We have a crime to solve!

In this article

We have a crime to solve!
Writers’ Workshop
Eagles’ PE
Experimenting with MakerSpace
Core Values
Happy Birthday Henry!

Our 1st Year, Session 6, Week 2

The Detective Quest is our focus for this 6-week session. Who stole the missing files obtaining information from the Witness Protection Program?

Our learners are practicing evidence and data collection, measurements, problem solving, critical thinking, and teamwork. As detectives-in-training, learners work through a series of hands-on

challenges and crime simulations where they apply forensics and biology to solve crimes. Over the next few weeks, these heroes will be using real forensic science such as finger print analysis,

chromatography, hair analysis, handwriting analysis, and DNA extraction to solve this crime and others. The detectives-in-training are tested in a final crime-scene simulation at the end of the quest.

Five heroes pose in a classroom mock crime scene with yellow tape and a forensics poster

Crime scene simulation with caution tape, an overturned chair, a small table, and papers on the floor

Handwritten note on lined paper beside a folder, for a crime-simulation forensic science activity

Children stand around a small crime scene table with forensic evidence during a crime-solving challenge

A hero in gloves examines a worksheet at a table during a forensics crime-simulation lesson

Five heroes in a classroom examine a tray during a crime-solving science activity

Three learners examine clues with a magnifying glass at a forensic crime-scene table

Three heroes examine evidence at a table with a forensics kit during a crime scene simulation

Two learners examine a fingerprint card and evidence tray during a forensics crime-scene activity

Crime-scene evidence bags and notes pinned to a wall for a forensics activity

A hero kneels outdoors, inspecting a dirt crime scene with a torn white cloth nearby

A smiling girl holds up a muddy rock during an outdoor crime-scene simulation

A girl in a green shirt holds up two rock or artifact pieces outdoors on a sunny day

Detective Science poster for a Final Exhibition with observation, fingerprinting, handwriting, and DNA analysis

Writers’ Workshop

On this Writers’ Workshop the Eagles get to venture to the other side of instructions … They get to create them! Welcome to the Technical Writing Writers’ Workshop! Eagles will be challenged to write instructions for a task of their choosing in each of the following categories:

How to use a software program (for example, Khan Academy)
How to build something (for example, a popsicle-stick bridge)
How to make something (for example, a hat, fishing pole, or website)

The Eagles had a challenge in Writers’ Workshop this week to follow directions and see if they could make slime!

Children gather around a table in Writers' Workshop, mixing slime with bowls and craft items

Three children make slime at a table with a white jug and bowl

Two learners mix slime at a table with bowls, spoons, and a cereal box in Writers' Workshop

A young learner stirs slime in a bowl at a table during Writers' Workshop

A learner mixes slime in a bowl at a table during Writers' Workshop

A boy stirs blue slime in a bowl with a whisk at a classroom table with pink bowls

Smiling boy in a classroom holds up blue slime while another child works behind him

Two children mix blue slime in bowls at a table during Writers' Workshop

Eagles’ PE

Formal PE occurs twice per week, 45 minutes a day and includes games so striving for mastery in personal fitness and sportsmanship to become part of the Hero’s Journey!

Four children crouch on a classroom floor during PE, with tables, shelves, and wall maps behind them

Four children hold a yoga balance pose in a classroom with a large rug and cubbies

Children and a guide jump with arms raised in a classroom during PE

Eagles play PE games on gym mats with a guide supervising and cones and obstacles around them

Several children crawl on hands and feet in an Eagles’ PE class inside a classroom gym

Child in a pink shirt sits on a mat hugging a blue padded column in the gym

Guide and child stand on mats in the gym during PE

A learner stretches on mats in a large PE room with mirrors, hanging bags, and chairs

Experimenting with MakerSpace

Makerspaces are areas where Eagles come to explore, build, create, and tinker. This is a room that contains tools and components, allowing people to enter with an idea and leave with a completeproject. The best part is that Makerspaces are communal. The goal is to work together to learn, collaborate, and share. Most importantly, Makerspaces allow us to explore, create new things, orimprove things that already exist.

Three children work at a table in a makerspace with bins, tools, and a box of materials

Three children kneel on a rug, working together with papers and markers in the makerspace

A young hero leans over a white table, arranging small wires and parts in a makerspace

A boy in a yellow shirt tinkers with wires and small parts at a makerspace table

Two children and a guide work at a makerspace table with bins of LEGO and craft supplies

A boy in a makerspace holds a triangle craft with a hanging cardboard tube in front of him

Three children sit on a makerspace rug with open activity pages and craft pieces spread around them

A girl in a makerspace uses a black marker over small wooden pieces at a worktable

Two boys tinker at a makerspace table with bins of parts and wires during an activity

Core Values

Life is filled with decisions. Some are easy, but some are very hard. Time and again in life, you will be forced to make decisions that strain your morality and conscience. Many times, it might feel like a right answer is impossible, but there is a powerful tool each of us can employ to make these decisions with more clarity.Core Values are the three to five values that define your belief system, and they help provide a framework for tough decisions. If loyalty is one of your Core Values, it means you will stick up for your friends, even when it is really hard. If kindness is your Core Value, you will take the time to help a friend pick up their mess, even if it means being late to the circle. We encourage each of the Eagles to take some time and consider what values are most important to them, because it might change the way they make decisions in a major way. These are the type of discussions we have throughout the week!