875: I Hate Mysteries
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A quick warning, there are curse words that are unbeeped in today's episode of the show. If you prefer a beeped version, you can find that at our website, thisamericanlife.org. From WBEZChicago, it's This American Life. I'm Ixris Kondirajah, filling in for Ira Glass. Calm bodies, calm voices, calm minds. It's calm for now. In the second grade classroom in Cold Spring, New York, there are about a dozen kids sitting close around a rug, knees touching. Let's listen to the sound of the bell. These kids are getting ready for a very particular lesson. It's one that I heard about from my coworker Nadia. I asked my wife, who's a teacher, and she knew about it too. And a friend of mine says he still remembers this lesson from when he was in third grade. It stuck with him. And I wanted to see this rite of passage play out for myself. All right, so the game we're going to play today is called What's in the Box. Have you played this game before? It's a guessing game that's kind of famous here. Ms. Maria, the director of the Manitou School, holds up a white cardboard box about the size of a shoe box. So I have put something in this box and you can't break it by shaking it so you can shake it, you can move it, and we're going to pass the box around and you're going to tell me what you think is in the box. Okay. The kids seem amused. They want to try. Sorry. She passes the box to the child on her left. What's in the box? The kid shakes it a little. Uhh, legos. Uhh, the stapler? Uhh, maybe. Mobles and balls. As the box makes it around the 13 students, strategies start to emerge. One thoughtful little girl in purple glasses and snow boots shakes it real hard. That doesn't get her any closer. The next time around she takes off her own beaded necklace, shakes that close to her ears. Then she closes her eyes and shakes the box. The rattles are different. Nobody has gotten it. Feels like it's time to bring in a dedicated professional in the answers getting business and the kids allow it. Can I shake the box? You guys don't mind? So I pick up the box. And they're right. It's about the weight of a toy, maybe the size of a fist or two with smaller things rattling inside that object. Eureka.
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