Crime Scene Investigation: The Museum Case
This class allows students to investigate a virtual crime scene and solve a mystery. #academic
Thomas Jones
Average rating:
4.9
Number of reviews:(1,204)
What's included
6 live meetings
6 in-class hoursClass Experience
US Grade 6 - 9
This six week class focuses on a mock crime scene, which the students solve. The first session includes a quick overview of the initial crime scene and an examination of the first batch of evidence. The students will be able to begin formulating ideas of what they will ask for in future evidence releases. The students will then receive a full set of documents and images dealing with the first stage of the scene. The second session will be a discussion of the students’ findings from the first batch of information, along with their questions and requests for additional information and a look at the second batch of documents. During this meeting, we will discuss three other locations/events that follow our initial crime scene event. The students will begin to examine whether we have connections between these events or if they are merely coincidental. The third meeting will focus on crime scene reconstruction and creating viable scenarios with the evidence we have. Any additional information that the students request will be sent out within one day of this session. This session will also include some initial questioning of suspects and witnesses. The final session will be the questioning phase, where the students will solve the case and determine exactly what happened. I teach several classes on Forensic Science with Outschool, and I also teach Forensic Science at a college in New York. I regularly create mock crime scenes as a part of my forensic science teaching and training programs. The scenes are multilayered and challenging. I make sure to encourage the students to challenge their assumptions and look at situations in different ways. I also can assure all families that the scenes are age appropriate and never include any questionable content. The scene in this class is my most complex one, and has been used with my online classes in the past. It is set in a fictional natural history museum associated with a university.
Other Details
Supply List
I will e-mail a full set of all documents from our crime scene at the start of the class, with instructions to provide the students with specific batches of documents for each meeting.
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Joined January, 2017
4.9
1204reviews
Teacher expertise and credentials
I have been teaching for over 25 years, and focusing on forensic science classes and programs for middle school through college-age students since 2005. For the past ten years, I have also been teaching a variety of online courses, including space science, climate change, writing, introduction to law, constitutional law, history, unsolved crimes, U.S. elections, U.S. government, and geography. I have a J.D. (Law) from the University of Michigan, as well as B.A. and M.A. degrees in history, and extensive graduate education in geography and forensic science. I spent 11 years as an attorney focusing on evidence, immigration for world leaders in medicine and science, and asylum for refugees. I have also taught at the college level since 2000, in subjects including atmospheric science, physical geography, human geography, U.S. history, Humanities, criminal justice, forensic science, law and ideology, and unsolved crimes. My most recent college teaching was at SUNY Empire State College (now University) in a variety of forensic science courses and Unsolved Crimes. I have written a course manual for forensic science which is used by high school and college students, and has been picked up by a college in Europe.
My teaching style can best be described as a Socratic quest for thought. By this, I mean that the most important thing to me is to get my students thinking. It is much more important for a student to develop their critical and analytical thinking skills than to recite a list of facts. The greatest comment I ever got on a student evaluation was a college student who wrote that I was the first teacher who really wanted him to think. I recognize the differences in abilities, interests, and backgrounds in my students, and tailor my questions and challenges to maximize each student's experience.
I'd like to share a few more details about me to explain more of who I am. I am a writer, and I have 7 volumes of a kids' fantasy series called the Guardians of Elestra. Homeschooled kids who are interested get the first two chapters of a new book before it is published to give me feedback, and they learn about the revising and editing processes. I'm also a homeschooling parent (since 2002) and I lead groups focused on homeschooling with chronic illness. Our family has had to deal with long-term health issues, and I want to help others who are just getting their feet wet in this area as well. Finally, I have training in voice acting, which is another area of teaching in which my course offerings are expanding.Reviews
Live Group Class
$90
for 6 classes1x per week, 6 weeks
60 min
Completed by 183 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 12-17
3-15 learners per class
