So last week we had our very first Mystery Hangout. A Mystery Skype/Hangout is where 2 classrooms ‘meet’ online and try to figure out where the other one lives.

So for this one, we ‘met’ our class on a Wednesday morning. We each took turns asking yes/no questions. We began by asking very broad questions like, “Are you east of the Mississippi River?”. They said that they were not. So then our mappers were able to cross out all the states east of the Mississippi River. We continued like this until we both figured out that we each lived in California.

Once we figured out the state, we had to find their city, and then their school. This was a challenge, but we did an amazing job and figured it out. We had students using maps, atlases, and Google Maps. Google Maps really helped us to narrow down the location. Esteban brilliantly searched for ‘elementary schools’ in the desired location. From that, the runners were able to go back and forth to the computer where the answerers/inquirers were.

It was a great experience for all involved. We will be having another Mystery Hangout later this month. We’ll let you know how it goes.

NOTE: A Mystery Skype uses Skype to teleconference whereas a Mystery Hangout uses Google+ Hangouts to teleconference.