Tues January 25: Fingerprinting - Are You Arch, Loop or Whorl?

Today was Dr. Wang's birthday, and a perfect day for the Junior Detectives to have some fun learning all about fingerprint evidence!

Before we got started with the fingerprinting, we took another look at our mystery seeds which are still growing in the classroom. To be a good scientist and a good detective - you need to look carefully and patiently at your evidence, and you need to take notes and to ask and answer questions!

QUESTION: WOULD THE SEEDS BE TALLER THAN LAST WEEK?
OBSERVATION: YES!!

  Mystery Seedling Observations Week3:

• The seedlings look very different from each other
• The tallest are about 20 centimeters tall, that's as wide as Dr Wang's hand from pinky to thumb
• Some seedlings are still short, about 5 centimeters tall
• A few still have their "seed hats" on them.
• There is still mold on top of some of the soil
• The leaves are also different shapes and sizes

NEXT TIME QUESTION: The junior detectives want to know if the seedlings will have flowers next week? Can we begin to tell what kind of plants they are yet?

Detective Work Using Plants

We talked about how scientists can often use the patterns of seeds (as well as soil, and insects) to tell where a person, animal or object has been. For example, if you dog ran away and then came home and he had a certain kind of prickly seed on his coat, such as a chestnut seed, you would know that he had been in an area with chestnut trees! This area of detective science is called: Forensic botany



CASE3: The Case of the Fingerprint Party!

The Junior Detectives had some really colorful fun as they practiced making and identifying their own fingerprints are one of the 3 main types: ARCH, LOOP AND WHORL

THESE ARE THE MAIN FINGERPRINT TYPES:

You inherit the general shape of the print from your parents, but the exact number and angle of lines also called dermal ridges are individualized and shaped before you are born. Even identical twins do not have exactly the same shapes of prints.

At home, compare your prints with your brother and sisters' and also your parents'. Arches are the rarest of the prints, only about 5% of all people have them, Loops are the most common 65% and whorls are about 30% of all prints. There are a lot of subtypes of prints, but these are the general shapes

MAKING AND FBI-style  FINGERPRINT CARD WITH DIRECT INKED PRINTS! 

DO YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FBI AND SOME OF THE HISTORY OF FINGERPRINTING?
Click here FBI KIDS PAGE: TOUR OF THE FBI

Next we dusted the room for LATENT PRINTS. 

These are fingerprints found at crime scenes which are usually invisible to the eye because they are made from the oils in your skin. Latent prints can be made visible by dusting the surface with a color contrasted color (white talcum powder for black tables and black charcoal for white tables, for example)


FUN FACT: We learned that kid's latent prints are temporary because their sweat glands on their fingers secrete more water than oil. So if you are looking for a latent print from a baby or a child you have to get it fast or it will disappear. Adult prints have a lot more oil, so they can be lifted a long time after they are made on a surface

Free picture collage created with Smilebox

What the CSI Video below to learn about latents and see who you can dust for prints:





THE JDC members created the Mystery Picture Below...
Can you tell what it is??

NEXT TIME: We will begin to work with DNA next week! What is DNA? You can learn a bit about DNA online by going to this cool CSI for families website. Ask you mom or dad first and then check out CSI's online biology lab for junior scientist. Just click on the link below to go to the CSI Biology Lab online....


CSI Biology LAB For Kids

NEXT TIME QUESTION: WHAT IS DNA? WHY IS DNA LIKE A FINGERPRINT?


TAKE THE CSI: The Experience Web Adventure Scavenger Hunt to test your detective skills. JUST CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

CSI Scavenenger Hunt


POWERS OF TEN  - WHERE IS DNA ON THIS?
Powers of Ten: Really far away and really really close up

JDC Tuesday January 18: THE CASE OF TRACE EVIDENCE

Despite more snowy weather, the JDC had their second meeting yesterday in Dr. Wang's Classroom at Springside. First thing that we did was to examine the "mystery seeds" from last week. What a surprise! Most, but not all of the seeds, had germinated into seedlings. Dr. Wang kept the paper towels in the petri dishes moist all week and the plants had started to grow, The junior detectives had a lot of excellent observations and questions such as:

1. Why was there gray fuzzy mold on some of the seeds?

2. Why didn't all of the seeds germinate?
3. Some of the seed shells were stuck on the leaves of the baby plants. How would they come off and when?

