CSI: Stowe

31 March 2017

The week beginning Monday 13 March was National Science Week. To recognise this, the Science Department staged the annual murder of Mr Tearle and then challenged all Third Formers to solve a fiendishly demanding CSI: Stowe, Whodunnit?

The Third Formers were split into teams of four, under a designated team leader and used their week of science lessons to examine fingerprints, blood splatter patterns, DNA samples, coded messages and the various strange white powders found at the crime scene. The task was not a simple one; with little guidance from staff and no-one to tell them whether their conclusions were correct or not, it required diligence, organisation, careful observation, analytical deduction and above all, teamwork.

Of the 36 teams, 16 teams successfully deduced that Dr Popplestone murdered Mr Tearle with a golf club; but of these, only nine teams also correctly worked out that it was Dr Waine who arrived at the scene and called the police. Team presentations were subject to rigorous marking criteria, with the highest marks going to those who were able to corroborate their deductions with appropriate and accurate evidence.

The Third Form science teachers were pleased to award certificates and illuminating magnifying glasses to this year’s super sleuths, the CSI 2017 Champions: Barnaby Peppiatt (Chatham), Sophia Batey (Queen’s), Frankie MacLeod Matthews (Nugent) and Robbie Haigh (Grenville).

Runners-up prizes were awarded to: Sofia Atkinson- Hieber (Nugent), Coco Cottam (Queen’s), Jack Brown (Chandos), Max Marshall-Lee (Cobham), Ben Sarraff (Chatham), Maisie Roberts (Lyttelton), Henry Pearson (Walpole) and Audrey Au (Lyttelton).

The Third Form thoroughly enjoyed their week and engaged fully with all the activities.

Sheilagh Rawlins, Science Department