BCI Science School for fourth-graders

Staff report

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced that the Bureau of Criminal Investigation Science School is available to teachers and students across Ohio.

Designed for fourth-graders, BCI school’s free lesson plans will expose students to the careers of forensic science, criminal investigation and related careers at a young age.

Students conduct hands-on, inquiry-based experiments in class and solve relevant challenges using critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Videos are shown throughout the lessons that “take” students into the field with BCI agents and into the laboratory with forensic scientists.

With a STEAM-based – science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics – curriculum, BCI Science School includes 26 lesson plans aligned to the Ohio Department of Education’s fourth-grade standards, using hands-on experiments and inquiry-based learning to help solve fictional crimes.

Students learn about cyber crimes, thermal energy detection, crime scenes, DNA, latent prints, questioning documents, chemistry, trace evidence, toolmarks and criminal intelligence units.

BCI school is flexible to fit teachers’ needs. While the curriculum was developed for the fourth-grade classroom environment, BCI School could easily be adapted for after-school programs, summer camps and homeschool settings. For information about BCI school, contact BCI@OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov.