Sometimes the Soccer Ball Kicks You!

Episode Description: After soccer practice, Max and Molly stumble onto a new mystery when Max’s soccer Coach hands out bizarre “Zen” playbooks filled with riddles and impossible strategies. As they calculate the odds of success on the field, the pair begins to suspect Coach might be a secret Mole.  Math Concepts: • Probability and the Multiplication Rule;Regression to the Mean; Division and averaging (calculating goals per game and postseason stats):History/Geography Concepts:  Concepts of Zen and Koans (paradoxical riddles meant to teach mindfulness or enlightenment); Sports strategy and probability in real-world applications

Episode Description:  Max and Molly suspect their teachers, Mr. Avogadro and Mr. Zimmer, of plotting to change history—only to discover the two are secretly obsessed with role-playing games! Their investigation takes them back to 13th-century France, where they explore Carcassonne’s ancient walled city, stomp grapes, and calculate area, circumference, and distance using math. Math Concepts: Unit conversion (kilometers to miles); Circumference and radius of a circle; Area of a circle; Ratios and averages; Time and rate calculations History/Geography Concepts:  The medieval walled city of Carcassonne, France (origins around 3500 BCE); French unification under the crown (mid-13th century)Pre-printing press communication (town criers, hand-copied letters)

Episode Description: Max and Molly suspect that Mr. Avogadro’s student book club may be a front for Mole recruitment. Using Math to calculate reading goals, averages, and even a new “Suspicion Number” system inspired by mathematician Paul Erdős, they try to narrow down suspects. But when they overhear Mr. A and Mr. Z talking about “burrows” and “alternate history,” the mystery deepens. Math Concepts: Division with remainders; Multiplication to find daily/weekly totals;; Application of averages;Fractions/percentages; Graph theory-inspired reasoningHistory/Geography Concepts:  Misconceptions about animals (bats and moles’ eyesight/echolocation); Introduction to mathematician Paul Erdős and the Erdős Number System; Literature reference: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Episode Description: Max and Molly follow a tip that the POGs’ delivery recruits are meeting up at a Beatles’ concert in Liverpool, 1960. There, they not only enjoy seeing the Fab Four rise to fame but also discover their old teammate Katrina has been unwittingly working for the enemy through a mysterious “Spoon” app. Can they convince her to become a ‘Mole inside the Moles’ before history takes another disastrous turn? Math Concepts: Subtraction; Division/Averages; Basic proportional reasoning History/Geography Concepts:  The Beatles’ early career in Liverpool and rise to international fame; Historical events tied to Katrina’s deliveries (Watergate, Julius Caesar’s assassination, the Great Depression)

Episode Description: Max and Molly attempt to infiltrate the POGs by applying for a mysterious “Mole job” that sends them 2 million years back to Olduvai Gorge. There, they discover Homo habilis, early human tools, and the dangers of altering history—better known as “The Butterfly Effect.” Using Math to calculate volume, they dig a hole to bury a strange box. But could this simple action end up changing the future forever? Math Concepts: Volume formula: length × width × height (to determine hole depth);Large number comparisons (quadrillions vs trillions); Fractions, decimals, and multiplication; Time conversion (millions of years → human timeline).History/Geography Concepts:  Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania as a key anthropological site; Discovery of early human fossils (Mary Leakey, Homo habilis). The Butterfly Effect in relation to history and consequences. Fossilization and preservation conditions (lava and ash deposits).

Episode Description: Max and Molly are sent to Nazi-occupied Paris in 1941, where they team up with legendary entertainer and undercover spy Josephine Baker. Together, they climb the Eiffel Tower, use trigonometry to calculate distances, and smuggle secrets hidden in sheet music. Along the way, they learn how “hiding in plain sight” can be the most powerful disguise of all. Math Concepts: Subtraction with years (1941 – 1889 = 52 years since the Eiffel Tower was built); Division; Basic Trigonometry: (tangent ratio) to calculate the distance from the Eiffel Tower to Gare du Nord. History/Geography Concepts:  Nazi occupation of Paris during World War II; Famous jazz singer/dancer Josephine Baker’s role as a performer and spy for the French Resistance; The Eiffel Tower: built for the 1889 World’s Fair, height of 330 meters, and its use as a lookout point; Gare du Nord railway station and train travel during the war;Espionage techniques, including invisible ink and hiding intelligence in sheet music

