Teens Are CSI Agents for a Week

Written by Shannon Dillon

Friday, 18 July 2008

THESE AREN'T UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN THIS COLLEGE CLASSROOM, THEY'RE JUNIOR AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. THEY'VE ALL COME TOGETHER FOR A WEEK TO TRY TO SOLVE A CRIME, BUT BEFORE THEY GET TO DO THAT THEY HAVE TO EQUIP THEMSELVES WITH THE BASICS. WHICH IS WHAT MANY HERE ARE SO EAGER TO LEARN MORE ABOUT. "I am deeply in love with science. I eat, breathe, and eat science," says 12-year-old camp participant, Luke Stone. AND WITH A FORENSICS PROFESSOR AS THEIR EDUCATOR HESE STUDENTS GET TO LEARN HOW TO EXTRACT THEIR OWN D-N-A, AND STUDY IT USING TECHNOLOGY THAT'S USED BY SCIENCE PROFESSIONALS. "They will get some taste to what science is about and feel good about the fact they're working with technology that won Noble Prizes," says UHV Associte Professor of Biology, Dr. Richard Gunasekera. THIS FAKE MURDER SCENE WILL HELP THESE STUDENTS LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT'S POSSIBLE WITH SCIENCE THIS SCENE WILL NOT ONLY PUT THEIR MINDS TO WORK, BUT ALSO CHALLENGE THEM TO PUT WHAT THEY'VE LEARNED IN THE CLASSROOM TO USE. GROUP BY GROUP STUDENTS INSPECT, COLLECT EVIDENCE, AND SEARCH FOR CLUES AS TO WHO AND HOW THIS CRIME WAS COMMITTED. WHILE SOME CLUES ARE OBVIOUS, OTHER'S AREN'T SO EASY TO FIND. THEIR CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION WORK LEADS THEM HERE. SUSPICIOUS FINDINGS LEAVE MANY TO BELIEVE U-H-V'S ATHLETIC DIRECTOR, MAY HAVE HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE MURDER. MANY PARTICIPANTS SAY THIS EXPERIENCE WAS WELL WORTH A WEEK OF THEIR SUMMER, FOR SOME IT'S HELPED THEM THINK HAVE A BETTER IDEA OF WHAT THEY WANT TO DO WITH THEIR LIVES-HELPING THEIR COMMUNITY THROUGH SCIENCE. "I think I want to be a Forensic Biologist. I'm not sure, but I definately want to do something with science," says 15-year-old camp participant, Ashley Evens.

Last Updated ( Friday, 18 July 2008 )