Lesson 1.1: Investigating the Scene

Lesson 1.1: Investigating the Scene

Preface

This lesson sets the stage for the theme of the Principles of Biomedical Science™ course and is meant to be an engagement opportunity to excite the students about the study of biomedical sciences. In the first unit, students are introduced to a woman, Anna Garcia, who is found dead in her home. Students investigate the scene, gather evidence, and then move to the lab to analyze their findings in order to determine her manner of death. In each subsequent unit of the course, students obtain additional medical history information for Anna as well as details from her autopsy report as they explore the various illnesses she encountered throughout her life. Students will maintain a medical file for Anna Garcia, compile their ideas and findings over the duration of the course, and ultimately determine her cause of death in the final unit.

Because this is the foundation lesson for the course, the students are introduced to several tasks that will be repeated throughout this course and all the courses in the PLTW Biomedical Science Program. In this lesson students are introduced to the use of laboratory and career journals and Inspiration® software. Students also learn how to set up an experiment and how to properly document sources.

In the first activity,students are introduced to the mysterious death of Anna Garcia.They play the role of crime scene investigators to examine key information gathered from interviews of friends, family members, and people of interest, as well as examine the scene for clues. Next they play the role of forensic scientists to analyze each piece of evidence collected from the crime scene in order to try to determine what happened at Anna’s house and to identify potential suspects. Finally, they will design and perform an experiment to investigate how height affects bloodstain patterns and use the results to determine the height that caused the bloodstain patterns found at Anna’s house.

Understandings

Principles of Biomedical Science can be used to investigate the circumstances surrounding a mysterious death.
Experiments are designed to find answers to testable questions.

Knowledge and Skills

It is expected that students will:

Recognize that processing a crime scene involves purposeful documentation of the conditions at the scene and the collection of any physical evidence.
Describe how evidence at a crime scene, such as blood, hair, fingerprints, and shoeprints can help forensic investigators determine what might have occurred and help identify or exonerate potential suspects.
Recognize that bloodstain patterns left at a crime scene can help investigators establish the events that took place during the crime.
Recognize that all external variables in an experiment need to be controlled.
Analyze key information gathered at a simulated crime scene.
Design a controlled experiment.
Graph and analyze experimental data to determine the height associated with bloodstain patterns.

Essential Questions

What can be done at a scene of a mysterious death to help reconstruct what happened?
How do the clues found at a scene of a mysterious death help investigators determine what might have occurred and help identify or exonerate potential suspects?
How do scientists design experiments to find the most accurate answer to the question they are asking?
How are bloodstain patterns left at a crime scene used to help investigators establish the events that took place during a crime?

Day-to-Day Activities

Monday

Group Activity
Forms
Who Knew? (Question 1-4) Getting to Know You
About the Course

Tuesday

Group Activity
Safety Video
PPE
Give Me 5 (5 things about the class)
Who Knew? (Question 5 and 6) Getting to Know You

Wednesday

Group Activity
Safety Quiz
LMS Registration and File Setup

Thursday

Group Activity
The teacher asks Essential Questions 1 and 2.
The teacher distributes the Course Materials Organization Resource Sheetand PBS Course File – Table of Contents and students complete Part I: Course Materials Organization to set up electronic files to be used throughout the course.

Friday

Group Activity
The teacher introduces and distributes Activity 1.1.1 A Mysterious Death.
The teacher introduces the Inspiration® software and demonstrates the basic functions of the software.
The teacher distributes the Inspiration Resource Guide.
Students complete Part II: Processing a Crime Scene Concept Map of Activity 1.1.1.
The teacher reviews the appropriate Key Terms.

Standards and Benchmarks Addressed

National Science Education Standards

Unifying Concepts and Processes: / As a result of activities in grades K-12, all students should develop understanding and abilities aligned with the following concepts and processes:

Systems, order, and organization

Types and levels of organization provide useful ways of thinking about the world.

Evidence, models, and explanation

Evidence consists of observations and data on which to base scientific explanations.
Models are tentative schemes or structures that correspond to real objects, events, or classes of events, and that have explanatory power.
Scientific explanations incorporate existing scientific knowledge and new evidence from observations, experiments, or models into internally consistent, logical statements.

Change, constancy, and measurement

Scale includes understanding that different characteristics, properties, or relationships within a system might change as its dimensions are increased or decreased.

