This post was drafted by Laura Smart, partnership coordinator for Virginia Beach City Public Schools.
Investigators dusted for fingerprints while technicians bagged and processed evidence. On the other side of the room, would-be detectives interviewed witnesses and took statements. To a passerby this might have looked more like a crime scene than a middle school classroom, but don’t let the yellow crime tape fool you.
Sixth-grade students as well as teachers and staff at Brandon Middle School became forensic investigators for the day during a STEM CSI Camp. They met with Special Agents in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) field and members of the Virginia Beach Police Department’s CSI Unit to learn about the technologies used to investigate crime scenes from the initial process of collecting evidence, to interviewing eyewitnesses, to building a profile and closing the case.
Presented with a crime scene scenario where a kidnapping had taken place, each student was given an evidence bag, instructions and encouraged to use teamwork in their investigation to solve the crime. Students not only documented the scene, they used evidence handling protocols to actually dust and “lift” fingerprints. With the assistance of teachers and staff, the young crime scene investigators learned to identify individuals using fingerprint patterns as well as to integrate technology, as they ran their prints through biometric scanners. Activities also included determining ratios and dimensions to aid in facial recognition, the use of paper chromatography to identify what pen was used to write a note and finally students viewed soil under a microscope to analyze a footprint left at the crime scene.
Brandon Middle School is one of eight schools nationwide to host the STEM CSI Camp. The event was made possible through the school division’s partnership with the Military Child Education Coalition which paid to bring the camp to the school.
“Students were excited and engaged in project-based learning activities that exposed them to another area of STEM. Activities such as these are helping develop future career paths,” said Natalie Cutler, coordinator of one of the school division’s military-connected grant programs. “It was amazing to see their enthusiasm. They left the school wanting to learn more about CSI and couldn’t wait to share their day’s activities with their parents. That’s what 21st century learning is all about.”