Forensics

Admittedly, I have little to no experience in forensics. However, thanks to École secondaire Oak Park High School, I have had the opportunity to teach a forensics course, as an optional science credit for students at any grade level. The course does have material from the Current Topics in Science curriculum for Manitoba, however the material is expanded upon for the duration of the course.

Students take notes for the first part of every unit, which provides them with foundational knowledge to refer to for the rest of the respective unit. Each subsequent class will have the students placed in table groups to perform experiments and record their observations. Since nearly every class requires recorded observations, there is a lot of assessment based on completion and recognizing patterns.

The final exam is a crime scene that students can observe in small groups and collect evidence to solve the crime by the end of the second day. The methods they use to collect evidence are all covered in class, though it will be up to each student to decide which method of analysis, and which pieces of evidence are relevant to presenting the appropriate outcome.

The following 20 topics are the units covered, with the final unit being the final exam: