A few years ago, Hambright Elementary School teacher Lorien Gilbert heard about a program called Mystery Science. Gilbert's aunt, who is also a teacher, had incorporated the program into her own lessons and gifted Gilbert a one-year subscription to its lessons. Although Gilbert had not started teaching science yet, she found the interactive science lessons to be a way to encourage her students' curiosity and engage with the world around them.

Mystery Science is a curriculum for children in elementary school, and it was designed not only to keep young students interested in the material, but also to help them enjoy. Each lesson is aligned with state education standards and combines hands-on learning activities with unusual subjects like naturally occurring phenomena. One lesson might detail the implausible nature of bees' ability to fly; another lesson may task the students with building a structure out of toothpicks to learn how Japanese schools withstand earthquakes. With access to Mystery Science, teachers can search a database for a lesson based on a specific topic, grade level or duration of time.

At first, Gilbert primarily used the lessons as an alternative to recess when it was raining or as a reward for students who completed a task. After switching to a virtual classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic, she was unable to integrate the lessons due to the online curriculum having less flexibility. Once Gilbert was able to teach in a physical classroom again, she was focused on returning to a normal routine and didn't bring back the Mystery Science lessons right away. As things slowly returned to normal, Gilbert began to consider what she could do for the school with a venture grant; she had previously acquired a venture grant from the Penn Manor Education Foundation (PMEF) for projects to implement flexible seating and specific textbooks.

"I wanted a venture grant to do something different and hands-on," Gilbert said. "I realized that Mystery Science offered lessons for grades kindergarten through sixth grade, and I thought that a grant to acquire the curriculum would help the whole building."

Gilbert applied for the venture grant last fall, and it was approved by PMEF in January. Teachers throughout the school have since introduced Mystery Science lessons to their classrooms in a variety of ways; some teachers use a brief five-minute lesson to start off the students' day, while others use the videos as incentives for students to meet their goals. After watching a lesson, one student was inspired to write a video essay addressed to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson to make his case for why Pluto should be considered a planet.

The program encourages students to ask questions and focuses more on promoting curiosity than asking for one right answer. Each lesson begins with a question that was submitted to Mystery Science by a student from anywhere in the world, and the topics can range from the chemical reaction inside of volcanoes to the length of a giraffe's neck.

"This is something that is truly valuable to the whole school, and we couldn't have done it on our own," Gilbert said. "We're so fortunate to have venture grants from (PMEF). It's wonderful to be able to provide those above and beyond exploration opportunities."