Fun with Science & Spy 101

Do you have junior secret agents in your class this year? These are students who love gadgets, have a sense of adventure, love to read mysteries, and enjoy studying any type of map.  Or on the other end of the spectrum, do you have students that you have trouble engaging them with school.  It seems like they want to be anywhere but school.  If so, maybe it's time for a little adventure!

I taught this unit in October during Red Ribbon Week. My students had to choose a country in South America or Mexico. Each student wrote their own mission plan. For example, one

student said the Statue of Liberty was stolen and was hidden in Chile. Another student said the President of the United States that we see on t.v. was an imposter because the real President was getting medical treatment in Brazil. His mission was to see

if the person in Brazil was the real person or the imposter President. In order to write their mission reports accurately, students had to research their country's: weather, terrain,

culture, mode of travel, and other important details. Some of my students even visited travel agencies and got pamphlets and extra information about their country which further enriched their reports.

You can structure this many different ways such as working in small groups instead of individually. You can tie this in with your current social studies unit. If you are studying Greece, have the mission take place in Greece. Or if you are studying continents, assign each group to a different continent.

When I taught this Spy 101 unit before, it was mentioned most frequently in my students' end of the year memory book.

The unit includes 2 different recipes for making invisible ink.  Here's a copy of one of them for you.

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FREE

Here's a video about making invisible ink you can show your class:

Here are a few pages from this unit:

A literacy center is included which has a book list with title, author, and reading levels.  Plus a fiction and non-fiction worksheet that students complete after reading.

 I-SPY game is included which gives clues about words from the 3rd grade Dolch list.  Students who win earn a magnifying glass card.  The student with the most cards at the end of the game wins.

Students complete two different charts after researching information on the computer or in books.  They will research information about their country and an animal that can be found in their country.

Each student will have their own spy folder and assigned a number (like James Bond).  Labels are included.

These are a few of the activities in this packtet which is available in my TPT store. Click below to find out more about this unit:

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Price $6