Crime Scene on the LDE Science Floor!

On an overcast autumn morning in the science halls of LDE UTC, a mystery thief lurked in shadows cast by the classroom doors. Slipping seamlessly through the silence of the hallway, this mystery thief craftily stole head of year 9 Mohammed’s iPad and disappeared into obscurity.  
 
Luckily for our year 9 forensic scientists, the mystery person left behind some clues; our learners have been tasked with putting their atomic structure knowledge to practise to catch whoever’s responsible... 
 
On the year 9 science course, our learners study atomic structure and separation techniques such as filtration, distillation and crystallisation. Through this investigation, the study of separation techniques transcended from the classroom into the exciting context of a mock crime scene. Learners also engaged in fingerprint analysis and other analytical techniques, encouraging them to understand how the knowledge of atomic structure and separation techniques can be used alongside other tools to help forensic scientists.  
 
“With every topic we teach on the science curriculum, we present it in the context of a leading profession, and with atomic structure, one of the best job roles is a forensic scientist or forensic investigator, especially because they must use separation techniques in their field and there are high stakes attached to the accuracy and rigorousness of their work. Learners responded enthusiastically to the mystery they were tasked to uncover and grasped key concepts of atomic structure through exploratory and critical thinking.” Mohammed, Teacher of Science. 
 
To further increase the value of this project, we also invited Metropolitan Police’s Forensic Scientist Nurgas Khan to virtually visit our learners and deliver a masterclass on the importance of atomic structure in her line of work.  
 
Learners were not simply taught atomic structure; they explored this technique through this imagined crime scene and critically applied this curriculum knowledge to the scenario. Learners also had the privilege of hearing from a leading professional in the field of forensic science, which adds to the value of contextualising this curriculum topic in this way. 
 
 
 

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