Mission Possible Lab

Crime Scenario

It was a late Tuesday night when the police were called to a nightmare on Stewart Street. An anonymous call had led them to the biology lab at Oxford High School where they found a dead body. It did not take the police long to identify the victim as the popular physics teacher known as Roy "Gumby" Bennett.

The bloody body was found locked in the chemical storage room with a Gumby mask covering his head. Based on their previous experiences in the technical biochemistry lab , the O.H.S. student forensic team was contacted to obtain blood, hair, fibers, fingerprints and an unknown powder sample as crime scene evidence. Blood was carried to the school serology lab to be typed and then fingerprinted using a technological advancement called gel electrophoresis. Hair fragments and fibers were collected to be microscopically analyzed in the biology lab. Lifted fingerprints would be analyzed. Tests for the naming of the unknown powder would be conducted using microchemistry methods.

While the team worked on their forensic analysis, the Oxford Police Department narrowed the suspect list to five school employees.

Listed were:

• Martee Morris, a conscientious custodian and keeper of the keys to all doors.
• Jane Batey, the vocational director seen in the building after 4:00 p.m.
• Glennis Parris, the home economics teacher having access to cutting utensils.
• Lisa Robertson, the biology teacher last seen in the room where the body was found.
• Valrie Bain, an assumed friend and co-worker of the deceased who was overheard saying physics was second to chemistry.

Within one week the student forensic team had cracked the case. Their research had enabled the police to charge a suspect with the crime. The following is a record of their efforts.

Index

• Modus Operandi Worksheet
• Blood Lab
• Unknown Powder Lab and Hair Lab
• Gel Electrophoresis Lab
• Writing Assignment
• Credits
• Home

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