Mysteries
An inquiry activity where learners receive a set of information cards and must sort, connect and use them to solve an open-ended question, developing reasoning and evidence-handling skills.
What is mysteries?
- Pose an open-ended question that cannot be answered without investigating evidence
- Give learners a set of information cards containing clues, facts and red herrings
- Learners sort, group and connect the cards to build an explanation
- Groups present their solution and justify which evidence they used and which they discarded
How it works
A mystery presents learners with a question and a jumbled set of information cards. Some cards are directly relevant, some provide background context, and some are deliberate red herrings. Learners must read all the cards, decide which are useful, identify connections between them, and construct an explanation that answers the question.
The process mirrors genuine inquiry. In real life, information does not arrive pre-sorted and labelled. Learners must make decisions about relevance, weigh conflicting evidence, and construct meaning from fragments. This develops critical thinking far more effectively than answering questions from a textbook.
Multi-layer mysteries add complexity by including cards at different levels. The surface-level question can be answered with some cards, but deeper questions emerge when learners connect cards across layers. This allows differentiation within the same activity, as more advanced learners discover deeper patterns.
Mysteries work exceptionally well in Humanities, where learners might investigate why a historical event happened or why a geographical pattern exists. They also work in Science, where learners might use data cards to determine what caused an environmental change. The key is that the question must be genuinely open-ended, with room for different interpretations.
Classroom example
A Year 9 Humanities class in a Newport school investigates: "Why did the village of Aberfan suffer a disaster in 1966?" Learners receive twenty information cards including facts about coal mining, the geography of the valley, weather conditions, decisions by the National Coal Board, previous warnings, and some cards about unrelated mining villages. Groups sort the cards, discard irrelevant ones, and arrange the remainder to build a causal explanation. One group focuses on the physical geography; another emphasises the human decisions. The class discussion explores how both factors combined.
Build thinking into your curriculum
Track thinking tools across every AoLE and progression step.
Join the waitlistCurriculum for Wales connection
Mysteries develop the "Develop" strand of thinking skills through sorting, classifying, and reasoning with evidence. They build cross-curricular literacy through reading for information, evaluating sources, and constructing explanations. They support Humanities and Science and Technology where inquiry and evidence-handling are fundamental.
Rainbow Curriculum's Thinking Tools lens helps you plan where inquiry-based tools are used across your curriculum, ensuring learners develop systematic approaches to handling evidence.
Tips
- Include red herrings deliberately. If every card is relevant, learners do not practise evaluating relevance.
- Fifteen to twenty cards is the right amount. Fewer than ten makes it too easy; more than twenty overwhelms.
- A common pitfall: making the "correct" answer too obvious. The best mysteries have multiple valid interpretations.
- Photograph completed card arrangements so groups can revisit and revise their thinking after further learning.
- Start with simpler mysteries before introducing multi-layer versions.
Related tools
Fishbone Diagram
A graphical organiser shaped like a fish skeleton where causes branch off a central spine leading to an effect, helping learners map cause-and-effect relationships.
Jigsawing
A cooperative learning strategy where each group researches a different piece of a puzzle, then shares their findings so the whole class can solve the bigger problem.
Most Likely To
A prediction and reasoning activity where learners evaluate a set of options and decide which is most likely to meet a given criterion, justifying their choice with evidence.
Sequencing
An ordering activity where learners arrange a set of statements, events, images, or steps into a logical or chronological sequence, developing understanding of process, cause and effect, and narrative structure.
Source Square
A structured analysis tool where learners examine a source from four perspectives, each occupying one quadrant of a square: content, origin, purpose, and reliability.
Source: Adapted from "How to develop thinking and assessment for learning in the classroom", Welsh Assembly Government, Guidance 044/2010.