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Crime Scene Investigations: Real-Life Science Labs For Grades 6-12
This unique resource offers activities in earth, life, and physical science as well as science inquiry and technology. The Grades 6-12 level book provides labs on life, physical, and earth science as well as critical thinking. Like real-life forensic scientists, students observe carefully, organize, and record data, think critically, and conduct simple tests to solve crimes like theft, dog-napping, vandalism and water pollution. For added fun, each resource features an original cartoon character, Investi Gator for the Elementary level and Crime Cat for Grades 6-12. All activities include complete background information with step-by-step procedures for the teacher and reproducible student worksheets. Whatever the teacher's training or experience in teaching science, Crime Scene Investigations can be an intriguing supplement to instruction.
288 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1998
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22 people want to read
About the author
Pamela Walker
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There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 13, 2022
This is a collection of lessons with accompanying lab activities on forensic science. I used this book for a one-quarter (about ten weeks) forensic science unit in a middle school science elective course.
When looking at a book of activities, the main things that I'm looking for is a large selection of labs that are practical for me to do, and this book definitely delivered. I didn't use anywhere near all of it, but there is a lot here, and for the most part, it does not require expensive or specialized equipment.
While some of the labs do require a fair amount of time and effort in setup, there are also many that can be done with only minimal prep.
This book is not meant to be a forensics textbook, but as a supplement, it provides an excellent selection of activities that cover just about every aspect of forensic science, touching on physics, chemistry, biology, earth science, and archaeology.
This would also be a handy resource in a middle school science classroom, where a teacher could pick and choose labs on topics that come up in the regular coursework, such as genetics, DNA, anatomy, and blood type.
The book is advertised as suitable for grades 6-12, but I feel it is more appropriate in a middle school classroom because it does not contain much in terms of mathematical evaluation of the data collected in the labs. That being said, there are certainly high school programs where the book as a whole, or selected activities would be a good fit.
A few of the activities seemed impractical to set up, there were a few that felt like they were stretching realism a bit, and a few are definitely outdated (typewriter comparison is likely to get some awkward questions from students about what a typewriter is), but there are enough here to pick and choose what works in your classroom setting.
When looking at a book of activities, the main things that I'm looking for is a large selection of labs that are practical for me to do, and this book definitely delivered. I didn't use anywhere near all of it, but there is a lot here, and for the most part, it does not require expensive or specialized equipment.
While some of the labs do require a fair amount of time and effort in setup, there are also many that can be done with only minimal prep.
This book is not meant to be a forensics textbook, but as a supplement, it provides an excellent selection of activities that cover just about every aspect of forensic science, touching on physics, chemistry, biology, earth science, and archaeology.
This would also be a handy resource in a middle school science classroom, where a teacher could pick and choose labs on topics that come up in the regular coursework, such as genetics, DNA, anatomy, and blood type.
The book is advertised as suitable for grades 6-12, but I feel it is more appropriate in a middle school classroom because it does not contain much in terms of mathematical evaluation of the data collected in the labs. That being said, there are certainly high school programs where the book as a whole, or selected activities would be a good fit.
A few of the activities seemed impractical to set up, there were a few that felt like they were stretching realism a bit, and a few are definitely outdated (typewriter comparison is likely to get some awkward questions from students about what a typewriter is), but there are enough here to pick and choose what works in your classroom setting.
February 5, 2011
I'm using this as the textbook for my Crime Lab 101 class for homeschoolers. It's pretty good and I'll only have to tweak a few of the stories for appropriate content for 12 year old kids.
January 15, 2016
Enjoyed the study of forensics
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews