's just things that happen every day and that you just think from a scientific or mathematical perspective to resolve.” WATCH: Video report on project: http://www.voanews.com/a/minute-mysteries/3628608.html 'Minute Mysteries' Help Kids Solve Math, Science Problems 0:03:12 0:00:00/0:03:12 Science teacher David Levin says the mysteries get the children excited. “If they enjoy what they’re doing, they will learn. That’s my philosophy. I like having the opportunity of having them in small groups, sharing their ideas, feeling the experiment in their hands.” Kids have also to discuss the facts among each other before declaring the answer. Ten-year-old Dante finds these group discussions useful. “You might come to an agreement,” he says. “You might come to disagreement. But sometimes once you share your opinions, you can find out which one is the right response and which one isn’t.” Creating learning opportunities The latest addition to the series is bilingual: English and Spanish. The authors are trying to provide a resource for dual-language education, which is a growing trend in many schools around the country, including Mundo Verde. School instructional guide, Berenice Pernalete says having bilingual instructions helps the students who come from different backgrounds. “I think that for a language immersion school, one of the things that teachers do in order to foster engagement in students and to be really creative is that they have shared experiences.” Teacher Karen Geating Rivera says bringing the mysteries into the classroom allows her students to develop several skills at the same time, and learn from each other. “The kids who don’t speak Spanish at home, and who are learning Spanish as a second or maybe a third language are able to hear the native speakers in a natural, authentic setting and start picking up some of that language and vice versa,” she says. “The fact that they are leaving the classroom still talking about what we’ve done tells me that I really made it an authentic experience, something that they can walk out and continue using in real life.” The "One Minute Mysteries" series, she says, is another tool to keep her students engaged and foster their math, science and bilingual skills.
Voice of America, December 9, 2016 - Faiza Elmasry
Everyone loves a mystery! The father-daughter team behind One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! have done a wonderful job writing stories that draw in curious young people... and show them that science can answer many of life’s mysteries!
One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! is a great concept! It puts science in an everyday context and mixes it with a little intrigue to draw in both the inquisitive mystery buff and the curious budding scientist. What a brilliant idea for a father and daughter to write them together. They ensure that the mysteries are just as engaging for adults as they are for kids. What a great book!
These clever little science-based mysteries will have a myriad of uses. I see them as the perfect solution for stimulating kids on car journeys by really getting them to use their intellect.
Like potato chips, one isn’t enough—with One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! you’ll just want to read more: These one-minute science mysteries are fun treats for readers that will sharpen their powers of observation and improve their reasoning abilities.
"This is one smart, enjoyable book. Not only does it expose readers to a wide range of science topics and inspire fits of deductive reasoning, but the mysteries themselves are highly enjoyable little stories, replete with fictional characters whose personalities shine through and compelling story lines. It's hard to imagine this could all be accomplished in a format as brief as two pages per mystery, but such is the case. Indeed, their bite-sized nature makes each mystery all the more compelling for the fact that the reader need not wait long to begin mulling over possible solutions and can simply turn the page to learn the answer. And the titles of the mysteries are so cleverly conceived as to evoke immediate curiosity and excitement in the reader, pulling them in for a fast, satisfying, thought-provoking ride. The book is divided into four sections of 15 mysteries apiece, grouped according to the topics of Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical and Chemical Science, and General Science, followed by a bonus section containing 5 additional mysteries." Tillywig Award Winner 2015
Tillywig Toy and Media Awards
I love One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! I’m delighted to see a book featuring critical reasoning rather than fact memorization offered as a science-education resource. This book keeps you turning page after page!
One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! is a wonderful resource for teachers who want to provide real-life math problems for their students. Each story problem is conveyed in a one-page format that asks the reader to draw a conclusion. The stories provide an insightful look into how math can be applied in the real world. Problems include discovering how much it would cost to either replace a book at the library or pay the late fees; the score you would need to win a gymnastics meet; and how to modify a recipe to accommodate a large group of people. Bonus sections include five extra math mysteries and five science mysteries. Most of the problems require higher-order thinking and may be difficult for students to complete independently. My sixth-grade classes worked in small groups with this book, which helped the students work toward a solution. Some of the stories are slightly fanciful, but they are completely math based and do not lend themselves to giving students the answer. I believe that the book would have been more coherent and beneficial for teachers if the stories had been better organized. Rather than arranged by story line, the stories could have been organized by concept (i.e., algebraic reasoning, geometry, probability, and so on). Overall this book can provide intriguing, useful, and challenging problems for a variety of students.
Parents and kids alike will be challenged by these stimulating, real-world science mysteries. One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! is a great way to grow a young scientist—or improve an old one! This book belongs in every school and every home.
A wonderful novel way to get kids happily engaged in problem-solving. It not only teaches kids about science, but also demonstrates how to use science in everyday life. Relevant, real-life examples make One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! a great read for kids…and adults!
Encouraging critical thinking skills, it teaches children to think quickly and scientifically. One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! is a highly recommended purchase for science teachers who want to introduce a bit of extra fun into the classroom.
Buhle's Bookshelf - Willis B. Buhle
Conundrums, puzzles and enigmas! The scientific approach prevails overall. One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! turns us into sleuth hounds. If only textbooks were such fun!
One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! turns kids into scientists! Each of these clever stories sets up a mystery that can be solved using a bit of creative analytical reasoning. Stimulating and great fun for the whole family!
Science - Katrina L. Kelner
One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! gives parents and children a magnificent imaginative platform to discover the way our world works.
Developing higher-level thinking skills should be commonplace in the curriculum now and this book does provide a way of doing that, it might even lead to students making up their own mysteries for their classmates to solve. I would recommend this book to teachers of years 5, 6 or 7.
The Association for Science Education
Developing higher-level thinking skills should be commonplace in the curriculum now and this book does provide a way of doing that, it might even lead to students making up their own mysteries for their classmates to solve. I would recommend this book to teachers of years 5, 6 or 7.
The Association for Science Education (UK)
