Fayette Co. CSI Day Camp

4-H agents in Fayette Co. held a three day CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Day Camp at the end of July. The purpose of this camp was to introduce and help children ages 9-12 develop an understanding of DNA, its function, and its application to real life situations. Upon arrival at camp, each child received a binder filled with the materials they would need for the duration of the camp. The binder contained handouts for each activity, pencils, erasers, highlighter, notepad and a mini-hand lens. During the each of the three days, kids attended four different classes throughout the day. Each of these classes taught them something about DNA: its use, structure, functions, etc. and each class involved hands-on activities.

One of the activities which lasted for three days was a hair analysis. The children had to solve a crime using a strand of hair as evidence. Based on four different strands of hair, from four different suspects the children had to look at the hair under a microscope, prepare slides, and take notes to figure out who committed the crime. They learned how to use a microscope to identify the different parts and structures of hair. A lot of the children enjoyed doing this activity; this was reflected in their post-camp evaluations.

At another class, the children learned the different types of finger prints and then were able to practice fingerprinting their partner’s prints. Each child completed a fingerprinting card. They also got to dust for finger prints on different objects, just like the police do at crime scenes. The children appeared to be enjoying this activity because most of them had never had their finger prints done before. They learned that no two fingerprints are alike, and that it is not always easy to use fingerprints as evidence.

A different class had the children use paper chromatography. The purpose of this lab was to identify which of three suspects wrote a ransom note for a kidnapped parakeet. To separate three different types of pens used to write a ransom note, and identify which pen was used the children used paper chromatography. They had to figure out which pen was used to write the ransom note.

One class called The Art of Crime allowed children to use computer software to witness a fake crime. They then had to sketch the suspect using their memory and different categories on the computer program. It was a difficult task for them to remember so many details, but it showed the children how police sketch artists complete their jobs.

In another one of the classes the children built a DNA model using beads. They learned about the three components of DNA: sugar, phosphate and base pairs. They also learned about replication and mutations.

In yet another class provided the kids with a murder scenario in which flowers were found at the crime scene. Each child had to dissect a flower to figure out what types of flowers were left at a crime scene, and who committed the crime. They had to use a flower identification chart, which was a little confusing for the youths.

One of the highlights of the camp was when the children were also able to talk with a Lexington Police Officer who was involved in the crime investigation department. He set up a fake crime scene, showed the kids how he gather evidence from a crime scene. He then took the kids outside to take a tour of the Lexington Mobile Crime Lab unit. The police officer demonstrated how some of the equipment was used with the evidence he gathered from his fake crime scene.

The children also enjoyed some of the normal camp activities such as an afternoon kickball game, relay races and team building activities. Overall the children all learned something about DNA and enjoyed their time at CSI day camp.

The CSI day camp was very organized and everyone was well prepared. The children completed a variety of activities dealing with DNA, instead of focusing on one large crime scene. They really enjoyed the binders, their t-shirts and the various activities the CSI camp had to offer.