Cookie Jar Mystery

8/9/2019 Cookie Jar Mystery

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A Study in Forensic ScienceInstructors Guideby Anthony J. Bertino

CookieJarMysteryMysteryCookieJar

The



Preface .................................................................................................... iii

Introduction .................................... ....................................... .......................... v

Lesson 1: Heads UpObservation Skills .................................... ................................. 1

Lesson 2: Beyond the Naked Eye

Handwriting Analysis ...............................................................9

Lesson 3: Tink Ink

Ink Chromatography ..............................................................19

Lesson 4: Evidence on the Move

Locards Principle ....................................................................27

Lesson 5: Te White Stuff

White Substances and Toxicology .................................. ......35Lesson 6: Pull Some Strings

Fiber Analysis ..........................................................................41

Lesson 7: Hair We Go

Hair Samples ............................................................................49

Lesson 8: Follow the Grain

Pollen Analysis ........................................................................57

Lesson 9: Make an Impression

Bite Marks ................................................................................63

Lesson 10: Shoo-InShoe Print Evidence ................................................................69

Lesson 11: Bloody Brilliant

Blood Types .............................................................................77

Lesson 12: One of a Kind

Fingerprint Evidence ..............................................................83

Lesson 13: Crack the Code

DNA ..........................................................................................93

Lesson 14: Lets alk

Questioning Our Suspects ...................................................101

Lesson 15: Who Dunnit?

Examining & Analyzing All the Evidence ........................113

Glossary ..................................................................................................119

Appendix National Science Education Standards................................123

Instructors Guide iCopyright Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents



Copyright Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved. Instructors Guide v

Instructors note: please read this to students prior to beginning the course or, i thats not possible, at the firstlesson. Tis will help to build intrigue orTe Cookie Jar Mystery.

Te Cookie Jar MysteryMrs. Randall is a science teacher. She enjoys baking chocolate chip cookies and sharingthem with her students. One morning when Mrs. Randall entered her classroom, sheound her avorite cookie jar in pieces on the floor. She had baked cookies the day beore,but now only a ew pieces o broken cookies were lef on the floor, next to the pieces o thecookie jar.

Mrs. Randall loves to teach, and she loves to use science to solve mysteries and answerquestions. She decided to use orensic science to solve this mystery o the broken cookie

jar, and she got her students to help her. Now she wants you to use orensic science to solvethe mystery, too!

What is orensic science? Forensic science isscience that relates to the law. Te word orensicmeans anything related to the handing out, oradministration, o justice. You will look at the clueslef in Mrs. Randalls classroom and use orensicscience to decide who broke the cookie jar and atethe missing cookies.

On the morning that Mrs. Randall discovered thebroken cookie jar, she entered her classroom rom

the door at the back o the room. She set somebooks and papers on the work counter, then shechecked on the plants her students were growingon the windowsills. It was when Mrs. Randall got tothe ront o the classroom that she saw her avoritecookie jar on the floor in pieces. Te door to thestorage cabinet where Mrs. Randall usually keptthe cookie jar was open, and pieces o cookies werescattered between the cabinet and Mrs. Randallsdesk. It was a mess.

Mrs. Randall stopped by the ront work table whileshe thought about what she should do. She knew itwas important not to touch anything that could giveclues about who had broken the cookie jar. But shehad to get ready or her class to come in. She decidedto look at everything careully and take notes aboutwhat she ound. She took a digital photo o the crimescene. Ten she put anything that looked unusual

or out o place into a box so she could look at it allcareully later. And she made a map that showedwhere everything was.

Here is what she ound on the floor: pieces o thebroken cookie jar, pieces o cookies, lots o crumbs,a couple o pieces o broken cookie jar that lookedlike they had something on them, and an old sciencetest. Ten Mrs. Randall swept the floor and lookedat everything in the dustpan careully. She noticed

some hair and maybe some threads or tiny, tinypieces o material. She put it all in plastic bags toanalyze later.

When Mrs. Randall went to her desk with the box,she ound something else: a note and a hal-eatencookie! She put the note and the hal-eaten cookiein the box, too. Who could have done this, shewondered. Later, she decided it had to be one o oursuspects. Te suspects are #1_____________(male),#2____________(emale), #3____________(emale)and #4_______________(emale, sister o #3),students who had the opportunity to be in herclassroom while she was out.

You will be a Crime Scene Investigator to help solvethis mystery. Your instructor will be your Chie. Areyou ready to solve this mystery?

Introduction



Heads Up!

Instructors Guide Copyright Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved.

Lesson 1



unreliable because people ofen have their attentionocused elsewhere and miss events. Further, peoplesear or anger can ofen interere with their ability to

make shrewd observations.

