Alejandro’s Dilemma
Alejandro woke up and jumped out of bed as soon as t he alarm went off. He felt great and met up with his friend, Jose. Together they walked by a field of Cottonwoods, Pine and Cedar trees on their way to school. Immediately Alejandro began to sneeze and his eyes started to water. Jose asked him, “What’s the matter with you?” Alejandro answered, “I don’t know. I was fine when I got up this morning."
Case Analysis
- Recognize potential issues and major topics in the case. What is this case about?
Underline terms or phrases that seem to be important to understanding this case. Then list 3-4 science-related topics or issues in the case.
- What specific questions do you have about these topics? First, by yourself, and then in a group, make a list what you already know that is related to the case in the “What Do I Know?” column. List questions you would like to learn more about in “What Do I Need to Know?” column.
What Do I Know? What Do I Need to Know?
- Put a check mark by questions in the “What do I need to know?” list that you think are most important to explore.
Case #2-Forensics Case
The Case of the Missing Statue
Tony is an investigator working for the College Station police department. Tuesday morning he gets a phone call. “Hello?” asked Tony.
“Morning, Tony.” Sarah said.
“Good morning, Sarah.” he replied.
“Sorry to wake you on your day off”, said Sarah, “but can you come down to the Texas A&M campus?”
“Why, what’s going on?” Tony asked.
“Well, Tony, it looks like someone broke into the Sam Houston Sanders Corps of Cadets Center and stole the statue of Reveille, the Texas A&M mascot” she replied.
“Wow, who would do such a thing?” asked Tony
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out”, she said, “Can you come down as soon as possible?”
“No problem, I’ll be there in 10 minutes!” Tony responded as he checked his watch.
Fifteen minutes later, Tony pulls up to the crime scene. He notices Sarah walking to meet him.
“Sorry I’m late, Sarah. Traffic was bad this morning.”
“No problem Tony, I’m just glad you made it” said Sarah. “This is what we have so far, the only evidence we’ve found is a small piece of cloth found near the crime scene”
“Was there anything special about the cloth?” Tony asked.
“Well, so far we’ve found some kind of grass clippings, sand, mud and pollen stuck to it” said Sarah. “Oh, we also know the statue was there at 2 a.m. and discovered missing around 6 a.m.”
“Any suspects?” asked Tony
“Actually, we have a list of eight possible suspects who were spotted near the scene between 2 and 6 this morning” said Sarah. “Let’s go for a ride and check them out.”
After spending the day interviewing the eight suspects and collecting evidence on each one, Tony and Sarah narrowed the list to four possible suspects.
“The only thing that connects these four suspects to the crime is the fibers and pollen found on their clothes” explained Sarah.
“Well Sarah, let’s take the evidence we’ve collected back to the lab and see what we can find” said Tony.
Students will be given 4 different prepared slides. Each slide is representative of elements found on 4 different suspects. Students should draw elements as seen on the slides. They should make a comparison of the 4 slides with the slide of material found at the crime scene to find a slide similar/identical to the crime scene.
SUSPECT 1
SUSPECT 2
SUSPECT 3
SUSPECT 4
