We spent a morning at Think Forensic in Huddersfield attending a CSI workshop organised by a fellow home ed Mum. This workshop was absolutely fantastic. We learned so much and got to do lots of hands on activities too. We even had a murder to solve!
The session started off with our workshop leader Annie, an active forensic anthropologist herself, talking us through all the different career paths in forensic science. There are some seriously expert scientists out there. We were all amazed at the story of one scientist who specialises in the status of plants after they’ve been run over by a vehicle. She can tell, according to the position of the plant, how long ago it was run over. Wow!
Annie then talked through how a crime scene is managed, who is involved and how budgets work. We were stunned to find out the cost of getting a sniffer dog and handler for the day was £2,500, a postmortem was also £2,500 and the analysis of a blood sample was £250. All of this is funded out of the police budget and so they have to carefully decide what tests and resources they’re going to use for each crime being investigated.
We then underwent some CSI training using real techniques and professional equipment. We learned how to lift, roll and identify fingerprints using different methods for different surfaces. We also learned how to take a cast of a footprint in soil. This was all preparation for our next job; we had to solve a murder!
Each of the five groups had their own crime scene which were staged in rooms within Think Forensic’s building. We all had to dress up in full CSI outfits and we were given a toolkit with all the resources we needed. We each took on particular roles for this crime scene and, after putting crime tape up around our scene, we set to on processing the scene.
I won’t go into too much detail in case you ever go to the same workshop, but needless to say there’d been a fire and there was a body on the floor. We worked our way round the inside and outside of the room, collecting evidence and labelling it in bags. We took fingerprints and a cast of a footprint and then tried to come up with what we thought had happened.
Once all the groups came back together, and each presented what they’d found, it turned out that all the separate crime scenes were connected to one real-life crime that had happened in the 90s.
Both girls got really stuck in to this activity and Peggy, especially, came up with all manner of ideas as to what had happened. It was lovely to see them so animated and engaged. They really were on a mission to collect all the evidence and to solve the crime.
After the crime scene debrief, we had a look at some fibres under a microscope to see how different materials look. The girls even got to see what their hair looked like.
Annie, the workshop host, was really engaging. She talked about how she had become a forensic anthropologist and what her work involves. It was so inspiring to have a woman in her late 20s talking about an unusual career in such a specialist field already. You could tell throughout the workshop that she was talking from experience and not just from a slide show; she answered all our many questions with ease.
Both girls came back totally inspired about another potential career option. And all while thoroughly enjoying themselves. What a fantastic session!
Think Forensic run many different workshops for forensic professionals, educational groups and people who just love hearing about crimes. We most definitely want to go to another workshop and I’ve got my eye on some adult-only ones too.
Date we attended: 19 September 2023
Length off workshop: 10am until 12.30pm
Cost of workshop per person: £20
Think Forensic Ltd
Lodge Street
Skelmanthorpe
Huddersfield
HD8 9DR
