Crime Lab
One-Week Summer Program for Pre-High School Students
Interested in solving who-done-its? Love reading about detectives? Can’t get enough of crime-solvers on TV? Want to try your hand at fingerprinting, analysis of fibers and hairs, and casting models? Crime Lab activities draw from a variety of scientific disciplines and teach lab skills, and shhhh… kids don’t realize how much they’re learning.
Some examples of student activities from past years include:
- Creating plaster models of their shoes complete with sole prints
- Conducting an experiment to extract DNA
- Measuring models of bones in order to extrapolate the height of the fictional crime victim
- Analyzing blood splatters using patterns they created with simulated blood
Past Instructor: Dr. Rich Fox
Dr. Fox received forensic training at some of the finest scientific facilities in the country including; the Human Genome Project, The Human Remains I.D Lab, Oak Ridge National Labs, and The McCrone School of Microscopy. He has assisted with identification of remains from mass graves in Bosnia Herzegovina as part of a United Nations team. Fox is a member of the International Association for Forensic Identification. He has been selected for the Society for Science and the Public Fellows Program. Mr. Fox’s teaching assignments have included secondary schools in Las Vegas and Boston, the Johns Hopkins Center for Gifted Youth, and Tufts University. Rich was a 2012 Honoree of the Massachusetts Society for Biomedical Research.
HELP US SOLVE A MYSTERY
Once the evidence has been identified and collected, practice securely preserving it as evidence.
Examine key evidence under the microscope in a lab.
Ever watched CSI? Play the part of a scene investigator utilizing the ins and outs of handling evidence.
Analyze and preserve a crime scene like an expert!
Student Comments
‘I loved it! Being here with so many different activities was so fun! We did shoe printing, collecting strawberry DNA, finger molds and fingerprint dusting.’
‘I really liked the variety of activities and how hands-on they were. I had a lot of fun, and am hoping to continue learning about forensics in the future.’
‘I liked how this class was a mix of crime and science, very fun to work with! The teachers were very enthusiastic and listened to us. I also loved all the friends I made.’
Note: This page represents our best expectations for the program. Activities and instructors are subject to change. In such cases, similar activities and a comparably qualified instructor will be sought.
Our Programs are Featured on the National Association for Gifted Children Website
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