About this resource
After a big snowfall the whole neighborhood goes quiet — yet the same snow glares so brightly you have to squint, and sunlight bouncing off it can even sunburn your eyes. How can the same snow swallow sound but throw back light? Light and sound waves can bounce off, soak into, or pass through a material — and the material decides which. In this one-week, 6-level Waves: Reflect, Absorb, Transmit unit for middle school science (NGSS MS-PS4-2), students investigate a real mystery, then use their evidence to crack the case.
Snow Day Silence is part of Science Unlocked, a series of mystery-driven lesson sets. Every set opens with a real, surprising phenomenon, builds the science one level at a time, and ends with students solving the mystery in a claim-evidence-reasoning (CER) write-up.
Topics: waves, light and sound waves, claim evidence reasoning (CER), science phenomenon, review games.
What's included
- Teacher Deck (106 slides, PowerPoint). Answers are highlighted on the slides. Speaker notes tell you what to say and do, what to watch for, and how to support students or push GT students further. Prep slides and answer keys are hidden, so they skip during a slideshow.
- Interactive Student Deck (64 slides, PowerPoint + PDF). Students type in boxes, drag cards and check marks, and rate their confidence. Assign one copy per student in Google Classroom or your LMS.
- Google Slides versions of both decks. Click a button in the Google Slides Links PDF to make your own copy in Google Drive.
- Teacher Guide (30-page PDF). The standard, a week at a glance, a materials list, misconceptions to watch for, a run-of-show for every level, answer keys and sources.
- Student Printable (21-page PDF + a low-ink greyscale copy). The same tasks on paper in 12 pt type, for students without devices, sub days, or anyone who learns better with a pencil. Slide numbers match the Student Deck.
- Self-grading digital activity. SCORM 2004 and SCORM 1.2 packages for an LMS that accepts SCORM uploads, a web package, and a single HTML file that opens in any browser. Notes, sorts, matches, tables and multiple-choice items grade themselves, and students get a copy-and-paste backup of their work. A 2-page teacher quick start is included.
- Two whole-class review games that open in any browser: a Jeopardy-style game (6 categories, 30 clues) and Trashketball, where teams answer on whiteboards and then shoot for points.
- Kahoot! and Blooket import files. 56 review questions, one file per level plus an all-levels file, with a printable answer key.
- Start Here guide, HTML & SCORM how-to guide and Terms of Use, so you know which file to open first.
The 6 levels (about one 45–50 minute class each)
- Bounce, Soak, or Pass? Waves carry energy, light vs. mechanical waves, reflect / absorb / transmit. Key activities: Snow Day Silence mystery, 12-card sort.
- Light Paths. Ray models, reflection, transparent / translucent / opaque, color. Key activities: Model It: Light Paths, Build It ray cards, Color Detective.
- Bending Light. Refraction, wave model of light, light needs no medium. Key activities: Coin trick, Model It: The Coin Trick, Light/Sound/Both sort.
- Sound Meets Matter. Sound needs a medium, echoes, porous absorbers, structure and function. Key activities: Quietest Room on Earth, Model It: Sound Meets a Wall, Echo or Hush sort.
- Bounce Box Lab. Use the model to predict, then test sound AND light on 6 surfaces. Key activities: Bounce Box lab, data table, Lab Conclusion CER.
- Crack the Case. Stretch HS-PS4-4: UV and claim checking, inside fresh snow. Key activities: Claim Check, Stretch CER, Model It: Inside Fresh Snow, final CER.
Built for real classrooms
- Every level follows the same routine: "I can" targets with a confidence check, a warm-up, copy-it notes with a word bank, hands-on practice, a checkpoint students must pass to unlock the next step, and an exit ticket. A 10-item Mini Quiz wraps up the week.
- Level 1 opens with a Power-Up on the earlier-grade ideas this standard builds on (1-PS4-1, 1-PS4-3, 4-PS4-1, 4-PS4-2).
- The last level includes a high school Stretch (HS-PS4-4) that every student tries and advanced students can take further.
- Hands-on lab (Bounce Box: The Investigation). Student materials list: 2 cardboard tubes, tape, a stack of books (the divider); Phone A plays a steady tone; phone B runs a free sound-meter app; Flashlight (NO lasers), a white index card; Surfaces: tile or cutting board, metal baking sheet, felt or towel, foam sheet, cotton balls (“fake snow,” 3 cm deep), tray of ice; Clear ice cube, a zip bag of crushed ice, paper towels. Safety notes are on the slides and in the Teacher Guide.
- Support is built in: word banks, sentence starters and support notes on the slides, plus GT extensions.
Standards
- NGSS MS-PS4-2: Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials. (Kentucky 7-PS4-2 uses the same wording.)
- SEP: Developing and Using Models · DCI: PS4.A, PS4.B · CCC: Structure and Function
- Stretch: HS-PS4-4
- CCSS connections: RST.6-8.3, SL.8.5, WHST.6-8.7
Try the digital activity first
- Not sure the self-grading activity will work in your LMS? Download the FREE HTML & SCORM Sample and test it with your students before you buy.
Save with a bundle
- Waves & Digital Information (3 sets)
- Middle School Physical Science + Engineering (23 sets)
- Science Unlocked Mega Bundle (all 89 sets)
Teach next
- Out to Deep Water (MS-PS4-1)
- The Faraway Whisper (MS-PS4-3)
More from Mystery Lab Learning
- See every Science Unlocked set, and follow to hear when new ones are added, at Mystery Lab Learning.
Good to know
- The illustrations in this resource were created with AI image tools, and AI tools helped draft the lesson text. Every slide, answer key and lab step was then fact-checked against the sources listed in the Teacher Guide and proofread.
- Kahoot!, Blooket, Jeopardy!, Google Slides and PowerPoint are trademarks of their owners. This resource is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.
- License: one teacher, for use with their own students. Please buy an additional license for each colleague who uses it.
