Doug Peltz

Doug Peltz, popularly known as Mystery Doug, is an American science communicator and entrepreneur based in San Francisco. He is best known as the host of the weekly science show Mystery Doug, and as the co-founder and one of the voices behind the popular science curriculum Mystery Science, a science program used in 50% of U.S. elementary schools and recently acquired by Discovery Education.[2] Mystery Science answers questions that viewers ask through activities and experiments.

Doug Peltz
Born
United States
Alma materUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Known forMystery Science
Mediterranean red bug
SpouseCarrie Peltz[1]

Early Influence

”I had always loved science from the time I was a kid. I thought the only career path once I got to college was to become a scientist, that's what everyone tells you ... When I got to college, I figured that science explanation would be so much better because now the scientists themselves would be teaching you. It turns out they're even worse at explaining things so I got really interested in the problem of explaining science. I figured out while I was in college that I wanted to become a teacher and write my own curriculum.

— Doug Peltz, Interview with Y Combinator[3]

Career

As an avid naturalist, Peltz was the first to discover that the Mediterranean red bug had migrated to North America.[4][5]

Peltz has long appeared in various news outlets to explain and discuss natural phenomena, such as 2010 fireball over Irvine on NBC News and in the Orange County Register.[6][7] In 2020, Peltz interviewed NASA astronaut Jessica Meir about what it's like living aboard the International Space Station[8] and appeared on Wisconsin Public Radio to discuss how families were navigating the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.[9]

In 2013, Peltz co-founded Mystery Science with Keith Schacht. Mystery Science is an open-and-go standards-aligned curriculum with hands-on applications, phenomena-based instruction, and written assessments.[10] Interviews with Y Combinator, one their investors, detailed an unconventional business model in which the company sold to schools and districts across the United States without a sales team.[11][12]

In October 2017, Peltz launched an initiative titled Eclipse America in which he partnered with Google to provide free eclipse glasses and lessons to teachers in classrooms.[13][14][15] Peltz's business endeavors have been featured by Forbes[10] and the Wall Street Journal.[16]

Peltz elaborates on his unique approach to answering children's questions in an interview with Montessori Education[17] and on Game Changers TV.[18]

In October 2020, Peltz joined Discovery Education as Mystery Science became a wholly owned subsidiary; Mystery Science was acquired for $140 million.[19] The science program is now used in more than 50% of elementary schools.[2]

References
  1. "Brumback - Peltz". Herald-Whig. 15 July 2005. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020.
  2. "Discovery Education Acquires Mystery Science". Discovery Education. 30 October 2020.
  3. "What traction feels like". Y Combinator. 27 November 2017.
  4. "Red Bug Makes First American Appearance in O.C." Orange County Register. 2009.
  5. Bryant, Peter J (October 2009). "Invasion of Southern California by the Palearctic pyrrhocorid Scantius aegyptius (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae)". The Pan-Pacific Entomologist. 85 (4): 190–193. doi:10.3956/2009-27.1. S2CID 86667893.
  6. "Fireball Spotted Over Irvine…Potential Treasure Hunt?". NBC News. 2010. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020.
  7. "O.C. teacher reports fireball sighting". Orange County Register. 2010. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020.
  8. "Mystery Doug Live with Astronaut Jessica Meir". Mystery Science. 21 May 2020.
  9. "Mystery Doug Answers Your Science Questions". Wisconsin Public Radio. 10 April 2020.
  10. "Mystery Science Helps Teachers Dazzle Their Students With Interactive Science Classes". Forbes. 17 August 2017.
  11. "Cost vs Quality in Edtech – Keith Schacht, Avichal Garg, and Geoff Ralston". 6 April 2018.
  12. "Keith Schacht and Doug Peltz on What Traction Feels Like – at YC Edtech Night". 27 November 2017.
  13. Frederic Lardinois (3 August 2017). "Mystery Science Partners with Google to Bring Eclipse Glasses to Elementary School Students". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020.
  14. Molly Sequin (3 August 2017). "Google and Mystery Science teamed up to give schools free eclipse glasses". Mashable.
  15. Chris Weller (3 August 2017). "Google is giving away 15,000 pairs of solar eclipse glasses to schools across the US". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020.
  16. Ellen Gamerman (2020). "What to Let the Kids Watch When You're All Stuck at Home". The Wall Street Journal.
  17. "Coronavirus and Children (with Mystery Doug)". Montessori Education. 15 March 2020.
  18. "The Mystery in Science Education". Game Changers TV. 27 December 2014.
  19. Tony Wan (3 November 2020). "Discovery Education Acquires Mystery Science in $140 Million Deal". EdSurge.
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