In the first activity in this lesson, students will havethe opportunity to witness a crime in the classroom.Because the appearance o the criminal will beunanticipated, students may not realize that they areexpected to notice details about the visitor in theclassroom. Tis is the same position witnesses mayfind themselves in when a crime takes place in ronto them.

Te subsequent activities will lead students to thinkabout their observation skills. What strategies mightthey employ to become more effective witnesses?You will guide them through observations,discussions and an analysis o two differentphotographs. Further, students will be introducedto Te Cookie Jar Mysterywhen they study a photoo the cookie jar crime scene. Tese activities areprovided to stimulate your students abilities torecall and accurately describe various situations.Te students will begin to understand that there are

many different sources o inormation in a crimescene investigation.

Notes for the StudentsWe are ofen in a hurry. Many situations occur aroundus daily that we do not notice. Much o what we thinkabout a person is based on appearance and gestureshow a person looks, walks, stands, positions his or herhead and moves his or her hands. With just a quickglance at a stranger, how much do we notice? Howwell do we really observe events?

One tool in crime investigation is the statement oan eyewitness. An eyewitness is someone who wasat or near a crime and saw something happen thatmay have to do with the crime. Perhaps the witnesssaw someone running rom a crime scene. Perhaps awitness got a license plate number. Perhaps a witnessis a crime victim. Normally, investigators try to talk

Copyright Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved. Instructors Guide 1

ObjectivesStudents will:

accurately describe an event

eyewitness reporting

MaterialsInstructor: Te Cookie Jar Mysterycrime scene photo

Students (per group of four):

Preparation1. Prearrange to have a non-class member,

preerably an adult, visit your class (see detailsunder Activity 1).

2. Prepare student supply bins (1 per team) withmaterials.

3. Have photo o Te Cookie Jar Mysterycrimescene ready to display where the group can see it.4. Organize students in teams o our.5. Place practice pictures #1 and #2 ace down on

the table in ront o each team o students.

Notes for the InstructorAs consumers o such popular television programsas Law and Orderand the old Perry Masonmysteries, adults are well acquainted with the notionthat eyewitness accounts requently differ romperson to person. How is this possible?

As an introduction to Te Cookie Jar Mystery,Lesson One is ocused on observation skills. Tislesson lays the groundwork or understanding therole o eyewitness testimony and suspectstatementsin solving a mystery. Eyewitness testimony is very

Heads Up: Observation Skills

Lesson 1



When you are distracted by retrieving somethingsuch as a stapler, the visitor shouldsurreptitiously steal something rom yourdesk (perhaps an apple, a bag o cookies). Teentire encounter should last about 30 seconds,and no longer.

4. Afer the visitor leaves, ask the students to record in their activity books on page 2 under Activity

1: Eyewitness Reporting all the details theynoticed about this individual: size, hair color,clothing, mannerisms, walk, actions, etc.

5. How closely were students paying attention? Tey were not prepared to be paying attention,

just as an eyewitness would not be prepared or acrime about to happen.

6. Students may add in red pen all the details thatthey personally missed but have learned romtheir partners.

7. Ask one student in each group to sharesomething that most learners missed. Did thestudents notice that the visitor took something?

8. Be sure to finish reading Notes or the Students.

Activity 2: Practice Pictures15 Minutes1. Ask students to position themselves so that when photos are turned over or viewing, all

group members can see clearly.

2. Ask one student to turn over photo #1 or 20seconds. All students should examine the photocareully. Afer the period o study is complete,ask students to turn photo #1 ace down andanswer questions on Activity 2: Practice Pictures

ound in their activity books on page 3. Allowtime or students to answer questions beore youmove onto the next photo. Repeat or photo #2.

3. Ask students to compare their responsesor photo #1. Allow some time or discussion oresponses. Are the students more observant nowthat they have been asked to be?

to all kinds o witnesses to begin to understand whathappened.

People who think they can help the police solve acrime ofen provide valuable details o what theythink they saw or heard. But many witnesses to

a crime can provide different details: one personmight remember a smell or sound, another mightremember the way someone said something. Tesereports dont always match. In many crimes, witnessreports conflictthey dont match. One personmight say, Te man was six eet tall! Anotherperson might say, Oh, no. Te robber was veryshort!

Lets test our observationskills by looking at somepictures.

VocabularyEyewitness: a person who was at or near acrime scene when the crime took place and tellsinvestigators what he/she saw.Forensic evidence: any physical thing that may beused in a criminal court to convict or clear a person.Observation: the act o perceiving the environmentthrough one or more o your senses.Suspect: one who authorities think may havecommitted a crime.

Activity 1: Eyewitness Reporting20 Minutes1. Prearrange or a non-class member, preerably

an adult, to knock on the classroom door. Ask your visitor to alter his or her appearance slightly, perhaps by rolling up a pant leg, putting a shirt

on backwards, or wearing an unusual hat. Te visitor could also display a distinguishing

characteristic, such as a tattoo or limp.

