Education Technology

These engaging activities have students solving crimes with TI-Nspire™ technology and Vernier Software & Technology™ data collection sensors! As students explore the case files,  they become student investigators- solving mysteries by collecting and analyzing data with the built-in Vernier DataQuest™ app for TI-Nspire™. These highly engaging activities will not only spark curiosity, but will challenge students to use math and science to solve real-world problems.

Forensics: Case Files Classroom ActivitiesTypeDownload
Investigations
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Forensics with TI-Nspire™ - Case File: Tracks of a Killer

In this activity, students will analyze the relationship between shoe size, stride length, and height, and then use that information to identify the killer.
Download642
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Forensics with TI-Nspire™ - Case File: Bouncing Back

In this activity, students will be using the motion sensor as a sonar detector, through air to locate and identify a missing object in a box.
Download424
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Forensics with TI-Nspire™ - Case File: Name That Tune

In this activity, students will analyze sound waves to calculate the frequency, or pitch, of musical notes.
Download329
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Forensics with TI-Nspire™ - Case File: Flipping Coins

In this activity, students will explore the concept of density and use it to distinguish between pennies minted in different years.
Download375
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Forensics with TI-Nspire™ - Case File: The Ink is Still Wet

In this activity, students will use colorimetry to identify inks as unique mixtures of pigments.

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Forensics with TI-Nspire™ - Case File: Drug Tests

In this activity, students will attempt to identify an unknown “drug” as they explore the differences between chemical and physical properties and between qualitative and quantitative observations.

Download405
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Forensics with TI-Nspire™ - Case File: No Dumping

In this activity, students will investigate the importance of soils and other trace evidence in connecting victims, crime scenes, and suspects.

Download407
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Forensics with TI-Nspire™ - Case File: A Killer Cup of Coffee

In this activity, students will use colorimetry to calculate the concentration of an unknown solution by measuring how it absorbs a specific wavelength of light.

Download520
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Forensics with TI-Nspire™ - Case File: Dropped at the Scene

This lab introduces students to the science behind blood spatter analysis. It also provides an opportunity for students to explore curve fitting and can extended to use r2 values (optional) to determine the most appropriate curve fit for the data set.

Download485
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Forensics with TI-Nspire™ - Case File: Ashes to Ashes

In this activity, students will learn that evaporation rate is a characteristic property of a liquid. Based on this fact, they will identify the solution and the likely accelerant in a case of arson.
Download368
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Forensics with TI-Nspire™ - Case File: Hit and Run

In this activity, students will learn displacement, velocity, and acceleration are related quantities. Students will explore how patterns in one measurement can be used to predict patterns in the others.

Download655
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Forensics with TI-Nspire™ - Case File: Life in the Fast Lane

In this activity, students will investigate the coefficient of friction and use it to determine the speed of a vehicle from the distance of its skid.

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Forensics with TI-Nspire™- Case File: Hot Air, Cold Body

In this activity, students will use Newton’s Law of Cooling to determine the time of death at a crime scene.
Download720