Episode Description: When a flyer leads Max and Molly to new POG activity, Aunt M sends them to the Great Wall of China in 1601. There, they discover that what locals think is a terrifying “monster” is actually a POG transmission antenna. With the Commander eager to take credit, Max and Molly must rescue a strange printout that deepens the koan mystery. Math Concepts:  Time calculations (converting minutes → seconds, hours → minutes → seconds); Speed, distance, and pace (Molly’s run: 1.1 miles in 9:45 → pace calculations); Order of Operations (PEMDAS: Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction); Prime vs composite numbers (e.g., 9 as the first odd composite number); Ratios and unit conversions (seconds to minutes, minutes to hours)History/Geography Concepts:  Geography: The Jiumenkou section of the Great Wall—unique as a bridge with nine arches spanning the Jiujiang River; History: Ming Dynasty China, 1601 CE; Cultural element: How myths and misunderstandings can grow around technology (locals mistaking a satellite dish for a monster); Philosophy: Koans (riddles used in Zen Buddhism to provoke deeper thought)

Episode Description:  Max, Molly, and Rufus are pulled into one of Alaska’s most legendary true stories: the 1925 Serum Run to Nome, Alaska. Teaming up with mushers like Wild Bill Shannon, Leonhard Seppala, and famous sled-dogs Togo and Balto, they brave blizzards, ice, and exhaustion to help deliver life-saving medicine. Along the way, they use Math, stamina, and teamwork with furry friends to help save a community. Math Concepts: Division and averages (150 ÷ 20 = 7.5 dogs per team) Distance, rate, and time calculations; Multiplication with decimals; Ratios and comparisons. History/Geography Concepts: History: The 1925 Serum Run to Nome (also called The Great Race of Mercy); Geography: Alaska, Nenana, Nome, Norton Sound, Arctic conditions; Biology: Dogs’ olfactory system (300 million receptors vs. 6 million in humans)

Episode Description: While erasing doodles for extra credit, Max and Molly stumble across a secret message from Aunt M hidden in the margin. It leads them to Burlington Bunker, a Cold War-era underground city in Corsham, England, where mysterious Morse code transmissions are being sent—possibly by the POGs or their underground allies, the Moles. With the help of a Problem Solving spy, Ames Blond, Max and Molly use pattern recognition, proportional reasoning, and division tricks to uncover a pattern in the coded transmissions. But just when they think the mission is over, they learn the transmissions are being sent... to Oshkosh. Math Concepts: Division & Multiplication relationships; Trick for dividing by 5: Multiply by 2 and move the decimal left one place; Parts of a Division Problem:  Dividend, Divisor, Quotient; Pattern Recognition; Basic Unit Conversions (minutes vs. seconds) History/Geography Concepts:  Applying math concepts to real-world spy scenarios; Burlington Bunker: Cold War-era government facility in England. Morse Code: Historical communication method, including its use on the Titanic.  Avogadro & Mole (Chemistry reference): Sneaky cross-curricular connection

Episode Description:  When Max and Molly receive a mysterious telegram, it sends them straight to the North Atlantic—just in time for the Titanic disaster. Luckily, they are aboard the RMS Carpathia – the ship that came to the rescue of the Titanic’s passenger.  Using math, maritime history, and quick thinking they are able to help with one of the greatest rescues at sea ever! Math Concepts:  Calculating distance between coordinates using the Haversine formula; Nautical miles and knots as units of distance and speed; Unit conversion: knots to miles per hour; Multiplication and division with decimals; Lifeboat capacity analysis through multiplication and addition.History/Geography Concepts: The sinking of the Titanic (April 14th, 1912); Role of the RMS Carpathia in the Titanic rescue; Guglielmo Marconi and the development of wireless communication; Lifeboat design innovation by Maria E. Beasley; Geography of the North Atlantic Ocean and use of coordinates; Contributions of Molly Brown & Captain Arthur Rostron; Women’s suffrage & early 20th-century activism