Forensic Toolbox: proposal of a forensic educational kit

Abstract

Within the Euro4Science project, a forensic educational kit was created that offers several attractive experimental activities, which explore the following topics: Biodiversity, Chemistry and the identification of Human Individuals.
The forensic education kit is designed to be used by secondary school students under the supervision of teachers. Based on a Guide that explores forensic cases, students are given different materials that can be used to develop several activities while applying forensic methods and relating these activities with the contents of the subject’s curricular programmes, such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics.
These educational materials also aim to provide teachers with innovative teaching resources that support their initiative to transform teaching practices, aiming to develop approaches that motivate students and offer them opportunities to learn and think scientifically and critically, exploring the science-technology-society (STS) relationship.
The Guides and education kits developed within Euro4Science aim to help teachers create interesting contexts for teaching the topics of science and technology, increasing and developing multidisciplinary work with their pairs, with the objective of developing teaching approaches that enable students to familiarize themselves with forms of scientific thinking, as well as collaborative work dynamics and debate.
The forensic education kit was developed and tested in the laboratory of Forensic Genetics of the University of Aveiro (conception, planning and optimization) and later validated by teachers and students in the school context.