Introduction• Living Environment teacher in Jamaica, Queens• 5th year teaching• I teach 9th graders (and love it)• Background on the school: 100 students per

grade level, small class size (~20 students), students are diverse and poor

• Starting in midNovember, I had students embark on a 2 week culminating project that incorporated multiple skills and concepts and required them to demonstrate mastery in a realistic setting

Project: Overview

For two weeks, students (in groups of 3) had been investigating a crime scene. The crime scene took place in our school building, and all the teachers on staff that day were possible suspects. Students had gathered evidence from multiple sources (blood work, hair samples, fiber samples, footprints, interviews, fingerprints, etc.). Students then charged a suspect with the crime and defended their accusation in the courtroom.

The Project: Presentation Component

• Students, now acting as prosecutors, presented their findings in front of a jury (their fellow classmates and a few administrators were the jury). I served as the judge.

• Students had to present all of their evidence, and explain how their evidence led them to believe the suspect is guilty.

• Students also called on an expert witness, who appeared via Skype to corroborate their findings, technique, or logic.

The Project: Assessment

• Students were partly evaluated by their peers. Each member of the jury filled out a critique sheet and gave feedback.

• I evaluated their performance based on a rubric that was shown to the students ahead of time.

Relevancy

• Realistic portrayal of what a “crime-fighting team” would have to go through in order to prove someone was guilty

• Same types of evidence and evidence gathered techniques used by professionals

• Court room experience that mimics multiple elements of a real life courtroom, including cross examination, witness testimony, a “jury”

Relationship to Science

• Allowed students to use many scientific tools• Project allowed me to incorporate multiple

units, including the scientific method • Project lends itself to a very-inquiry based

approach

Literacy and Communication

• Communicating findings to panel orally• Explaining how to interpret gel electrophoresis

results to people not familiar with science• Need to support their explanation with visual

aids (i.e. posters that explain how they eliminated suspects and came to a conclusion)

• Must conduct online research of scholarly articles to support findings

Integration of Technology

• Skyping to interview a key witness during trial (using webcam, computer, and TV)

• Use of the Smartboard to explain how interpret gel electrophoresis results

• Creating an excel spreadsheet to track data• Gel electrophoresis to separate DNA

fragments

Challenges

• Internet Access at home• Children’s exposure to, familiarity with, and

mastery of support technologies, like Excel and PowerPoint

• Organizing and interpreting data from multiple sources

What I learned

• Students enjoying themselves = learning without realizing they are learning

• Students will rise to a challenge you think is beyond them

• Hook children with relevancy early in the task• Planning early paid off

Questions?