EDWARDSVILLE - Several Edwardsville High School students likely have a newfound respect for the difficulty of crime scene investigation after concluding a detailed project.
Multiple biology students participated in the Crime Scene Investigation Lab project that started with a day of literal probing at the scene, then lab work on Friday, Nov. 20, and more follow-up and conclusions on Monday, Nov. 23.
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The conclusion was the deceased victim died from a dog bite on his jugular vein and that caused blood to spatter showed on ground.
Advanced EHS biology teacher Julia Doll said the students found finger printing is not as easy as TV shows and also collecting and executing DNA tests is also not easy. This year, the students worked on a mock dead body covered with leaves and had to come to a conclusion how the person died with hair, DNA and other samples.
“The students discovered crimes are not solved in 30 minutes,” she said. “It is very technical to get answers to things. The students found it to be much harder than they expected. Most of this project uses deductive reasoning and also used some science skills, angles with blood splatter, a lot of math for plausible theory on what happened.”
On Friday, Nov. 20, the EHS students participated in a three-hour session in the morning and a three-hour afternoon session working on samples and the crime investigation.
“The students ran a DNA on the blood spatter, did finger print and hair analysis and did foot prints, casting shoes and also a urinalysis test,” Doll said. “The students know the dog and hair analysis of what was on the body were not human.”
Amanda Thrun led the EHS journalism students in the investigation. John Arendell, a student resource officer, also serves as a resource during the investigation to explain different parts of the process.
The CSI Lab included a cooperative effort of the Science Department, along with Theater Arts III, Journalism, School Resource Officers, and sometimes students from the Medical Occupations Class.
The Theater Arts III (Drama) students handled make-up, scene set-up and of course, the "dead" body.
Journalism students are also brought in for their assignment of investigative journalism. They acted as the reporters for the scene. Then, they are required to complete a follow-up assignment for their class. The journalism students coordinate the back-story with SRO officers. One of them is the "officer on scene" or "first responder." He tells them any information known at the time.
Doll said she enjoys the Crime Scene Investigation Lab project each year and working with the kids.
“I love to see leadership come out in the kids and cooperation and collaboration,” she said. “When you have 50 students all sitting in two rooms, you have to communicate and make presentations and talk through the facts. In the end you have to put it all together on whether or not you can provide the result or not.”
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