Berkeley County Middle College High School issued the following announcement on January 19.
Students in Amy Campbell’s science class at Berkeley High put their knowledge of biological macromolecules to the test by solving a murder mystery during a recent lab.
The lab is from an “It’s Not Rocket Science” Curriculum packet.
Campbell said her students enjoyed doing “real science”; they used reagents to chemically test samples, and enjoyed running the tests/experiments they conducted.
Plus, it gave them a chance to see the real-life application of the lab.
“They were forensic pathologists for a day – for real,” she said.
Ingredients
- Evidence Sample
- Teachers have to prepare this in advance; instructions suggest blending everything in a blender and labeling it “crime scene evidence” when bringing the concoction into class – it creeps students out and makes it more fun.
- Blend together: can of unsweetened corn, cup of cooked pasta, half a cup of vegetable oil
- Student handouts – packets with questions and charts for them to fill out throughout the lab.
- From the chemical storage room:
- Benedict’s qualitative solution
- Lugol’s iodine
- Biuret test solution
- Sudan III solution
- Dextrose (optional)
- Test tube rack with four test tubes per group
- Positive control groups
- One test tube rack
- Four test tubes with water: a sugar sample with dextrose or some other simple sugar; a starch sample with cornstarch; a protein sample with egg yolk; and a lipid sample with vegetable oil.
- Negative control groups
- One test tube rack
- Four test tubes with just water
- Thermometer
- Hot water bath – hot plate, 500-1000 mL beaker, test tube tongs
- Small (250-300 mL) beaker – one per group
- Droppers – four for stations, one per group
- Positive control groups
Campbell made the sample and poured about 20 mL into a beaker for each group, and filled the rest with water to dilute the sample. She then set up five testing stations around the classroom.
Station One was the Simple Sugar Test with Benedict’s Solution. Station 2 was the Complex Sugar (Starch) Test using Lugol’s Iodine. Station 3 was the Protein Test using Biuret Solution. Station 4 was the Lipid Test using Sudan III Solution. Finally, Station 5 was for the “control” groups.
Campbell assigned groups of about three students. Her students read through the case as a class, and went over the steps they were to take to solve the murder mystery. She demonstrated each of the four tests by going through each one to create the positive and negative samples, which allowed students to see how to perform each test.
Then students got to work on solving the case, and were able to construct and revise their explanations using analysis of the data collected during the lab.
The outcome: students either supported or revised their hypothesis based on data analysis, and gave their explanation of who they thought the guilty suspect was and why.
Sloane Chinners, K-12 science coordinator for BCSD, got the opportunity to sit in on the lab and said she enjoyed watching the students delve into the experiment.
"Seeing the smiles on (the) students' faces, hearing them asking and answering questions, listening to their shrill shrieks as they observed the positive reactions within the test tube with Sudan III, these experiences made my science heart so happy," Chinners said, praising Campbell for her hard work. "Thank you for making these experiences happen for your students, even with all of the obstacles created by COVID. You are making a positive impact on so many lives. Your hard work does not go unnoticed."
Original source can be found here.
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