What started as an amusing joke for the seventh-graders in Brooke Hoffman's science class turned into an exciting pumpkin-themed lab for the students.
"I was carving a pumpkin in my room so the students could look at different parts under the microscope and they started calling me a pumpkin killer and a mad scientist," Mrs. Hoffman shared. "Then, they made Wanted posters with my name and picture on them. They carried on like this for several days, so I decided that I would play into their interest and do a CSI lab."
Ms. Hoffman called it "The Case of the Pumpkin Smasher."
"I chose three suspects and prepared two forensic labs that they could carry out to solve the crime," Mrs. Hoffman said. "I came in early and set up the crime scene using my pumpkin, which I had to smash on the floor, scissors, blood dripping from the scissors, and a note. I had fun smashing that pumpkin!"
When the students arrived, they used paper chromatography to figure out what pen was used to write the note left by the perpetrator. This eliminated one of the three suspects. Then, they did a blood typing lab to determine whose blood was left at the scene, which narrowed down the suspects to the one and only Dr. Trusty, Lausanne's Assistant Head of Middle School.
The Middle School students had some fall fun while experiencing what it is like to be a forensic scientist.
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