Product Tips

Crime Scene Investigation: Solving with Science

Volume 7 / Issue 4 / Summer 2007

Interest in forensic science has boomed in recent years, partly due to the popularity of crime shows such as CSI  that follow a crime from the early identification of likely suspects to the scientific confirmation with hard evidence. Three products, appropriate for different age groups, allow young and old alike to apply critical thinking skills in assessing clues, testing evidence, and identifying the likely culprit: Ultimate Forensics Whodunit? Lab, by Discovery Kids; Crime Scene Evidence Files: The Missy Hammond Case, by Crime Scene, and Duke TIP’s Clues in Crime comprehensive forensic science course package.

Ultimate Forensics Whodunit? Lab is an intricate forensic science lab for children ages eight and up. The kit consists of a foldout workstation with storage containers, work trays, a 200x zoom microscope, and a lighted tray. Materials include plastic vials of evidence such as  fibers and hair samples, blood samples, and ink samples; testing fluids for different types of evidence; plastic slides; test tubes; a beaker; a graduated cylinder; a latex roller; goggles; tweezers; toothpicks; a pipette; and plastic tire tread castings. The case booklet details six different cases, each progressively more challenging than the last. There is also an instruction booklet called Installation Field Guide that explains the specific steps to take in collecting evidence, analyzing handwriting, examining fibers, and testing blood samples. The “Installation Field Guide” also serves as a resource to explain forensic science facts and to expand and apply the knowledge to applications beyond the six cases in the kit.

The young forensic scientist assumes the identity of Agent Omega and reads the confidential case files. A case file presents the situation and a few key facts about the evidence gathered at the crime scene. Then the case poses two or three key questions for Agent Omega to consider. In answering the question, Agent Omega must perform a few scientific experiments with the lab equipment kit and compare the tangible results with details about possible suspects in the Rogue’s Gallery in the Installation Field Guide. Instructions for the experiments are clearly explained, and Agent Omega is cautioned throughout when it’s necessary to get help from a Senior Agent, a.k.a. a parent.

As Agent Omega tests and examines the evidence and compares results to details in the Rogue’s Gallery, the agent uses both inductive and deductive reasoning to zero in on the criminal. Other questions at key points throughout the booklet let children know if they are ready to identify the suspect and check their conclusion in the answer envelope, or if they need to reexamine the evidence and their conclusions. Vocabulary terms, how evidence is used in real cases, and information about different agencies that gather data and use forensic science appear throughout the booklet.

The case files and instruction booklets are clearly written in lively, engaging language, though the print in some sections is very small and could be difficult for some children to read. Children must also have the fine motor skills necessary to manipulate small objects. Winner of the Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Award, Ultimate Forensics Whodunit? Lab is an excellent choice for gifted children.

Crime Scene Evidence Files provides an authentic forensic science kit complete with fingerprint and blood samples (synthetic) and testing supplies: a fingerprint brush, fingerprint powder, fingerprint lifting tape, and heme-stix blood tests. The kit also contains a CD documenting the fictional case file of Missy Hammond, a young woman found strangled in her home (the murder is set in novelist William Faulkner’s fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi); authentic police crime scene tape and badges; an enlarged fingerprint photo to compare to test samples; directions for using the fingerprinting and blood testing kits; fingerprint analysis sheets; a worksheet for solving the crime; and a CD detailing the solution to the crime.

The case file CD contains volumes of evidence collected in homicide cases: more than 30 transcripts and videos of interviews with suspects, witnesses, and professional personnel; a catalogue of the physical evidence, where it was found, and who handled it; an analysis of the scientific findings of evidence tests on blood, hair, and fingerprints; biographies of the victim and major witnesses and suspects; and press accounts of the case as it unfolds. Crime solvers analyze the evidence and use critical thinking skills to draw conclusions, narrowing the list of suspects and honing in on the murderer.

Crime Scene Evidence Files shows the process of gathering evidence and analyzing it; of narrowing, expanding, and refocusing the search at various stages in an investigation. It also explores the complexity of human relationships and illustrates the types of circumstantial evidence that emerge in interviewing literally dozens of people connected with victims and suspects. In using the kit and the CD, amateur crime solvers become aware of how easily the details of victims’ and suspects’ personal lives can sway them emotionally and how circumstantial evidence differs from scientific, forensic evidence. The collaborative nature of crime scene investigation also becomes apparent.

While Crime Scene Evidence Files teaches critical thinking skills andis appropriately challenging for gifted middle school students, parents should take a few precautions before ordering the kit: the instructions clearly indicate that an adult wearing protective gear should perform the forensic tests, and the transcripts of interviews on the CD, though not explicit, do contain sexual slang and deal with the issue of paternity. Otherwise, the transcripts tend towards stereotypical jargon—the pushy investigator, the cocky suspect, the indignant defense attorney. Parents may view the complete transcripts on the Crime Scene Web site (www.crimescene.com) to decide whether or not the content is appropriate for their child. Several other cases are also available on the web site. Some are a bit more graphically disturbing and show photographs of crime scenes and victims.

Duke TIP’s Clues in Crime is an in-depth independent study course in forensic science. Created specifically for gifted children in grades seven through twelve, Clues in Crime received the “Best Software of 2003 Award” from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and was rated the highest scored software of 2003 by Children’s Software Review.

The kit contains two detailed CDs, a comprehensive workbook, and an authentic fingerprinting kit. Taught by Dr. Marilyn Miller, professor of Forensic Science at New Haven University, Clues in Crime presents an extensive and comprehensive course in forensic science. The information on the CDs is divided into ten learning modules: Physical Evidence; Fingerprints; Impression Evidence; Trace and Transfer Evidence; Hair; Fiber; Paint, Glass, and Soil Evidence; Blood Identification and Individualization; Blood Stain Pattern Analysis; and Crime Scene Investigation. An eleventh module, Solve the Crime, allows the learner to apply knowledge from the ten learning modules in solving a real crime.

Each learning module begins with clearly stated learning objectives and a video lecture by Dr. Miller. Terminology is clearly explained and textually defined throughout the lecture. Detailed graphics include charts and diagrams, lab illustrations, close-up examinations of microscopic evidence, and various testing and application phases of forensic investigations. The interactive computer applications allow students to test their knowledge of forensic science throughout the course and receive instant feedback on their understanding.

Each module also shows how a particular phase of forensic science was used in solving an actual crime. For example, the learning module on fiber evidence uses the case of Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald to show how fiber evidence was used to reopen the case and eventually convict Dr. MacDonald for the 1970 murder of his wife and children.

The detailed workbook allows for extended lab and learning applications to accompany each module. Some activities call for simple lab experiments using household items; others call for library, Internet, or local interview investigations into crimes similar to the ones referenced in the learning modules. Each section also provides extensive critical thinking applications that take a student deeper into the ethics and applications of forensic science. Created specifically for gifted middle and high school students, Clues in Crime is an excellent, challenging choice for teens and adults interested in forensic science and its applications.

—Sarah Boone, MA, MFA

Sarah Boone holds a master’s degree in teaching and is certified in gifted education. She has an MFA in creative writing, which she teaches at North Carolina State University.