Mystery Science and supplemental guided notes worksheets have been a godsend to my science instruction. Before Mystery Science, I don’t think I really knew how to teach 5th-grade science in a fun and engaging way.
Sure I had a few fun lessons under my belt thanks to a few science kits that my district provided, but a complete curriculum that was hands-on and easy for me to prepare was like a distant dream. Planning and preparing a science lesson seemed like such a daunting task that required hours of online research.
Most of my lessons consisted of reading and note-taking, which is an important part of teaching Science, but it shouldn’t be the main component of it. I was beginning to feel like my Science lessons were more like my morning ELA lessons.
Students do enough reading and note-taking during Language Arts time so my Science block needed to be completely different if I were to engage students. Thank goodness I found Mystery Science online.
Why use Mystery Science?
Mystery Science is FREE for educators and homeschooling families for the first year, and I am fortunate that my district has purchased a subscription. I’ve been using Mystery Science now for about 4 years in my classroom and I love it. I wrote a blog post on tips and ideas for implement Mystery Science into your science curriculum.
However, I have found that while reviewing for state testing, my students forget about some of the lessons we learned throughout the year. I wanted my students to have a record of everything that they learned; something they could reference, so I use Mystery Science guided notes for each lesson in the Web of Life unit.
What are guided notes?
Mystery Science guided notes worksheets contain key concepts in a lesson with fill-in-the-blank statements. They are standards-driven and concise with images relating to the lesson. They are meant to be visually appealing to younger students and scaffolded so students aren’t spending all their time copying notes. Below are examples from the Web of Life unit for 5th grade.
Why Use Guided Notes?
Active Engagement in Learning
When students use Mystery Science guided notes worksheets they actively listen to the topic presented. If you know anything about Doug, who narrates the video, you know how fun and engaging he is. This guy truly loves science and his enthusiasm for it shows. Heck, because of him, I truly do enjoy teaching Science.
However, there are always students who don’t listen attentively. With supplemental guided notes, students listen to each video clip attentively because they know they are accountable for completing their guided notes.
You won’t have students or your homeschoolers zoning out because they know they are responsible for completing their scaffold notes. These notes hold students accountable and are a great way to show parents and guardians what their children are learning during Science.
Reinforce Key Concepts
Doug, who narrates and explains the science (so you don’t have to), teaches a lot within each lesson. It can be a little overwhelming for students who are EL students. Guided notes reinforce key concepts because they are being revisited. This is especially important for some of your visual learners who need to see those key concepts written out.
Improve Retention for State Testing
There is so much material to cover before state Science tests. I teach in California, and my students are not only tested on what they learned in 5th grade, but on what they hopefully learned in 4th grade too. Right before state testing, I have my students review their guided notes and study them before the state test. This gives students confidence when going into the state tests.
Provides a Condensed Reference for Review
I love that Mystery Science provides an assessment after each lesson and they have digital versions. Their assessments are aligned with the Next Generation Science standards and really get students to apply what they learned. Just before I give students the test, I ask them to reread their guided notes. I also allow them to ask a partner questions about the notes. This gives your students an opportunity to orally use science vocabulary. Win-win!
Enhance Understanding
Note-taking will help your students have a better understanding of what they learned in each Mystery Science lesson. Some students don’t retain information unless they see it written out. Guided notes will help these kiddos. Also, when you play Mystery Science videos, always use Closed Captions for your EL students or students with hearing impairments who will benefit from it.
Some of the videos are in Spanish so if you have a newcomer, they can listen to the video on their own with headphones.
Visualize Complex Concepts
Guided notes with images will help your students visualize the concepts taught in Mystery Science. For example, in the lesson “Why does a Hawk_______” students see an example of a food chain. This example is beneficial for students to have when they are learning about how a food chain works and how the arrows should be pointing.
Facilitates better Organization
Using guided notes will help your students organize all the topics they learned in the Mystery Science lessons. My students have small composition books that they use for their guided notes. I print them out, cut them so they can fit in their composition books, and they glue them in. They can also be inserted in a 3-ring binder.
How to Use Guided Notes
Guided notes worksheets can be used while the videos in the lesson are being played, but that will require you to stop the video from time to time so students can write down words.
I recommend having your students complete the notes after the lesson is done. The guided notes can also be used as a quick quiz. What’s great about the guided notes is that there is a word bank to help students find the answers and to help them spell words.
Final Thoughts
If you haven’t used Mystery Science, give it a try. Even if you have a district-adopted Science Curriculum, I would still supplement it with a few Mystery Science lessons. The hands-on approach combined with guided notes helps solidify students’ understanding and makes reviewing for tests much easier.
Plus, guided notes provide a structured, organized way for students to revisit key concepts throughout the year. You can find these guided notes for the Web of Life Unit at my Teachers Pay Teachers store by clicking HERE. You got this!
Click the image below and save it to your teacher’s Pinterest board. 📌📌📌
Check out my other blog posts about Mystery Science: