ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to provide the multiple reactions a mystery can evoke and it discusses some limitations of a methodical approach to teaching science. It explores how magicians approach wonder and mystery and suggests how science magic can be utilised to increase student engagement and learning. The challenge in a classroom setting is to be able to unleash this playful wonder and cultivate a magical mindset. Science is one of the many ways in which human curiosity surfaces. A common model for how science works is that we observe something and think about how it works by forming a hypothesis, which then leads to a testable prediction. Both science and religion try to find answers in mysteries. Every time a science paper is published, a risk is taken that the author's ideas might later be shown to be wrong. A central tenet of science is that it evolves–ideas are shaped through the natural selection of evidence.