Standard A: Science As Inquiry: / As a result of activities in grades 9-12, all students will develop:

Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry

Identify questions and concepts that guide scientific investigation.
Design and conduct scientific investigations.
Use technology and mathematics to improve investigations and communications.
Formulate and revise scientific explanations and models using logic and evidence.
Recognize and analyze alternative explanations and models.
Communicate and defend a scientific argument.

Understandings about scientific inquiry

Scientists conduct investigations for a variety of reasons.
Scientific explanations must adhere to criteria such as: a proposed explanation must be logically consistent; it must abide by the rules of evidence; it must be open to questions and possible modification; and it must be based on historical and current scientific knowledge.
Results of scientific inquiry—new knowledge and methods—emerge from different types of investigations and public communication among scientists.

Standard B: Physical Science / As a result of activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop an understanding of—

Chemical reactions

Chemical reactions occur all around us, for example health care, cooking, cosmetics, and automobiles. Complex chemical reactions involving carbon-based molecules take place constantly in every cell in our bodies.

Standard E: Science and Technology / As a result of activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop—

Abilities of technological design

Identify a problem or design an opportunity.
Propose designs and choose between alternative solutions.
Communicate the problem, process, and solution.

Understandings about science and technology

Scientists in different disciplines ask different questions, use different methods of investigation, and accept different types of evidence to support their explanations.
Creativity, imagination, and a good knowledge base are all required in the work of science and engineering.

Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives / As a result of activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop understanding of—

Personal and community health

Hazards and potential for accidents exist.

Standard G: History and Nature of Science / As a result of activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop understanding of—

Nature of scientific knowledge

Because all scientific ideas depend on experimental and observational confirmation, all scientific knowledge is, in principle, subject to change as new evidence becomes available.

Principles and Standards for School Mathematics

Measurement: / Instructional programs from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 should enable all students to:

Understand measurable attributes of objects and the units, systems, and processes of measurement.
Apply appropriate techniques, tools, and formulas to determine measurements.

Data Analysis and Probability / Instructional programs from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 should enable all students to:

Formulate questions that can be addressed with data and collect, organize, and display relevant data to answer them
Develop and evaluate inferences and predictions that are based on data.

Problem Solving / Instructional programs from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 should enable all students to:

Solve problems that arise in mathematics and other contexts.
Apply and adapt a variety of appropriate strategies to solve problems.

National Health Care Cluster Foundation Standards

Communications / Healthcare professionals will know the various methods of giving and obtaining information. They will communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
Accountability Criteria 2.1 / Concepts of Effective Communication

Interpret verbal and nonverbal communication.
Report subjective and objective information.
Apply speaking and active listening skills.

Accountability Criteria 2.3 / Written Communication Skills

Recognize elements of written and electronic communication (spelling, grammar, formatting and confidentiality).

Teamwork / Healthcare professionals will understand the roles and responsibilities of individual members as part of the healthcare team, including their ability to promote the delivery of quality healthcare. They will interact effectively and sensitively will all members of the healthcare team.
Accountability Criteria 8.1 / Healthcare Teams

Understand roles and responsibilities of team members

Accountability Criteria 8.2 / Team Member Participation

Recognize methods for building positive team relationships.
Apply effective techniques for managing team conflict.

Information Technology Applications / Healthcare professionals will use information technology applications required within all career specialties. They will demonstrate use as appropriate to healthcare applications.
Accountability Criteria 11.2 / Information Technology

Communicate using technology (fax, e-mail, and Internet) to access and distribute data and other information.

Standards for the English Language Arts

Standard 4: / Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g. conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
Standard 5: / Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
Standard 7: / Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g. print and non-print texts, artifacts, and people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
Standard 8: / Students use a variety of technological and informational resources (e.g. libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
Standard 11: / Students participate as knowledgeable reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
Standard 12: / Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g. for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

National Educational Technology Standards (ISTE)

Creativity and Innovation / Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processesusing technology. Students:

apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.
create original works as a means of personal or group expression.
use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues.
identify trends and forecast possibilities.

Research and Information Fluency / Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students:

plan strategies to guide inquiry.
locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources andmedia.
evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks.
process data and report results.

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making / Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and makeinformed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. Students:

identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation.
plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project.
collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions.
use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions.

Standards for Technological Literacy

Standard 12 / Students will develop the abilities to use and maintain technological products and systems.
BM P / Use computers and calculators to access, retrieve, organize, process, maintain, interpret, and evaluate data and information in order to communicate.

Principles of Biomedical ScienceLesson 1.1 Investigating the Scene – Page 1