GNS: Forensic Crime Sleuths at GTHS

This year at Grand Trunk High School, students have the opportunity to enroll in the Forensic Studies Elective Program. In the first semester, high school students from grades ten to twelve are able to take Forensic Studies 25 for three credits. Students can then take Forensic Studies 35 in the second semester to earn three thirty-level credits towards their high school diploma. Junior high students will have the opportunity to experience the field of forensic science through a CTF course in the second semester.

In the Forensic Science elective, students learned a variety of different skills and acquired a deep base of knowledge about evidence collection and analysis, as well as the ethical complexities that confront experts using forensics evidence to administer justice. Using hands-on activities, lab demonstrations, and experiential learning, students encountered the roles and responsibilities associated with forensics.

Students also explore career possibilities in the field of forensic science. As part of their career exploration, students were provided with a presentation from Ken Bruns, a retired Forensic Investigator and Detective from the Edmonton Police Service. He covered several different topics, including careers in forensics, the science used in investigations, and the types of equipment forensics investigators use. The presentation also included several demonstrations of actual techniques and materials used by forensic investigators. Students were able to see how fingerprint powder is used to lift prints off of various surfaces, and how to administer different chemical tests at crime scenes.

For the culminating activity in the Forensic Studies 25 course, students participated in investigating a mock crime scene using all of the skills they had developed throughout the semester to solve a fictional murder. Students analyzed fingerprints, footprints, blood spatter evidence, witness statements, DNA, toxicology, and practiced evidence collection.