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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Crime School Investigations

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students solve a mystery at their school. In this classifying instructional activity, students find suspects who committed the crime. Students categorize them into race, sex, and fingerprint type. Students show their results in graphs.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Flesh Eating Bugs, Moldy Corpses, The Trail of a Killer

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Learners read about how forensic entomologists use maggots to solve murders. In this forensic science lesson, students read an article and answer questions. They go to different websites about evidence and fingerprinting. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Who Did It?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore how forensic science is used in criminal investigations. They learn that for the next few days that are going to try to solve a crime that took place in the classroom. Students are given a story to read about the crime...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Biographical Scene Investigators

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders become members of the BSI in this research simulation. They apply for Biographical Scene Investigator membership, investigate an individual, keep an evidence notebook and write an investigator's report.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Crittenden Conway Duel

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students explore primary and secondary sources. In this primary and secondary source lesson, students investigate a crime scene. Students search for evidence around the classroom and evaluate their findings. Students write a crime report...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Who Done It?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Pick and choose which activities to include in this crime scene investigation. Junior detectives can examine fingerprints, DNA, blood samples, or bone structure.  The plan suggests you have teams solve a mystery, but it does not give you...
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Unit Plan
Radford University

Catch Me If You Can!

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Crime doesn't pay, but everyone can learn from it. Learners consider different situations involving mischief at a school, such as stink bombs and rockets, and analyze them using mathematics. They must apply trigonometry, quadratic...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Crime Scene Investigation: Hair Analysis Lab

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students participate in a hair analysis lab. Using a digital microscope, students compare and contrast hair samples. They determine if the hair samples are human or animal. After completing lab results sheets, students share their...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Investigation of Immigration

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students assume the role of a crime scene detective and examine the lives of various immigrant groups. In this immigration activity, students examine evidence, websites, and pull from existing knowledge to determine which group they are...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Who Ate The Cheese?!

For Students 10th - 12th
In this crime scene investigation worksheet, students simulate DNA sequencing and DNA restriction analysis using paper strips of DNA. Students compare the crime scene DNA to the suspects and determine who is guilty.
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Activity
Gene Jury

DNA Detectives

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Police find a man murdered in a local hotel, DNA everywhere, and now they need scholars' help. Budding detectives step into a crime scene playing the roles of victim, suspects, and investigators. They apply knowledge of criminology and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Zen and the Art of Murder

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students describe the importance of citizen involvement in the judicial system. They play the role of a witness to a crime scene by watching the video clip. Students discuss how differing eyewitness accounts can affect a police...
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Activity
PBS

Super Sleuths

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
There's no such thing as the perfect crime! Your class of sleuths are ready to investigate the trace evidence at a crime scene and compare it to a list of suspects. They use their investigative skills to record physical properties of the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Super Glue Fuming of Latent Fingerprints

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students explore latent fingerprinting. They observe a supervised demonstration of the process that real-life crime scene investigators sometimes use to identify latent fingerprints. In addition, they brainstorm ways to improve the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cardiac Arrest! Using Forensics to Investigate Cardiovascular Anatomy and Function

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Learners identify the different parts and functions of the cardiovascular system. In this forensics lesson, students collect and analyze evidence on a fictional crime. They describe different causes of cardiac arrest.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

DNA Fingerprinting

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders investigate what restriction enzymes do, and explain how a DNA sample can link a suspect to a crime.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

License Plate Investigation

For Students 6th
In this license plate investigation worksheet, 6th graders identify and complete 6 different word problems related to auto license plates. First, they complete the chart showing the number of combinations possible based on the license...
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Activity
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

DNA Profiling Activity

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Everyone loves a good mystery ... can your class actually solve one? Partnered pupils take on the role of forensic investigators during a three-part activity focusing on DNA evidence processing. Learners discover the methods used to...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Hair Test

For Students 9th - Higher Ed
In this forensic science worksheet, students answer 3 open response questions about hair evidence collected from the crime scene.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Blood Typing Investigation

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Young scholars role-play a scenario in which a car crash patient is inadvertently given the wrong blood type during a transfusion. They perform blood typing and explore the genetics behind ABO and RH blood types using simulated blood.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Life Science: DNA Whodunit?

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students role play an honorary detective to assist in solving a crime committed. They investigate by a bank robbery and interview eyewitnesses using their Crime Investigation Notebook and clues from an eyewitness account from the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

NUMB3RS Activity: Regular Ploygon Centroids

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students investigate geo-profiling.  In this secondary mathematics activity, students use geo-profiling to determine the most probable location of a criminal.  Students find the centroid of a polygon where the vertices represent crime...
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Unit Plan
Intel

Forensics: Get a Clue

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Although the methods are all scientific, forensic science was started by police officers rather than scientists, who relied on observation and common sense. Young detectives use many tools to solve crimes around the school in a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

DNA Fingerprinting with Restriction Enzymes

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students will illustrate how restriction enzymes work by piecing together parts of a puzzle. Then they apply this knowledge to help them analyze genetic evidence from the scene of a crime as well as to help them comprehend how a DNA...