Class 2 travelled to Wigtown in their role as Crime Scene Investigators as part of Dumfries and Galloway’s Science Fair for Schools.
An expensive painting had been stolen and the children were required to use their crime busting skills to identify the culprit. They applied a range of scientific and technological methods to analyse clues and evidence from the scene of the crime. They worked painstakingly to identify the following:
- Pose for mug shots
- Take their own fingerprints and identify the fingerprint pattern for each of the suspects
- Build photo-fit composite I.D.’s from eye witness descriptions
- Run facial recognition software to narrow down suspects
- Analyse soil samples under a microscope to identify the soil type of residue left by a footprint at the scene
- Use Ultraviolet light to match footprints to the suspects footwear
- Use microscopes to identify fibre fragments of clothing
- Use DNA coding to identify the suspect
- Take notes from eye witness accounts describing the suspect
A real life CSI was on hand to demonstrate how to take fingerprints at the scene of the crime using a range of equipment. She discussed her career and the kinds of knowledge and skills that are needed in the role.
Once all the evidence had been gathered and analysed the children then came back together to discuss the list of suspects and make a conclusion as to who the art thief was. The crime was solved!
At the end of the session we all enjoyed singing Happy Birthday to Lachlan. We enjoyed eating birthday cake even more!
