Otago University Advanced School Science Academy (OUASSA)- Day 1

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Today was the first day of the Science Academy for teachers at Otago University. It is a 4 day professional development with teachers (23 of us) from all around New Zealand, with a primary focus of teachers from rural and small schools, or priority learner rich/low decile. I was lucky enough to receive a CSTA PD grant to go. 

After our initial introduction to the academy, which included a Mihi Whakatau, and getting to know each other activities, we had a chance to hang out with others and have dinner. 


Our only workshop of the day was supposed to be a 2 hour Forensic Science workshop, which actually turned into 3 hours. The workshop was run by Dr Angela Clark, and included a presentation on what forensics is, and how we can connect it not only to the sciences (Biology, chemistry, physics and geology), but also Maths, English, Social studies, and the front end of the curriculum skills, such as critical thinking. 

We did an interactive case study, to try and solve a murder on a fake crime scene that had been set up. We used techniques to gather evidence and then analyse it. Almost all of what we did was able to be recreated in a school environment using easily accessible equipment. 

We covered:

  • The process of Forensic Investigation (what to prioritise and why) 
  • How to gather the evidence/ preserve evidence
  • Types of evidence (Biological, Trace, Impressions) 
We got to try some different types of analysis and look at ways to apply it to different year levels. Some examples were:
  • Maggot development under a microscope (show decay length by looking at spiracles)
  • Footprint, shoe print and finger print analysis
  • Hair/fibre comparisons
  • Glass/ fragment comparisons using refractive index
  • Soil comparisons (or could do pollen if have microscopes)
  • Bite marks
  • Handwriting comparisons
  • DNA analysis
  • Blood Pattern analysis
  • "Drug" identification
It was really great to see how simple some of the activities could be, and see how it could be done to varying degrees of depth depending on how long you have and how much of the science behind the analysis you choose to go in to. 
There are so many possibilities including: the lab skills, persuasive writing, even oral presentation if you did something like a moot court.


Overall it was a great first day and am looking forward to what is in store over the next few days!

 Teacher Handbook OUASSA Web page


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