The Fatberg Files

About this resource

In 2017, workers found a 130-tonne lump of fat, grease, and wet wipes clogging a London sewer. Parts were hard and gritty and stuck tight to the pipe. Is a fatberg just cold grease stuck together — or did the grease turn into a new substance? When substances react, new substances form — and the proof is in their properties. In this one-week, 5-level Chemical Reactions: Properties Before & After unit for middle school science (NGSS MS-PS1-2), students investigate a real mystery, then use their evidence to crack the case.

The Fatberg Files 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: chemical reactions, chemical and physical changes, claim evidence reasoning (CER), science phenomenon, review games.

What's included

• Teacher Deck (90 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 (54 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 (26-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 (17-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. 48 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 5 levels (about one 45–50 minute class each)

1. Grease Gone Wrong. Substances & properties, physical vs. chemical properties. Key activities: Fatberg mystery, property sort.
2. Substance Fingerprints. Characteristic properties identify substances (any amount). Key activities: Property cards, density math, Identify the Unknowns.
3. Before & After. Chemical reactions: atoms regroup leads to new properties, clues vs. proof. Key activities: Four famous reactions, Before & After Data table, change sort.
4. Reaction Lab. Investigation: before/after properties at 5 stations. Key activities: Reaction Lab, Lab Conclusion CER.
5. Crack the Case. Stretch HS-PS1-2: column patterns predict reactions. Key activities: Salt from a dangerous duo, Stretch CER, fatberg data, 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 (2-PS1-1, 2-PS1-4, 5-PS1-3, 5-PS1-4).
• The last level includes a high school Stretch (HS-PS1-2) that every student tries and advanced students can take further.
• Hands-on lab (Reaction Lab: The Investigation). Student materials list: Goggles (everyone, whole lab), gloves at B, C, and D; Clear cups, spoons, measuring cups, paper towels; Station supplies A–E (see the next slide); Your data table (two slides ahead); Teacher-only: splints, lighter on a fire-safe tray. 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-PS1-2: Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred. (Kentucky 7-PS1-2 uses the same wording.)
• SEP: Analyzing and Interpreting Data · DCI: PS1.A, PS1.B · CCC: Patterns
• Stretch: HS-PS1-2
• CCSS connections: 6.RP.A.2, 7.RP.A.2, RST.6-8.1, RST.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

• Matter & Chemical Reactions (5 sets)
• Middle School Physical Science + Engineering (23 sets)
• Science Unlocked Mega Bundle (all 89 sets)

Teach next

• Pencil or Diamond? (MS-PS1-1)
• The Nylon Rush (MS-PS1-3)
• The Vanishing Spoon (MS-PS1-4)
• Not One Atom Lost (MS-PS1-5)

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.