CSI: Ann Arbor Week 2

Monday our camp kicked off with observation and evidence.  Our campers tried their hand at handwriting analysis.  We used samples of our own handwriting and then letting other groups try to match our samples.We also got to test our skills as witnesses in our witness experiment.  After making a faces out of magazine cut outs we asked our partners to memorize then rebuild the face after only seeing it for a few seconds.  It's harder than it looks!  We also solved the mystery of "The Poison Pump" using only the clues the detectives had in 1854, during an actual cholera epidemic in London.

Witness experiment!

"Poison Pump"

Tuesday we investigated physical evidence!  We learned about forensic testing through our mystery powders experiment.  We investigated trace evidence as well by examining several soil samples closely and trying to match them with evidence found at the crime scene.  We learned about the importance of small clues with our heat loss experiment.  Campers left their own impressions with our tennis shoe detective experiment.  We got to dust for our own footprints and match up any patterns we saw.

Journaling our findings

Mystery Powders

Wednesday was our trip to the University of Michigan Police Department!  Our campers had a blast touring the station, getting to try on real police gear, learning about evidence collection, and getting to check out some pretty cool police vehicles.  We had fun talking to real police officers about police procedure and meeting real police dispatchers.

Officer Cargill giving us a tour of the station

Trying on the police gear!

Thursday, our theme was forensic anthropology!  We spent most of our morning learning about fingerprints and ridgeology.  We dusted for latent prints and took our own!  We also got to try our forensic anthropology challenge.  We built skeletons blindfolded, guided by a partner of course!

Latent prints!

An excellent specimen

Investigating

Friday we investigated a mock crime scene at the museum!  A murder and a theft needed to be solved and our newly trained techs were the perfect candidates for the job.  Our campers collected and processed evidence from the scene.  Using our techniques from earlier in the week, we correctly identified the culprit!  A fitting end to a super week!

A clue?