The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kids learn crime-solving basics via science center
It’s not just grown-ups who are fascinated with CS I shows and real-crime dramas. The kids are just as drawn to the elements of mysteries and are eager to learn the knack of solving them. So it was no surprise to Tonya Shearer when 18 showed up at the Milton library in May for a workshop on crime-scene techniques.
“CSI is pretty popular,” said Shearer, director of the Discover Science Center in Roswell. “And it’s a program they offer in many high schools as an elective. We looked at the Fulton County district’s curriculum to see what courses students needed or might be
interested in, and forensic science was one of them.”
The Center conducts after-school programs, day camps, field trips, spring break classes and workshops for home-schoolers that are centered around science. The facility recently added a STEM lab with equipment designed with middle school
ers in mind. Shearer and her team have also partnered with libraries around the northside to offer STEM workshops for Girl Scouts working on merit badges and for kids who just want to explore.
And what they love to explore is anything related to crime scenes, Shearer said. The CSI workshops blend forensic science investigation with analysis.
“I’m a geneticist by training, so we started with genetic analysis — DNA — and expanded tofi fingerprinting ,” she said .“For the Milton workshop, we focused on
the science of finger prints — the different ways they’ re
analyzed and the role they play in the science of solving mysteries. We also looked at thre different types of print evidence and saw how they were formed and how differ-ent teach one was. We also looked at DNA sequences and showed how, on a computer, you can match them.”
Students took their own finger prints, recorded impressions and findings in lab notebooks and compared each other’s prints.
“We also dust for prints, looking for latent ones you can’t see,” said Shearer. “Sometimes I even do a mini crime scene, and they have to fifigure out who did it.”
The goal of the programs is to bring science to life. “We try to do as much real science as wec an,” said Shearer. “We have students use the real tools — the real brushes to
dust for prints, for example. Hands-on science is our specialty, even when it makes
big, giant messes.”
The May workshop was the fifirst time the Discovery Center and the Milton library worked together, and Assistant Branch Manager Liane Wagner was pleased with the turnout and the enthusiasm level of the kids, ages 6 through 12.
“The kids were really excited; they love anything hands on, and their parents get excited about STEM stuff,” she said. “We like to try new things, and this CSI workshop was a lot of fun.”
It’s no wonder, said Shearer.
“They love gore; they like themurder scenes,” she said. “I try not to go there, but it does get them thinking, working with their hands and using logic to explore. And
that’s always a good thing.”