CSI In the Classroom
By Karen Heaton WalshJust imagine. You are approaching your science classroom. The window of the door to the classroom is broken. A red substance is dried to the edges of the cut glass. Yellow tape blazing Police Crime Scene Do Not Disturb is cordoning off a portion of the doorway, an area leading into the science room, and an area surrounding the teacher’s desk. There are drops of a dried red substance peppering the floor and the wall close to the door. There are muddy footprint tracks leading to the teacher’s desk. The contents of the drawers of the desk have been scattered around the floor. Scanning the floor, you notice a glass box, opened and empty. The whispering voices of the students can be heard, “What happened? Who did this?” The teacher calmly tells the students that the police have asked for their help in figuring out what happened and who was involved. One student asks, “Where do we start?” The teacher sits down among the students and says, “Let’s talk about that.” Just imagine.
The National Science Foundation is only one of several science organizations that strongly recommend the use of hands-on approaches in science education for the youth of the United States. It is known that active student involvement emphasizing problem-solving through discussions and hands-on activities enables students to more clearly understand scientific concepts and improves their critical thinking skills. Additional benefits of experiential learning environments include inciting student interest, presenting students with knowledge about potential future endeavors, and providing educators with the opportunity to use their creativity to enhance curriculums.
Given such a philosophy of educational experience, the workshop CSI in the Classroom, offered at the 17th annual T.E.A.M. Conference, held February 10 and 11, 2006 at Northeastern Illinois University, provided participants with an understanding of real life forensic science techniques that could be readily integrated into junior high and high school science curriculums. An educator who teaches law enforcement officers the ‘tricks of the trade’ in forensic science presented the workshop. Participants learned how to interpret and measure 1) track size, and use that information to determine the height of an individual, and 2) the pattern of blood droplets and splatters, and use that information to determine the angle at which the blood impacted the surface. With the use of other forensic measurements such as fingerprinting, participants would be able to create a scenario for students that would entice and lead the students through the discovery of a variety of mathematical and scientific (including physical, chemical, and biological) concepts. By tapping into the natural curiosity of students and their fascination with solving intriguing puzzles, one can provide a valuable lesson in the interrelationships between mathematics and science, all while having fun!