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News & Photos
Sophomores, St. Ignatius Loyola Students Solve Forensic Mystery
A total of 98 students--50 SILA seventh- and eighth-graders and 48 McDonogh sophomores--carefully collected and bagged the evidence, probing through the leaves to be sure they didn't miss anything. Some took plaster casts of distinctive footprints, while others used tweezers to grasp fibers and hairs.
Back in the chemistry lab, teams dusted for fingerprints, analyzed shoe impressions, compared soil samples, tested unknown powders, and examined fibers and hairs under the microscope. They compared their samples with clothing and other personal effects from the five suspects.
Honors chemistry teacher Jean Orlando packages labs and assignments as forensic mysteries because she finds that they really inspire students. She and SILA science teachers Mark Gormley and Theresa Scott designed coordinating forensic science activities for their respective classes this fall, but it was Orlando who organized the mock investigation with help from some her of students.
"It's between Sue Shee and Marcia Melloe," declared SILA seventh-grader Milton C. halfway through the process. Nick M. '04, identified Melloe. "We found red string in our crime scene. Marcia was wearing something that had the same red string. Everything else that we found didn't match anyone but Brock Lee [the suspect]."
"It was a lot of fun because we got to use all the techniques we've learned," said Heidi P. '04. Added Milton, "I liked everything we did here, because it was kind of like a game."
Was the McDonogh-SILA teamwork effective? "They helped us as much as we helped them," said Allison H. '04 of her SILA partners. Seventh-grader Renaud B. commented, "I got to be friends with a lot of McDonogh students and I got to have fun."
So, who really did it? Nick was right. Marcia Melloe committed the crime.
A total of 98 students--50 SILA seventh- and eighth-graders and 48 McDonogh sophomores--carefully collected and bagged the evidence, probing through the leaves to be sure they didn't miss anything. Some took plaster casts of distinctive footprints, while others used tweezers to grasp fibers and hairs.
Back in the chemistry lab, teams dusted for fingerprints, analyzed shoe impressions, compared soil samples, tested unknown powders, and examined fibers and hairs under the microscope. They compared their samples with clothing and other personal effects from the five suspects.
Honors chemistry teacher Jean Orlando packages labs and assignments as forensic mysteries because she finds that they really inspire students. She and SILA science teachers Mark Gormley and Theresa Scott designed coordinating forensic science activities for their respective classes this fall, but it was Orlando who organized the mock investigation with help from some her of students.
"It's between Sue Shee and Marcia Melloe," declared SILA seventh-grader Milton C. halfway through the process. Nick M. '04, identified Melloe. "We found red string in our crime scene. Marcia was wearing something that had the same red string. Everything else that we found didn't match anyone but Brock Lee [the suspect]."
"It was a lot of fun because we got to use all the techniques we've learned," said Heidi P. '04. Added Milton, "I liked everything we did here, because it was kind of like a game."
Was the McDonogh-SILA teamwork effective? "They helped us as much as we helped them," said Allison H. '04 of her SILA partners. Seventh-grader Renaud B. commented, "I got to be friends with a lot of McDonogh students and I got to have fun."
So, who really did it? Nick was right. Marcia Melloe committed the crime.