Laguna Blanca School Turns Into a Crime Scene Investigation for the Day

The entire class became Crime Scene Investigators to practice the critical thinking skills they have been developing and to apply the skills of investigation to real-world situations. This CSI-like adventure was a culminating Experiential Education project which is part of the 8th Grade TIEs (Thematic Interdisciplinary Explorations) program—specifically the Social Justice Unit. The project also reflects the new wave of creative project-based learning that has found firm footing in Laguna Blanca’s curriculum.

Eighth Grade Teachers of English, History, Science, Math, Fine Arts, Athletics and Health, Latin, Robotics, as well as Administrators have been working on the project since January to create an on-campus crime scene with teachers playing the roles of victim and suspects.

Special guests from the community included: Detective Joseph Schmidt from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, who investigated the 2013 computer thefts from both Vieja Valley and Laguna Blanca Schools. He made a special visit to the school to share with the students how the case was investigated and solved with the use of technology in modern forensics. Sergeant Dan McCammon provided a demo of the Sheriff’s Bomb Squad robotic equipment and talked to the kids about the kinds of forensic evidence retrieved after explosions. Students also had an opportunity to try on the bomb suit and protective wear.

This year’s “crime” took place at a fictional company set in Hope Ranch, California. The company had been involved in the production of biological and nuclear solutions to a number of global problems. It also had stored an experimental virus, which when tested on lab animals produced zombie-like behavior. A break-in occurred at the company, and the vials containing the virus were stolen, lab techs were infected, and the head of Human resources, who was just about to reveal the identity of the thief, was killed. Students had to figure out who the killer was and how to retrieve the dangerous vials, using their coding and robotics skills.

To crack the case, teams of students rotated through various campus locations including:
1. The Chemistry lab to perform conductivity and flame testing experiments
2. The Library to maneuver robots to try to retrieve vials of deadly viruses - booby trapped with faculty zombies
3. Middle School classrooms where students were challenged to solve a riddle using a kiddie pool, some water containers, and funnels, and research forensic psychology and analyze fingerprints and handwriting samples.

The student investigative groups then sifted through the evidence and the background information for each of the ten suspects and wrote up their conclusions. At a class meeting on Friday, May 13, they learned the true identity of the culprit, who was the nature-loving company CFO out to punish the corporation for the harm it had been doing to the environment. Students also were awarded certificates for their spectacular detective work.

Take a look at some photos from the crime scene here!