Lots of fun, Lots of work! (updated post)
if you are interested in files for the mystery we solved, the suspect roles they acted out, the sticky fingers activity, the fingerprint chart, the forensic document examiner activity, etc. e-mail me, I can't post it all here!
Fingerprinting Gathering Activity
(requirement #1)
As they arrived we fingerprinted all the girls and made a chart showing how many fingers were loops, whorls, and arches. Compared it to the national average!
· CSI Party, play detective! (requirement
#1)
We had a crime scene and then solved the case to find out who killed Jack Duck!
Careers: Crime Scene Photographer requirement #5
Photograph crime scene
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Reading Body Language, Detecting Lies requirement #4
Girls acted out all the suspects and different types of body language cues.
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Play Detective requirement #1
Girls solved a case called sticky fingers using fingerprint minutiae.
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Forensic Lab requirement #3
Make fake-blood droplet cards and analyze the difference shapes of blood droplets based on angle and distance. (I've included pictures of the other two options if you have more time they aren't as messy!)
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Eyewitness Activity requirement #2
Girls learn about the unreliability of eyewitnesses and try their hand at drawing suspects.
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Careers: Forensic Document Examiner requirement #5
Girls learn to look closely at handwriting and look for clusters of similarities to make an identification. Girl's use writing samples to identify who left the note found at the crime scene for clue #5.
Bonus: not forensics at all, girls learned about handwriting analysis which is like a personality test and was totally fun!!
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We had a small snack and drink between one of the activities because this was a long activity with a lot of work for the girls to do!
CSI Party:
We based ours loosely off the CSI Date, but added two more suspects: Rita Booke and Anita Faber.
requirement #5 Careers (optional, we did two careers, you only need to do one)
Crime Scene Photography by the Book
Supplies
· Enough photography checklists for every camera, phone, iPad, etc you will be doing photography with.
5 minutes Give a
list of of careers in forensics, explain the purpose of crime scene photography
and how to do it correctly.
10 minutes Have
girls be Crime Scene Investigators! Take
pictures according to the FBI handbook. Take some fun pictures too!
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| Gross, we should have done murder by poison! |
Requirement #2
Reading Body Language, Detecting lies
Supplies
·
Suspect
statements
list of body language clues and what they indicate
· optional: a hat or clothing prop for each suspect
3-5 minutes
instruction on how to read body language and detect lies (not making eye
contact, blushing, raising vocal pitch, touching face, scratching nose,
fidgeting, repeating words like honestly or truthfully, leaving out details in
a story, or changing the story when told repeatedly, blinking frequently.)
10 minutes read
suspect statements and start guessing who did it and why!
Requirement #1
Investigation Activity
Supplies
·
Minutiae
Chart
· "Sticky
Fingers Case" available from internet, pencils
3-5 minutes
instruction on the importance of minutiae in identifying fingerprints
10 minutes solve
the “sticky fingers” case answer these questions as they work through the case:
What type of
finger print pattern is each finger of the suspects?
Is this
combination of fingerprint patterns common? No, extremely rare.
Find two minutiae
on the suspect’s fingerprints.
Try to match the
crime scene fingerprints to the suspect prints.
Was the suspect
at the crime scene? Yes
Was the suspect
most likely right or left-handed? Right
Are the location
of his prints at the crime scene consistent with a customer or a thief? Thief-they are on the cash register.
Is it surprising
that the prints on the bakery display case don’t match the thief? No.
Requirement #3
Forensic Science Lab (3 options!)
Blood Spatter
Supplies:
·
2
packets red Crystal Light (enough to make 2 quarts)
·
2
teaspoons boiling water
·
Paper
cup
·
Straws
·
Coffee
Stirrer or Capri Sun straws
·
White
construction paper
·
Ruler
·
Measuring
tape
·
Something
to protect walls and floor like a disposable tablecloth, butcher paper,
newspaper, large cardboard box.
·
Instruction
papers, pencils
·
Optional:
aprons or paint shirts
3-5 minute
instruction on what Forensic Science is, how it helps solve crimes, and how to
do this science project.
10 minutes to
make blood spatter cards
Don't focus too much on blood aspect since these are middle school girls that we don't want to scare, just have fun with the shapes!
See what splatter looks like for each of the following:
Or try Chromatography
Step 1: cut paper towels into long strips
Step 2: Put a marker dot or line near the bottom of paper towel strip
Step 3: Tape the paper towel to the pencil
Step 4: Fill the container so the water will barely touch the paper towel
Step 5: Hang the paper towel into the conainer from the pencil
Step 6: Watch the paper towel absorb the water. As the water moves up the paper towel the color separates into the colors it was made from
step 7: let it sit until all the colors are separated (takes awhile, might want to have one done so the girls don't have to wait so long)
step 8 take paper towel out of container!
or try DNA extraction
do this with bananas or here are 10 other foods to try...
Requirment #2
Eyewitness Activity (requirement #2 and forensic artist career #5)
Supplies:
·
Computer(s)
if using the “Art of Detection” game from the internet OR make your own with
a photo suspect, video suspect, or guest suspect to run through the room
·
Pencils; paper
3-5 minutes
discussion on forensic sketch artists, how learning to drawing certain shapes
and features is like learning a language, the more you draw the larger your
drawing vocabulary is. Most people don’t
pay attention to shapes and spacing of eyes, eyebrows, noses, and face
shapes. Most people do notice hair color
and skin color. Discuss why eyewitness
accounts are often very unreliable and why that might be (weather, stress,
health, personal bias). Explain what the
Innocence Project is and share a story about wrongful conviction.
10 minutes Try
drawing a suspect. Girls can even
describe someone they know to their partner and see how they do.
We had a footprint comparison for them to solve for this requirement.
Answer to "Art of Detection" computer activity:
Rotation #6
Forensic Document Examiner
3-5 minutes: Talk
about how handwriting always varies and no one writes the same way every
time. Talk about how a "cluster of
similarities" can be used to indicate a match between a known writing sample and
an unknown document. Talk about the main
points to
compare.
10 minutes: match a few up handwriting samples and
******************************Just For fun:
Handwriting can give a peek into your personality. Make a writing sample and analyze it. Our girls LOVED this!
Slant of base
line
Size of letters
Dots on i and
crosses on t.
Spacing
Neatness of
letters
