![]() For example, check out the Water Mystery Box of the Exploratorium for assembly instructions and a lesson plan. In stead of our 3D-printable or LEGO boxes, you can also build your own water-based mystery boxes or mystery boxes out of cardboard. Watch out for upcoming papers with more ideas on teaching about the Nature of Science with mystery boxes! Students have to determine the internal structure to place these 4 numbers in the right order (e.g., 1783) to open a combination lock and find the treasure or the next clue. The mystery boxes are labelled with numbers, e.g. ▲=1, ◾=3, O=7, I=8. Here, we present 4 symbols representing the internal structure of the boxes in a certain order, e.g., ▲OI◾. Game version: We also use mystery boxes in our S’Cool LAB escape game. With the help of the magnet, students can again test their models of the internal structure: they will feel if the steel ball cannot be pulled in a certain part of the base because there is a hidden wall.ĭifficult version: Instead of the easiest internal structures, used the more difficult ones. ![]() Every group of students gets a small rod magnet that will attract the steel ball if it is close enough. For the 3D-printed box, you can introduce the principle of probes and more accurate measurements with the help of small rod magnets.If needed, students improve their models if the predictions did not match their observations and draw their improved model on paper. Students test their predictions and note down their observations.For example: “If there is a square inside, I should hear 4 clicking sounds when I turn the mystery box one full turn.” These ideas should be predictions about the behaviour of the boxes in a certain experiment, based on their model. Then, they come up with ideas to test each other’s model. Now 2 pairs of students with different drawings work together.Here, students observe the sound the ball makes when moving the box. Let the students study their mystery box and instruct them to come up with a model of its internal structure.Ideally, every pair of students gets one mystery box. Prepare mystery boxes with the easiest internal structures: triangle, square, line, or an empty base for the 3D-printed mystery box, and square, circle, or line for the LEGO mystery box.There are different ways to use mystery boxes in your classroom. Depending on the age and level of your students, you can adapt the activity to different difficulty levels. lid: LEGO build plates can be used to seal the box so that the structure and the ball cannot be observed directly.ball: a ball is placed inside the structure of the base.Regular sized LEGO can be then used to build an internal structure on top of the base. The base plate can be built using LEGO build plates. base: a base plate with an internal structure.Here's a few examples of possible internal structures: However, we usually try to avoid labels unless necessary because that’s not how nature works. In this way, you always know which structure is inside. In some cases, it makes sense to label the mystery boxes, e.g., with a specific number, before you glue them together. small neodymium rod magnet (such as S-05-14-N): for more accurate observations, optional.lid: a 3D-printable lid to close the mystery box, we recommend glueing it onto the base. ![]() steel ball: 5 mm diameter, is placed inside the structure in the base, needs to be purchased separately (look for a shop selling ball bearings). ![]()
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