Cougar Science Camp Focuses on Forensics

The fourth annual Cougar Science Camp wrapped up last week and teacher gave Patch the rundown on the activities:

"I arrange for it to coincide with the hours of summer school, to make it easy for transportation, and to give a fun reason to be in school during the summer.  I originally started it to keep students engaged in learning and explore science throughout the summer, keeping their minds active.  

It started with just 6-8th grade, but this year, I opened it up to students in grades 3-8. We have a group of 12 students, that range from rising 6th graders to rising 9th graders.  

I fund the camp through a grant I received from the Manassas Park Education Foundation, and because of that the camp is offered to the students at no cost. In addition, I've been lucky enough to have several people help out with the camp.  

Lilly Parker and Lauren Wilson, both graduate students at George Mason University working through the National Science Foundation have been doing a great deal to organize the camp as well.  My wife Mary has even done a great deal to help set up and plan the camp.  In addition, I was able to have a friend in the Prince William Police Department help out on the first day.

The theme for this year's camp centers around forensics.  When the students came in on Monday, they literally walked into a murder crime scene.  They were instructed by Officer Renee Colombo, of Prince William County Police, on ways to collect and catalog evidence when you arrive on a scene.

The rest of the week we have been analyzing the evidence to determine who out of the four suspects committed the crime. Students have analyzed soil samples and fingerprints so far, and will wrap up the week by analyzing blood samples, lipstick chromatography and even study DNA using micro-satellite analysis.  

This is a process that is at the cutting edge of DNA identification, which is great for our students to learn."

Friday the camp wrapped up the camp by putting the fictional suspect on trial, and Bower said he would see how students drew conclusions from what they found this week.

Wednesday, the camp took a trip to the GMU Astronomy lab to see what they do, and since the students love technology, it gave them a chance to see how it can be used in science.