2. Begin reading Notes or the Students section to class. While you are doing so, you should beinterrupted by the prearranged visitor.

3. Once you have opened the door, the visitor should engage you (the teacher) in conversation

briefly and ollow you to the desk or lab bench.

Copyright Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved.2 Instructors Guide

Heads Up: Observation SkillsLesson 1




Heads Up: Observation Skills Lesson 1

4. Using a red pen, students should place a linethrough any errors they made. Repeat or photo #2.

5. Display or pass around Te Cookie Jar Mysterycrime scene photo so everyone can see it. Ask thestudents to observe the photo or clues. Afer a

ew minutes, take the photo back and askstudents what they saw that may be pertinent tosolving the mystery. Read the introduction to themystery on page v i you havent already done so.

6. Conduct a discussion centered on the question,How valid are eyewitness accounts o an event?

7. Ask students to list the areas o criminalinvestigation that were discussed today:eyewitness reporting and orensic evidence.

Which o these methods is most reliable?

8. Reer to the crime scene photo during uturelessons as needed.

Clean-up10 Minutes1. Make sure the room is back in order.

2. Collect and store all materials.

Other Directions, Discussionsand Destinations1. o make Te Cookie Jar Mysterymore un and

exciting, you can mock-up a crime scene in your room. Locate a cookie jar, cookies and catsup or red dye. Careully break the cookie jar on the

floor so that it looks like it was knocked over Drip a small amount o artificial blood on a piece

o the jar. Now or the un part partially eata ew cookies and drop them around the brokencookie jar to look like a thie did it. I you want tomake it even more realistic, you can add some

hair and black abric threads taken rom the materials in the upcoming lessons. Let the class

look at the crime scene or a ew minutes andthen see what they can recall later.

2. Developing our powers o observation ofenstarts with improving our memories. Heres anold parlor game thats still played today:

Memory Story

1. Gather together 15 or 20 items rom aroundthe house or rom around the classroom (or romthe supply box): a pencil, a key, a comb, a spoon

or a cup could be among these. Te 15 itemsshould be random. Put these items together on

a tray and cover them. Ten gather in small groupsaround the tray. Remove the cover or 30 secondsand ask each member in the group to try to committo memory all o the items. Afer 30 seconds, coverthe items, and ask each person to write down asmany items as they can remember.

a. Some wont remember every item, and some will. Ask the people with the best memories how they remembered the itemsofen

youll discover that theyve constructed a

memory story to help them rememberwhat theyve seen.

b. For example, Karen told the ollowing story: I just put it together like this when I saw

the items: I thought to mysel, I need a key(key) to open the door to the kitchen, whereI would go to the drawer and get a spoon(spoon) to stir my coffee (cup); as I drinkmy coffee I ofen make a list o the things Ineed to do (pencil) which include combingmy hair (comb), etc.

2. Have a group discussion o witness reporting based upon students personal experiences. For

example, consider two students describing to theprincipal their own account o what transpired ina caeteria incident.

3. Inquire i any students or parents ever witnesseda car accident. Did they provide a report or thepolice? What was the result?

And try these observation skills tests on the Internet:

this picture? www.orderofhewhitelion.com/ Miscellaneous@/Observationpowers.html.



Student Activity Book 2


Activity 1: Eyewitness Reporting

What did you just witness (see)?

Approximately how tall was the person?

What color was his/her hair?

Describe the clothing this person was wearing.

What other details did you notice?

How did the person walk? (fast? slow? big or little steps?)

What did this person do in your classroom?

What else did you notice?

Lesson 1



Student Activity Book 3

Copyright Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved.6 Instructors Guide

Activity 2: Practice PicturesLook at a picture for 20 seconds and then answer the following questions:

Picture #1

1. What did you see in the picture? .............................Two firefighters extinguishing a burning golf cart

2. How many cars are in the picture? ..........................1 car, 1 SUV

3. How many trucks are in the picture?....................... Possibly 1 truck

4. How many people are in the picture? .....................2 firefighters and 7 other people

5. Was anyone in danger? ..............................................No, the situation looked under control and thepeople were standing far away

Picture #2

1. What is happening in this picture? ..........................A parking enforcement officer is writing a ticket

2. Where is it taking place?............................................A parking lot possibly in a warm climate becauseof the officers hat

3. How many vehicles are in the picture?....................4 cars, 1 SUV

4. What was the person wearing?.................................Dark blue broad-brimmed hat with a double red-

striped hat band, a light blue short-sleeved shirt, red tie, sunglasses, a watch, navy pants and hikingboots

Enlarged photo of Cookie Jar Crime Scene

1. What do you notice in the scene?

2. What do you think will be important to remember?

Lesson 1

Documents

Cookie Jar Mystery