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Mastering the Mysteries of Forensics
© Copyright DiscoverThisI've always been a mystery buff, so you can imagine my delight when my son got hooked on who-done-its for kids. As we waded through volume after volume of The Boxcar Children, Cam Jansen, and Encyclopedia Brown (my own childhood favorite!), I realized we were not only sharing a passion for puzzlers but honing his critical thinking skills as well.
Deducing that my son was hungry for some hands-on detective work, I sent away for the Smithsonian Crime Lab Investigators Forensic Science Kit from Discover This. When the kit arrived, we weren't disappointed! It's packed with the instruments and gadgets our favorite fictional detectives use, all neatly organized in a colorful and very handy carrying case.
The kit includes several "criminal cases" for young detectives to solve, offering a great introduction to common forensic methods. In addition to matching fingerprints, footprints, and other visual puzzles, you get to figure out what type of "blood" a suspect left behind and what kind of ink one suspicious ticket holder held. But that's only the beginning.
After gaining a basic understanding of these useful crime solving methods from the activities, you and your kids can practice those skills with all the gear included in the kit. Once you've got the fundamentals down, let your imaginations soar by creating your own mysteries and challenging each other to solve them.
Catching Them Red Handed: The activity guide gives some basic practice matching pictures of fingerprints, but the real fun comes when you dust for prints around the house. Who left the glass of milk in the living room last night? Who put the remote control on top of the refrigerator? Who's been eating the ice cream after everyone else is in bed? It's easy to find out with fingerprint powder, a paint brush, and samples of each family member's fingerprints collected with an ink pad - all included in your kit.
Finding Your Footing: Another activity in the booklet involves matching a picture of a footprint with samples from a number of suspects, and it's even more fun to match footprints of family and friends to solve your own mystery. This is a great outdoor activity, using washable paint, sidewalk chalk, sand or even just a puddle of water. Use the measuring tape in your kit to measure the footprints, then try to match the size and pattern of the prints with one from the "scene" of your own crime.
Inking the Deal: You can compare and contrast ink from any number of sources using the chromatography paper in your kit and the knowledge you gained from solving the Ink Analysis case.
Examining Everything: The microscope is good for hours of scientific exploration and entertainment. The kit includes tweezers and a number of slides so you can collect and examine specimens from every corner of your house and yard. A cat's hair, a dust speck and fingernail clippings might not sound exciting now, but put them under the microscope and you'll definitely change your point of view! And rather than electricity, this microscope requires you to position the mirror in such a way that you catch the light in order to see your specimens, a perfect illustration of reflection and how a microscope works!
The possibilities are endless, and with all the gear included in this kit, you and your kids can solve a lot of mysteries! The activities can be as basic or as complex as you make them, so it's appropriate for a wide range of ages and ability levels.
It's amazing how wearing rubber gloves, donning protective goggles, and peering through a magnifying glass can make you look like a detective. What's even more amazing is how honing your knowledge of forensic science with this comprehensive kit can make you think like one, too!
Home > Resources for our Science Kits > Articles on Science Learning and Science Kits > Mastering the Mysteries of Forensics
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