D.B. Cooper Unsolved Mystery Lesson

Full week lesson on the unsolved mystery of D.B. Cooper. What happened to D. B. Cooper?? This resource presents a non-fiction mystery in which students have to read to understand clues and piece this story together. Your students will talk about this lesson for months after!

"D.B. Cooper” was the alias used by a still-unidentified man who, the day before Thanksgiving, 1971, hijacked a commercial airplane and extorted a ransom of $200,000. After receiving the money, Cooper parachuted from the plane over the rugged Pacific Northwest, vanishing without a trace. Despite an extensive manhunt and investigation, his true identity and fate remain a mystery, making the case one of the most famous unsolved mysteries in U.S. history.

In this resource, you will find a full lesson plan on D.B. Cooper including:

• Hook - Police Sketch & Photo
• Introduction: Carousel Questions
• Mystery Lesson - The clues detail the events of the famous hijacking as well as the follow-up investigation and search over many years.
• Reflection Pages
• In Your Opinion
• A 25 question Quiz including vocabulary, fill in the blank, comprehension questions, and chronological order activities
• Three Project Options
• Additional Resources

What is a mystery lesson?

In a mystery lesson, a mysterious event from history is presented to the class. After receiving a brief overview of the situation, each group of students reflects on each set of clues from the event. The groups receive three sets of clues, one set at a time, to help them understand the mystery. After analyzing each set of clues, the students in each group record observations about what they learned from the clues. In the end the students have the chance to state their own opinion as to what happened to D.B. Cooper.

This text on the clues were written for Grade 3-8 students and can be used in a number of ways by teachers (close reading, direct instruction in class, independent practice, homework, test prep, assessment, sub work, centers, etc). Please see the Preview for an idea of the clues from the mystery lesson.

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