CSI does CSI! 5th Grade

We had some interesting events take place at the CSI Lab last week. Last Sunday a group of scientists held a meeting at our science lab. On Monday morning, our principal, Mr. Ogg, received 5 phone calls from different women claiming they left a skull and some money in the lab. Mr. Ogg took information from each of the women and turned the investigation over to the 5th graders to complete in CSI class on Wednesdays.



So we went to work gathering evidence from the scene. We found small hairs, fibers, a spot of a substance that looked like blood, a shoe print, money, a note and the skull. We labeled these carefully and then tested the fibers we found from the scene.

GATHERING EVIDENCE

MAKING A SLIDE OF A FIBER SAMPLE

CHECKING UNDER THE MICROSCOPES

COMPARE FIBER SAMPLES TO SAMPLES FROM THE SCENE

We wrote our observations in our journal. Students examined the photographs and information from the "claimants" and compared the information to the discoveries we were making.

TWO OF THE CLAIMANTS

GATHERING AND COMPARING INFORMATION

It was interesting comparing the different fibers under the microscope. They all looked different. It was easy to match the crime scene fabrics with the cotton fibers although at first they looked like wool.

COTTON: ALSO THE CRIME SCENE SAMPLE

MORE COTTON

WOOL

POLYESTER

Tomorrow we will test Chromatography of the ink left on the note at the scene and we will test the hairs that were found. We have information on all the claimants' pens and pets.

My favorite part of the lesson was when the scientists noticed connections and clues between the claimants by reading and thinking on their own. Parker noticed that two of the women in the photographs were wearing the same cap! Then, a group of students noticed that the women all looked alike! Joanna noticed that one of the woman's name was "Pam Entologist" and she was a paleontologist and therefore could have had a skull at the meeting!
Great thinking!
If you have any information about the person owning the skull and missing money, please leave a comment below.