Isle kids will tackle
mock crimeStudents will take part in a program
that promotes forensics
About 25 Kamehameha Schools science students will collect clues, take photos and do DNA and other lab tests to solve a "Cafeteria Caper" next month for Court TV.
The crime will involve vandalism and a severed gas line in Chaminade University of Honolulu's Silver Sword Cafe. Students will investigate the mock crime scene and solve the mystery with scientific evidence.
The program is part of Court TV's "Forensics in the Classroom," a curriculum developed with the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and National Science Teachers Association.
Spurred by the popular "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" television series and Court TV, forensic science is "promoting science literacy in youth," said Justin Culley, Kamehameha Schools human anatomy, physiology, chemistry and forensic science teacher.
"It's such a draw for them," he said. "They're so into the idea of being criminologists, of solving a crime using science. It is a very powerful tool."
Culley will conduct the forensics class from 9:30 to 11 a.m. June 9 with Dr. Kanthi Von Guenthner, Honolulu's chief medical examiner, and M. Lee Goff, a nationally renowned forensic entomologist who chairs Chaminade's forensic science program.
A three-day forensic science educational conference co-sponsored by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Court TV and Chaminade will follow the forensic class June 10-12. About 100 middle and high school math and science teachers are expected at the conference, which will provide cutting-edge science they can use in their classrooms and labs.
Outdoor scene processing and decomposition, different laboratory workshops and a crime scene set-up will be included.
Goff said student interest in forensic sciences "is growing by leaps and bounds," with about 80 undergraduates majoring in the field at Chaminade and another group that hasn't declared a major yet.
Job opportunities in forensic sciences are "just skyrocketing," he said. "They're scraping now to fill positions."
He noted studies that have shown American youth don't rank very high in math and sciences.
"Part of it seems to be students get a little afraid of it," he said. "It's presented to them that it's going to be hard, they're going to have trouble with it. At the same time, they're fascinated by 'CSI' and Court TV and they'd like to get into this."
Goff is a consultant for the CBS crime series "CSI" and "CSI: Miami."
"The whole field has just exploded," he said. "Five or six years ago if I was told the No. 1 rated show on prime-time TV would star an entomologist poking around dead bodies, I would still be laughing."
Goff, author of "A Fly for the Prosecution: How Insect Evidence Helps Solve Crimes," is one of nine forensic entomologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Entomology.
He is oversight chairman for the forensic science conference, which he said is aimed at "trying to give teachers sneaky approaches to trap kids into studying math and science."
"What we're finding, if we give them a problem, they get intrigued trying to solve the crime," he said, and do a lot of science without realizing it. "It's not nearly as scary."
Wilson Sullivan, Chaminade forensic sciences teacher who helped to develop the Honolulu Police Department's scientific investigation section, will participate, as well as HPD officials and specialists from the Central Identification Lab at Hickam Air Force Base.
Goff said another intensive course will be held for teachers June 28 to July 2 on detection and recovery of human remains (using a pig).
Chaminade University
http://www.chaminade.edu/catalog/pdf/ForensicScience.pdf
Court TV
http://www.courttv.com/forensics_curriculum
American Academy of Forensic Sciences
http://www.aafs.org
National Science Teachers Association
http://www.nsta.org