Forensic scientists are responsible for gathering evidence at a crime scene, doing an analysis on their findings, and reporting back to criminal investigators. Over the past couple of weeks, students in Mrs. Christina Cotreau’s and Ms. Jordyn Johnson’s forensic science classes have been working on creating a small scale version of a crime scene that could be investigated.

“My favorite aspect of this project is that the students get to be creative. I get to see them connect class material to something possible in the real world,” divulged Cotreau.

Students, organized into groups, started out with a box in the shape and size of their choice. They went on to use various dolls, decorative paper, and miniature accessories as evidence to their crime scene. Fake blood was also included to give their models a more realistic appearance.

“When students create the evidence for their crime scene, it helps them get a better understanding of how it’s collected, processed, and analyzed,” explained Cotreau.

There were endless possibilities as to what scenes that students could create, ranging from car accidents to gruesome murders. This allowed students to have more freedom in formulating a concept for their project. With that in mind, there were several inventive models that were produced.

“Our crime scene is about a boy in band who didn’t get the scholarship award he was hoping for, so he decided to kill all his enemies in band,” revealed senior Kymmy Stacks. “My favorite part of the assignment was probably disembodying the Barbie dolls.”

Stacks and senior Savannah Smith both created a grueling piece entitled “The Central Sound of Terror.” Their scene featured instrument cases containing body parts and a person hanging from a noose in another room.

The main goal of this task was to reinforce and reiterate all of the material that has been taught by Mrs. Cotreau and Ms. Johnson.

“For this project, we had to incorporate everything we had learned all year. For example, how we can tell that someone was killed with a shovel or an axe, or if someone died from suicide or murder. It was just a final product of everything I have learned over the past nine months,” explained Stacks.

This year’s forensic science students have yielded several detailed and imaginative investigations. Everyone is anticipating what other interesting creations students will be able to come up with in the years to come.