Who Done It? Crime Scene Investigation STEAM Integrated Project
Every day crimes are committed. In the United States, we are all protected by law to be innocent until PROVEN guilty if accused of committing a crime. This project goes all the way through processing a crime scene, to determining who, how and why the crime was committed, then how the suspect is tried through the Judiciary System where the public decides if the District Attorneys have proven without a reasonable doubt that this Defendant committed the crime. Or, in other words, "Who Done It!"
It is of utmost importance that when a crime is committed a comprehensive CSI team identifies and collects important evidence, performs a thorough investigation, and Forensic Specialists process each item of evidence properly. The Investigation team then uses the evidence and findings to reconstruct the crime and figure out who did the crime, why it was committed, and how it was carried out. Our judicial system then gives the duty of proving without a reasonable doubt, in front of 12 unanimous Jurors of our peers, that the suspect determined committed the crime. Students in this project will perform all of these tasks. They will even perform a mock trial at the end of the project. If the students complete each lesson and perform each task properly, JUSTICE will ultimately prevail!
Skills obtained in this project:
Gather and analyze data and evidence; take crime scene photos, draw sketches of the scene, and log all evidence. Students will make observations; draw conclusions; write reports supporting hypothesis; develop conclusive report supporting “Who done it?”
Students will learn how to identify blood, take fingerprints, and do lab experiments extracting DNA, and document all lab techniques and outcomes in lab reports. Students will also learn how to develop observation skills, reasoning and deduction techniques also. Students will use the video and photographs taken from the crime scene, and use their reconstruction of what happened and create an animation showing how the crime was carried out.
How is JUSTICE served? A crime is committed, once the investigation is done, the next steps are just as vital as the procedures completed before. In order for the criminal to be convicted and justice to be served, the District Attorney has to PROVE without a reasonable doubt that the crime was committed as presented to a Jury of 12 people. Students will study the criminal justice system using a mock trial.
This project is brought to you by Kristine Lowe (CTE), Deb Cohen (Science) and Robbie Myles (CTE, ELA) with support from the CTE Online curriculum leadership team and detailed coordination provided by the Course Team Lead Susan Morris.
