6th Grade

updated 03/16/2026

6th Grade GATE – Winter 2026 Highlights

Sixth graders began their forensics unit in December, and it has quickly become a student favorite. Forensic science uses scientific methods and evidence to investigate events and answer questions related to legal cases, historical mysteries, or unidentified individuals.

Students explored eyewitness testimony and learned that memory is not always reliable. Studies show that eyewitness misidentification has contributed to about 70% of wrongful convictions later overturned through DNA evidence. Students tested their own memories through a recall activity and discovered how stress and hearing others' accounts can influence what we remember.

Students also learned about fingerprinting and how to identify unique features such as ridges and deltas. One highlight was taking their own fingerprints on balloons and inflating them to observe the patterns up close.

The unit also introduced students to Frances Glessner Lee, often called the mother of modern forensic science. Lee created detailed miniature crime scene models used to train investigators to carefully observe evidence and reconstruct events.

Most recently, students analyzed evidence to solve the fictional Union Bank Robbery, putting their developing detective skills to the test.

Students also enjoyed the 6th and 7th Grade Convocation on February 27, where they heard from entrepreneur Ali Taylor, participated in an epidemiology lab with Liberty Science Center, and completed a design challenge with Carol Lang of Carol Lang Designs.

The forensics unit will continue through the end of the third marking period.