Leslie
C. Anderson
I
am currently one of twenty-two science teachers at East Brunswick High
School in the friendly community of East Brunswick, New Jersey. East
Brunswick High School educates over 2100 students in grades 10 through
12. (For more information on East Brunswick High School, click
here.) While past years have seen me teach Academic Chemistry
and Chem Com, this year's teaching schedule differs little from the last.
I will be teaching Honors Chemistry and Forensic Science. I am co-advisor
to Key Club, with about 125 members. I am also starting my fifth
year as yearbook advisor. As an after school activity, we publish
The
Emerald, a 304 page award winning yearbook, using PageMaker and other
various software. This book keeps me at school well after the last
bell has rung, and, right before our final deadline, we're at school until
the wee hours of the night. But, I wouldn't trade it for any other
club we have.
Forensic
Science - you say? Why Forensic Science?
When I first started teaching at EBHS, I was amazed at the number of courses offered. Even the science department a semester and full year electives: Marine, Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, Meteorology, and more. How cool, I didn't have all these choices. Then I started thinking about the number one question asked of teachers everywhere: When will I use this in real life? Sometimes that's a tough question for a chemistry teacher to answer. So, I set ut to find an answer that would appeal to a large number of students. What I found was that the electives didn't really show the application of science, just more learning of facts. I decided I would create a course that would actually put to use multiple sciences in a contemporary real world setting. After more than two years of pleading, filing papers, and curriculum approval meetings, Forensic Science was born.
In September 2000, the first Forensic Science classes were held at EBHS. Our FS class is a semester elective with chemistry and biology prerequisites. I taught 2 sections the first semester and 3 sections during the second semester. I do have a tendency to focus on the chemistry with a little bit of physics thrown in, but I fit in biological material too. It is an activity and lab driven course, but we still work through the basics on paper. We begin by analyzing a crime scene, identifying evidence, and creating a crime scene sketch. Then the rest of the semester is devoted to developing methods of analysis for the evidence identified at that original crime scene. It's a lot of work - but the results are amazing. The kids are truly enthusiastic and you just can't squash the curiosity and learning once it starts.