News

At the end of the summer term, ten children from Bidborough primary school graduated from their Children's University Scheme. The children had visited TWGGS once each half term since September and they completed a course in Forensic Science.

 

In the first session they were presented with a crime scene...a trophy had been stolen and the school cat Buzz was missing. Like true forensic scientists, they entered the crime scene wearing PPE in order not to contaminate it. They found fingerprints, footprints, hair, blood, snot, mystery liquids and powders and a ransom note! They carefully took samples of each.

 

Over the next five sessions they used a variety of techniques to analyse these samples. In order to do this they had to use equipment in the lab including bunsen burners to identify the mystery solids, microscopes to identify fibres and hair, and pipettes and indicators to identify the mystery liquids. They also learned how to use chromatography to analyse ink in pens and they were very successful at extracting DNA from the blood and snot samples found at the crime scene! In the final session they put all the evidence together to find out that the trophy had been stolen by the chemistry lab technician and Buzz had been held ransom as a joke by the Headmistress! 

 

Thank you very much to Mrs Truman for all her hard work on this scheme, and for running such interesting, fun sessions.