The “Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History” project is focused on providing high-quality materials to high schools and universities for the teaching of historical methods and Canadian History. The project, based at the University of Victoria, the Université de Sherbrooke and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, has started a series of instructional websites based on the premise that students can be drawn into Canadian history and archival research through the enticement of solving historical cold crimes. All the material is provided free as a public service.

The Work

Since 2003, Hot House has been a partner in this nationwide, collaborative project. Working with the Mysteries team and history professors across the country, we develop the design and layout for the Mysteries' websites. An animated introduction is also created for the sites. To assist in promoting the sites, posters are designed for each Mystery.

Recent work has also included designing web quest portals for use by teachers and students nationwide. Aside from the MysteryQuests portal, Hot House also created a template design for each quest site.

The Future

As the Mysteries Project nears completion of Phase 3, Hot House has been asked once again to partner in the development of Phase 4. Check back in a year to see what new historical mysteries have been uncovered.