VISITOR INFORMATION

Here is a little help to get you started:

1. Read the story about the crime by clicking on Crime One or Crime Two.

2. Go to Suspect Profiles and print each suspect’s profile.

3. Go to Student Sleuths and print the chart - your kids can fill it in as they gather evidence.

4. Go to evidence page and choose any one of the ten types of evidence and start your detective work:
• Read the information that the students have provided
• Read the specific crime information and view the photos
• Record all relevant evidence on the detailed chart

5. Print a copy of Recording Evidence in student sleuths (check off the boxes that link suspect to the crime).

6. Summarize your findings and make an arrest!

EVIDENCE AND INVESTIGATION

PROJECT EXPLANATION AND GUIDE

By Michelle Baragar and Jeff Grimsdale

Overview/Vision:

Greentree students are going to create a crime scene for Westmount students to solve. Westmount students will create a crime scene for Greentree students to solve.

The students are going to be divided into groups to research an area of Evidence and Investigation. The areas of research are listed on the Evidence page. Students will use the Resources page to assist them in their internet research.

Students will present their research to the class. Then they will start to construct their crime scene. When designing their crime, students should choose an adult as the victim, and they should model their suspect profiles after real people to prevent conflicts about appearance. (If you are using students for any of these roles, please be sure to have parental consent specific to this project).

Divide the class into groups to create a suspect profile. There should be one suspect as a member of each group if you are using students as the suspects. Use the Principal Skinner profile as an example. Students should include quite a good deal of information on this page; including lots of information that has nothing to do with the crime. Someone also needs to create a measuring chart for the mug shots.

Next you will take your class to the scene of the crime and stage it. Please make sure that your victim is available to play his/her role at this time. Each group will place their evidence where it was decided it would be. Photos will be taken using the digital camera. Close-ups will be taken of all evidence and other irrelevant things at the crime scene. Precautions should be used when seizing the evidence. Photos should be taken at this stage too.

The group who studied fingerprinting will have photos of the fingerprint evidence to include on their page, the blood typing researchers will have photos of this evidence for their webpage etc. The students will also have to give an explanation of this evidence at their crime scene so that the photographs make sense to the students at Greentree.

The main page on the website will have panoramic photos of the crime scene and each piece of evidence will contain a hyperlink to the information about that piece of evidence.

Once all the steps are completed, we will be ready to post our pages.

• create a crime scene with evidence available for others to solve. For the pilot of this project, Westmount grade six students will solve crimes created by Greentree students and Greentree students will solve those created by Westmount students.
•research an area of forensics to learn about its application to solving crimes
•create a crime scene with evidence available for others to solve.
•Design a handout and webpage offering information about their area of specialization in the area of forensics
•Provide expert advice pertaining to their area of specialization when designing the scene of the crime. (ex: fingerprints group explains where there should be fingerprints found, and why it is logical that they be there)
•Explain the relevance of evidence found at a crime scene and explain how it aids in solving the crime
•Make inferences about the participants and the nature of the activity at a crime scene
•Analyze various types of evidence found at a crime scene
•Classify evidence according to scientific processes
•Solve a crime presented via the internet, created by other grade six students

Possible integration with other subjects:

•Math – scale – mapping and other recreations of the crime scene
•Math – measurement – creation of a measuring chart for mug shots
•Math – graphing – graph the relationship between height and shoe size of the entire class to establish a ratio between the two
•Language Arts – the writing and describing of the scene of the crime
•Language Arts – written presentation of researched material
•Language Arts – Oral presentation of researched material
•Art – composite drawings of the suspects

Procedure:

1. Assign groups to specialize in an area of forensics. They will:

•research
•teach – must provide a handout to the class giving examples, diagrams etc. This will be part of their webpage.
•compose the scientific information section of the website.

2. Establish as a class the story surrounding the crime scene. We will be using actual people from within the school so that all students are clear as to the character, appearance etc. of the person, giving less room for error and conjecture in this area.

•The victim will be one of the staff of the school: perhaps the teacher, principal, custodian or other staff member willing to be the victim.
•Establish the criminal who committed the crime. This person may be another staff member or a student in the school.
•Establish who the other suspects are – there should be about five suspects in all, including the guilty party.
•Write the story as a class. It is important that the crime be solvable, but not obvious.

3. Proceed to the designated location of the crime scene. (Each group decides the location and frequency of their evidence based on the research they have done.)

4. Set up the crime scene and begin photographing.

•Immediate crime scene
•Surrounding locations
•Seized evidence

5. Profile:

•Victim
•Criminal
•Suspects

Create suspect profiles like the sample using Principal Skinner. Give lots of details, and be sure to include information that is irrelevant to the crime.

6. Create a suspect measurement chart for photographing suspects

Group Tasks

1. Fingerprinting
2. Fabrics and fibers
3. Hair & DNA evidence
4. Handwriting – chromatography
5. Handwriting – forgery
6. Blood typing
7. Footprints and tire prints
8. Weapons – ballistics
9. Map of school & point of entry (tool used)
10. Collecting and handling of evidence – all things at the crime scene – relevant and irrelevant

Profiles of suspects will include:

¸ Photo in front of measurement chart
¸ Name
¸ Age
¸ Height
¸ Weight
¸ Hair Color
¸ Motive
¸ Handwriting sample
¸ Additional information