As children progress in the grades it is common that they begin to lose interest in the subjects and just do what they have to do for the grade and to get out. Interest in science and math in particular begin to slide starting around 6th grade and going up. But this entry is to propose a different way of looking at the fields of study. What I am suggesting is a cross curriculum experiment to jolt the kids back into truly getting interested in school again. I would recommend doing this once or twice a year when mathematics, science, social studies, and history classes converge to study the same intriguing topic.
What topic is that? Mysteries found around the world are what I’m thinking of. To myself and others I have asked this to, it always goes over well to study mysteries to excite their minds. Which mysteries am I talking about?
Around the end of October, the Bermuda Triangle poses a wealth of unexplained intrigue and it would go well with the overall “creepy” time of the year. The geography of the region, superstitions and just how well the data actually stacks up opens up the doors to introduce history, societal beliefs, and loads of real hard science. To continue, introduce the mystery of the Mary Celeste. Where did the crew go and why?
Move on to many other well known but heavily debated locations in the world. Stonehenge comes to mind. Why was it built? The Moai statues on Easter Island are rich in intrigue. Who built them and why? How did they move them and where did the civilization go? How do you move a 70+ ton stone statue and erect it? Just think of the endless uses of social studies, history, hard science and mathematics as children and teens explore some of these mysteries to form their own conclusions.
The options go on and on including the infamous Jack the Ripper. Skipping on the gory details, an end of October research project can get the children learning about the origins of forensic science and what it could and could not do at the time. Study of the life and times of Victorian London can come sharply into focus in this the ultimate who-done-it murder mystery. The events happened merely a little over 100 years ago and remain perplexing to this day.
So what makes mysteries such a potentially powerful academic tool outside of what I’ve listed above? It is the definition of what a mystery is. A mystery is the unknown and unexplained. Many can offer their ideas on it but until there is definitive proof a mystery will forever remain unknown and unexplained. But herein lays a double edged sword for the public schools. The large bonus is mysteries can be used to show the limits of history and science. Only that which has been observed, verified or proven can be used to solve a mystery.
The other edge comes down squarely on the teachings in History and Science that rest outside of observation, verification and the ability to be proven or those that happened before the recorded past or prehistory. The Origin of Life, Origin of the Galaxy, Origin of Civilization MUST be held to the same criteria as a mystery or the inconsistencies will again turn the children away from the pursuit of knowledge.
A mystery will always be a mystery. Double standards cannot exist as a mystery whether it is Jack the Ripper or how life began can never be both a known and an unknown using the same set of standards.
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