To make science fun and get children to apply STEM learning (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) to real-life scenarios, we have organised a couple of Murder Mystery days where pupils from local primary schools come and try to solve a murder. The experience is designed to give the children a hands-on approach to scientific investigation, problem-solving, and teamwork.
Before Easter, we hosted pupils from Catterick Garrison’s Le Cateau Primary School The children were split into several groups, and each group had to figure out who killed the IT manager.
The day started with a briefing, where the students were given the scenario of the murder and introduced to the suspects, who included the Headteacher, teaching staff, and the caretaker. The children were then taken through a series of workshops, each designed to help them gather evidence to solve the crime. The workshops included assessing the crime scene, analysing fibres, interviewing suspects, analysing emails and fingerprints, and performing a flame test.
After lunch the groups shared their findings. It was clear the children really enjoyed the experiments and learnt a lot while also having fun. The day was a great success, and the pupils all left with a newfound appreciation for STEM subjects.
