Students sharpen their skills in observing and interpreting what they see by investigating evidence of human and animal activity. They explore and analyze indoor and outdoor environments as they look for footprints, markings, evidence of disturbance and things that are left behind. Through these studies, students learn to pose questions, devise investigations, recognize patterns and discrepancies, and think logically about what they have observed.

 

General Learner Expectations

Students will:

6–8 Apply observation and inference skills to recognize and interpret patterns and to distinguish a specific pattern from a group of similar patterns.

6–9 Apply knowledge of the properties and interactions of materials to the investigation and identification of a material sample.

 

Specific Learner Expectations

Students will:

1. Recognize evidence of recent human activity, and recognize evidence of animal activity in a natural outdoor setting.

2. Observe a set of footprints, and infer the direction and speed of travel.

3. Recognize that evidence found at the scene of an activity may have unique characteristics that allow an investigator to make inferences about the participants and the nature of the activity, and give examples of how specific evidence may be used.

4. Investigate evidence and link it to a possible source; e.g., by:

• classifying footprints, tire prints and soil samples from a variety of locations

• analyzing the ink from different pens, using paper chromatography analyzing handwriting samples to identify the handwriting of a specific person

• comparing samples of fabric. classifying fingerprints collected from a variety of surfaces

​

EXAM BANK STUDY QUESTIONS

Username: leth.wil

Password: runner

​

January 1 - February 4

Handwriting Hoax Assignment

Chromatography 

​

January 24-27

Tire Track Evidence

Handwriting Analysis

​

January 17-21

Footprint and Animal Track Evidence

​

January 10-14

Observation and Inferences