Spotlight on Science

For two weeks, students learned the fundamentals of forensics to help them solve these crimes, beginning with the basics: Fingerprints. After figuring out how to identify loops, whorls and arches, students learned how to dust and lift fingerprints using fingerprint powder, a fiberglass brush and tape.

As the mystery continued to unfold, our Grace detectives enlisted the skills they had learned throughout their “training.” Through ink chromatography (a forensic method that uses the separation of different inks to identify pigments), they analyzed and identified the author of a note left at the scene of the crime. Next, they put their knowledge of different properties to work, identifying substances like sugar, baking soda, salt and cornstarch. Conducting experiments with iodine, vinegar and water, students identified each substance by how they reacted, and uncovered what had been “left behind” at the crime scene.

So, why forensic science? Beyond the fact that it is fun and hands-on, learning forensics also teaches students important skills such as observing, sorting/classifying, inferring, predicting, experimenting and communicating, all of which are key to becoming strong STEM learners.

With their combined skills and attention to detail, each class was able to collect all the evidence needed to connect the clues and find their culprits. Great job to all of the amateur sleuths!

While the fruit fly experiment provides a visceral experience that anchors the concept of Punnett squares and relevant genetic/biology vocabulary, it also helps students develop a growth mindset. At the beginning of the unit, most students have never done anything like this experiment. The materials are unfamiliar and following the procedure means paying acute attention to each written instruction, without being able to visualize the outcome. Transferring flies from vial to vial requires communication, collaboration, dexterity, and confidence. Some flies always manage to escape during the first few tries, but  by the end of the unit, students can do the transfer quickly and efficiently without any flies getting away. A shared experience, the fruit fly experiment is something I can refer to throughout the year to remind students of how far they’ve come. Like the experiment itself, the science classroom is a place where students can take academic risks, discover the power of change and realize that they are capable of far more than they can imagine.

As with all other things, our work in the program was affected by the pandemic. Before 2020, students participated in studies using EEG headsets to see how brain activity synchronized during different kinds of learning experiences. Now, we utilize Mindhive, a citizen science platform that allows for students to collaboratively create and evaluate brain and behavior studies in real-time. They do this with professional scientists and partners from schools across the country, known as Student-Teacher-Scientist (STS) partnerships.

Another thing that changed rather organically was the adjusting of our academic focus. Instead of honing in on the relationship between learning and the brain, we shifted our focus to what was happening in the world around us, leading to a collaborative research project that studies how people act and respond to receiving information during times of crisis, such as COVID-19 or the climate crisis. In the 2020-21 school year, we added more environmentally focused inquires to the studies, which yielded work like a study by David N. ’21, Duncan L. ’22 and Luke A. ’21 that compared pre- and post-pandemic eating habits and the carbon footprints that each time period yielded. Mariema T. (’22), Charlotte G. (’22), and Cadence P. (’21), created a study that explored the link between music meant to inspire environmental awareness and pro-environmental behaviors. Each project can be found on the Mindhive platform alongside studies created in other student-scientist and citizen-scientist partnerships. In 2022, we are collaborating with a scientist who works in the field of Environmental Psychology, and she is going to help students develop their ideas. All in all, we spend about 5-6 weeks within the 16-week course on this project. 

Through this partnership, students and their partners have the opportunity to engage in authentic STEM research experiences. Environmental Science students can evaluate how to create the most impactful environmental messages that are needed in today’s climate disrupted world.