Preservice preparation courses for elementary teachers of science can provide opportunities to build pedagogical content knowledge. One common concern of preservice teachers is how to cope with a preplanned lesson that does not proceed as planned. Providing opportunities for preservice teachers to experience the unexpected actually immerses them in creative problem solving that is a hallmark of scientific investigation. This lesson in a preservice science methods course requires future teachers to build problem-solving skills through scientific inquiry as they cope with a type of science-kit activity in which the experiment does not go as planned. (Contains 1 table.)