The Cookie Jar Mystery: A Study in Forensic Science for Grades 4-5, Includes Essentials Supplies for Class of 30, CD…

Description

This fun, interactive, 12-unit project-oriented forensic science course is designed to engage students in this truly fascinating area of science!  Students in grades 4-5 are immersed in roles of crime scene investigators as they work together examining and analyzing evidence needed to solve the mystery of the broken cookie jar! Using real laboratory techniques and materials, students create theories about the “crime” in a classroom, much as real detectives (and real scientists) use their powers of critical thinking to track down the thief. Along the way, they acquire new vocabulary, explore careers in forensics, and become acquainted with scientific procedures and processes they will encounter in their future science electives. A crime has occurred in Mrs. Randall’s classroom! Her favorite cookie jar was broken and some of her homemade cookies were eaten. While breaking a cookie jar and snitching a few cookies are hardly serious crimes, they are nevertheless crimes that can be solved using a forensic science approach. Mrs. Randall turns this misfortune into opportunity and calls in a “Chief Crime Scene Investigator” (your instructor) to lead her “forensics team” (your students) in how to use the tools of forensic science in analyzing clues left at the crime scene. Each student member of this team is a “Crime Scene Investigator” tasked with solving the mystery through scientific observation, sample examination, analysis, lab work, testing, interviews, and field work. To draw the students into the mystery, the instructor sets the stage by recounting Mrs. Randall’s intriguing tale. In advance, the instructor creates names for the four student suspects-names that students will find believable. Having the instructor choose the names allows the course to be taught again and again, as this approach prevents incoming students from discovering prematurely who committed the crime. Instructors will find The Cookie Jar Mystery easy and fun to teach.
Sharpens scientific inquiry and deductive reasoning skills
Improves complex problem solving skills
Super fun…Students learn about forensic science while solving a mystery!
Sparks an interest in further science learning and careers