From the author of the best-selling Mystery Disease comes another exciting problem-based learning unit, Mystery River. This unit introduces students to a serious problem—the fictional town of Hopewell’s prized freshwater mussel population is dying out, and the town’s leading citizens cannot figure out why. Your students will take charge of the situation as they join a task force dedicated to solving the problem.

Is the river the mussels live in polluted? Has their habitat been disrupted by a new predator? Are local chemical plants to blame? Students will ask these questions and more as they investigate the problem from every angle and try to develop their own reasonable, real-life solutions. Along the way, they will learn valuable research skills, practice critical thinking, and develop presentations to show their results.

The book includes detailed guidelines for conducting problem-based learning units in the classroom, along with memos, observation charts, newspapers, maps, and everything else your students will need in their investigations. Teaching science and critical thinking has never been this easy and enjoyable!

Grades 5–8