Twinkl has released some new CSI Investigations this week so we thought we’d have a go at one after reading so many positive comments about them on the various Twinkl Facebook groups.
The girls picked the Loch Ness Monster one as Peggy especially likes to read about mythical beasts. The pack was really self-explanatory with clear instructions on how to work through the investigation.
There was a lot of material to read so we deployed the Costco pop up table to spread everything out in one place. This was definitely a good idea as it stayed out for several days and visitors to the house were treated to the girls’ thoughts on the matter.
The idea was to look at facts and evidence available (both for and against there being a monster), look at existing theories and then come to our own conclusions. Whilst you could do some independent research, there was more than enough information in the print outs to do this exercise very well.
We particularly enjoyed watching a YouTube video, recommended in the instructions, where a marine biologist called Adrian Shine talked through his theories. He’s spent most of his professional life researching Nessie and the girls found this amazing!
We spent a good 2-3 hours working through the investigation. The girls both came to the same conclusion: Nessie is a real creature, unknown to science. The girls put forward a really good argument for this conclusion. We ran out of steam towards the end so didn’t write up a full report but just did the one-star summary instead. They had really clear arguments though so that was enough for me. This topic had clearly caught the girls’ imagination as they then spent part of the afternoon watching the live camera feed from the Loch to see if Nessie would pop up! This was then followed by a trip down memory lane; we watched a few episodes of The Family Ness from the 1980s. I could still sing the theme tune off by heart!
This really was a brilliant activity. We all really enjoyed it. It was easy for me as I just had to print and cut everything out so not much preparation was needed. It was a great way for the girls to develop debating skills and to analyse information given to them so they can form their own opinions: these are all great life skills. We’re definitely going to do another one of these CSI investigations; it looks like we’ll be visiting crop circles next!
