Science Mystery: Putting It All Together

Explain to your students that now they have a chance to solve the mystery. Encourage them to take into account all the evidence they have observed through the results of the many crime lab test they have conducted or observed. If your students have been keeping track of their experiments by recording who the different types of evidence point to, they should see one of the names coming up frequently. Even if they have a couple of different suspects that are frequently checked, they can narrow down the list from the six suspects to one or two. It is these they can recommend to the police to further question.

You can finish up this science mystery in one of several ways. Using their memory of the testing they did and who they marked down as the suspects the clues pointed to they can make a guess as to what happened that day. Having them make a educated guess is a good exercise in thinking skills. Can they apply what they have learned to situations? They can present their ideas in one of several ways:

1. Draw a picture to show what they feel happened at Mr. Body's house that day. Even the youngest students can draw a picture or series of pictures. They can give you an oral narration of what is going on in the pictures for you to write captions, or if they are old enough, they can write their own captions.

2. They can write their own story using the outline of facts presented by the scientific evidence.

3. If you have enough people in your family, have a discussion about all the evidence and have a family vote.

4. They can reenact the story from their point of view or make puppets and make a puppet show for Dad, friends or family members who did not participate.

5. Older Students can write up each of the science experiments like lab reports, with the question stated, along with predictions and conclusions.

Although there was a culprit in mind when I wrote this mystery, I am not going to reveal the "right" answer because I don't want your students to feel they got it right or got it wrong. The value of the exploration is the more important point of focus. Let them know that any well thought out answer is valuable. After all, they are just giving their suggestions as lab scientists to the police for them to finish the investigation.
The results on the poll were very interesting as there was a lot of variety in the answers.

Who do you think was the thief and kidnapper?
25% Mrs White
25% Miss Scarlet
25% Mr Green
12% Col. Mustard
12% Prof. Plum

If you have enjoyed this mystery,  your students might also enjoy Mystery Festival, which has two similar mysteries for two age/grade levels (2-3 & 4-8).

If your children have completed all the experiments, they can get a certificate of completion. Just give me a link to your blog entry about it, leave a comment telling what your children have discovered and decided by going through the mystery and I will give you the link to the certificate. You will also be listed in the
 Science Mystery Hall of Fame.