NOTE: This activity pack is available as a free PDF download when you purchase Files 1-4. This version is if you would like a physical print copy.
This activity pack is designed to go alongside M.C. Detective Agency Files 1-4 combo.
The M.C. Detective Agency: Chemical Solutions Required is a series of comic books that teaches chemistry to kids ages 8 – 108. This multi-episodic series envelops a cleverly concealed chemistry curriculum with the stories of twins, Poppi and Ray, who solve mysteries using chemistry. These sibling sleuths have many adventures, including traveling back in time to rescue the Radium Girls, attending a modern-day rock concert to save a vanishing Van Gogh, and swimming in a bottle of Chanel No. 5 to find the hiding aldehydes.
The readers eventually discover that M.C. is Marie Curie, hence the names Poppi (Polonium), Ray (Radium) and Granny Eve (Marie’s Curie’s youngest daughter). Stay tuned for more files! You can also check out Kid’s Chemical Solutions for more information.
The printed activity packs are perfect bound and include the reading guide as well as the activities.
Activity Elements
In this pack, you will find a teacher’s guide to walk you through how to make the comics into a robust curriculum. This Activity Pack includes Ray’s Rules, Poppi’s Puzzles, Tell Me Tenny, Comic Book Reading Guides, Character Cut-Out Cards, a Purposeful Daydreaming prompt, a Genius Hour prompt, Granny’s Games, and solutions to Poppi’s Puzzles. The instructions include recommendations for pacing and how much time each assignment could last. Tell Me Tenny includes historical background for the events referenced in the story.
File 1: The Case of the Deadly Dials
The reader is transported back in time to help Poppi and Ray save the Radium Girls from getting poisoned. The setting is 1921 New Jersey (USA) and is based on an actual incident. A group of young girls were fraught with severe illnesses (e.g. cancers) from the ingestion of radium found in the paint that they were using to paint glow-in-the-dark watch dials.
Science Topics
The Elements, The Periodic Table (Groups, Elements), Periodic Trends, Toxicology
File 2: The Case of the Missing (Atomic) Model
The reader is transported back in time to 1927 Belgium for the Solvay Conference. The reader has to help Poppi and Ray release the captive Quantum Mechanical Model of the atom from a safe the Neils Bohr is guarding.
Science Topics
Atomic structure, Subatomic particles (protons, neutrons, electrons), Atomic Mass, Atomic Number, Quantum Mechanics
File 3: The Case of the Pillaging Pirates
The reader is transported back in time to the Carribean in 1707. Their mission is to stop the Dread Pirate Clive (Chlorine) from pillaging all the electrons. They also have to save Lady Xenon along the way.
Science Topics
Ions, Ionic Compounds, Writing Formulas for Ionic Compounds, Writing Names for Ionic Compounds
File 4: The Case of the Vanishing Van Gogh
The reader will join Poppi and Ray at a benefit rock concert to save Van Gogh’s painting Starry Night from fading. The rock concert features the band The Heavy Metals with Lead-Z as the lead singer.
Science Topics
Variably Charged Polyatomic Ions, Writing Names/Formulas for Complex Ionic Compounds, Colors of Ionic Compounds
The activity pack comes as a free PDF download when you purchase Files 1-4. If you were given the books from someone else, then you can still get access to these robust activity packs by purchasing the PDF or the printed copies!
