The Alternative class at Tripp was doing a hands-on science lesson about scientific observation and inquiry by focusing on forensics. The process at first was quite difficult, but as we learned more it became easier. our teacher said that there would be plenty of studying, but it would be well worth it because after we were done we would do a crime scene. We had to learn about different kinds of crime, how to do drawings of the crime scene, where to put everything, how to analyze data, how to take care of the evidence and at the end put all the information together and solve the crime scene.
Ms. Gavin stated to the class that when we came back from lunch the classroom would be a crime scene. We would be able to follow all the steps to solve the crime scene. At lunch everyone in my class was talking about it and waiting for the bell to ring. When it finally rang, we all ran out of the cafeteria and to the classroom. The windows to the room were all blocked off and there was police tape across the door.
Ms. Gavin handed us rulers, tape measures, clipboards, and evidence collecting material, and she needed to talk to us. It stunk – not only did we have to wait longer, but the windows had paper in them so we couldn’t see inside and the door was blocked off by police tape. She talked to us for a while about what the crime scene looked like and the basics that we needed to know and she opened the door and let us in.
The room was a complete mess. There was upturned furniture, two wine classes with stuff in it and one had a lip stick mark on it. There was a mock-up of a body with blood coming from a stab wound. There was a ripped up, crumpled up note on the floor. there were bloody footprints leading out the door. The CD player was on and playing romantic music.
We looked over the clues and measured where each piece was in relation to fixed points (like the windows and the door) and drew a sketch of the crime scene. We worked in groups and examined the evidence and made a hypothesis about how the crime took place.
We learned how to break down everything and come to conclusions about forced entry, motives, and how the crime occurred. This made the science more interesting because we weren’t just reading from the textbook and doing papers, we were actually solving a crime.
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