Next we planted the seedlings into fresh potting soil mixed with sand and vermiculite. The silvery vermiculite was there to give the soil more air pockets to allow their roots to have oxygen from the air.

PLANTING THE SEEDLINGS INTO SOIL

NEXT TIME QUESTIONS:

1. How big will the seeds be next week (they are less than half an inch now)?

2. Will we be able to tell which is which? (carrot, basil, sunflower seed, zinnia etc?)

*******************************************************************************

We then started:   THE CASE OF THE TRACE EVIDENCE:

What is TRACE EVIDENCE??
....one of the first things that happens at a real crime scene is that police need to keep curious spectators from walking on or near it. This is because of trace evidence (soil particles, fibers from clothing, fingerprints, hair - really really small stuff) is so critical to solving the crime.

The LOCARD EXCHANGE PRINCIPLE is very important to solving crime and it says that
whenever an individual is in a particular place like you on your bed. Part of you says at the scene, like your hair on the pillow and part if the scene goes with you, like blanket fuzz from your blanket or cat hair from your cat that sleeps with you. By carefully examining the trace evidence, detectives can tell a story or paint an imaginary picture of what may have happened in a place and who may have been there.

TRACE EVIDENCE COLLECTION GEAR:

During the second half of class, we got our trace collecting gear (see picture above) and took a trip to the Springside Upper School Library to gather trace evidence there.







Ask your junior detective what they found from this list:

• a bug
• tiny round paper bits
• pink and red flower petals
• popcorn
• hair
• snack crumbs

We determined that even though the students are not SUPPOSED to eat in the library, the trace evidence would suggest that they do!!!

 Science CHAT:

About Guinea Pigs

We also chatted about Dr. Wang's classroom guinea pigs- who are in cages in the back of the room. Their names are Cinnabon, Lunny and Chester and they were adopted from the SPCA back in September. Cinnabon likes to whistle when we are in class bc he knows that when he does this in the morning I will bring them treats. Maybe you already know this, but guinea pigs communicate with each other and with humans using a variety of sounds. Visit this link to hear three different guinea pig sounds, and visit the SPCA or animal shelter near you,  if you and your family would like to adopt a wonderful pet!

 Click here to learn more about Guinea Pig Sounds and Behavior










NEXT WEEK:

We examine the trace evidence under light microscopes and we begin our next CASE

WHOSE FINGER PRINTS ARE WHOSE?

Is it true that your fingerprints are exactly like your parents?????

Watch this 5 min MythBusters Episode segment about Fingerprinting to get ready for
next week's fun:



Junior Detectives Hard At Work!!

JDC Week 1: The Mystery of Seeds

Tuesday January 11 was the first meeting of the Junior Detectives Club: An after school enrichment course offered by the Springside School afterschool center

taught by Upper School Science teacher Kim Eberle-Wang.

Our first Case involved the Mystery of Seeds. Our team of junior detectives sorted seeds which had been carelessly mixed into sand. There are six different kinds of seeds in the mix: carrot, lettuce, zinnia, sunflower, basil and peas. The students observed the seeds using all of their senses, sorted them and then placed them in petri dishes in the conditions - light, warmth and water to hopefully make them begin to grow or germinate! See Discovery Science online: How Do Seeds Germinate?

The different type of seeds all look different from each other now. Will they continue to look different when they germinate?

Will they germinate by next week's club meeting? Stay tuned to find out.....


A Picture of the Seeds in the Incubator Taken on Friday -
4 days later...showed this exciting finding:

In the mean time...check into this blog to see pictures from the class and to find links to cool websites and videos that you can look at with your junior detectives when they get home.  Ask them to explain to you what they are doing in the pictures....

This free digital collage made with Smilebox

JDC Science Chat:

We also had time to talk a bit about sand and rocks this week.
How is sand made?
Why do different types of sand look different?

We learned than quite a few of the junior detectives have collections of rocks, fossils, shells and sand at home..If you would like to send any of these into the class on any Tuesday - feel free to send in a "show and tell object".

Teaching about something that you have at home is always a great way to help yourself and others learn more about science. This week I shared some rocks and sand that came from Mt Aetna in Italy.


Check out the Bill Nye the Science Guy Video below for More about Geology




NEXT WEEK's JDC Mystery: The Case of The Trace Evidence 

When we learn how to use a light microscope to observe
sample of tiny evidence collected in different places
around the school and to interpret what they might mean about
what happens in those locations