Mount Vernon STEAM Academy students present crime analysis in forensics class

Students in Karl Nifontoff’s forensics class at Mount Vernon STEAM Academy became investigators for their latest project, which they presented on Wednesday, September 25, 2024. Students reviewed a case study of a murder and used deductive reasoning to determine the timeline of the crime, who the killer was and what the motive was.

Students worked in groups to review information about the case such as where the body was found, the condition of the body, alibis and interviews with people close to the case. They used this information to form a hypothesis and presented it to the rest of the class. 

Students used different techniques they have learned this year, such as analyzing maggots from the body. They were able to use maggots to determine time of death because they learned about when flies lay eggs, and the conditions for flies to lay eggs were only present during certain moments in the crime’s timeline such as days where it was warm and dry.  

“It’s more of a critical thinking activity, where they have to analyze and examine evidence and really critically think in order to come up with a possible solution,” said Mr. Nifontoff. “They came up with different suspects. The process was more important for them: to follow the evidence. Even if they didn’t come up with a specific killer, the thought process is what I am really trying to get across.” 

While students had the same case study, some groups came to different conclusions than others. They all utilized deductive reasoning to come to those conclusions and defended their positions throughout the presentations. 

“I think this was a creative way to learn about the process of finding the time of death and using critical thinking to try and solve a case with little evidence,” said DanaMarie Galindo, an 11th grade student at STEAM. “My team and I approached the project by working backwards by finding the time of death first and seeing which alibi fit the day of the murder.” 

After each presentation, students reviewed their peers' work and wrote down questions about the presentations.