BCI Science School (BCISS) was created so students could learn about the fields of forensic science and criminal investigations, and related careers. These fields rely heavily on the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics) disciplines, and our goal is to make these disciplines exciting and engaging for students at an early age.
With a STEAM-based curriculum, BCI Science School includes 26 lesson plans for fourth graders, using hands-on experiments and inquiry-based learning to help solve fictional crimes. The interdisciplinary curriculum focuses specifically on the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) fourth grade standards. Most lesson plans include short videos of BCI forensic scientists and BCI special agents (investigators), which allow us to “take” students into the laboratory and into the field.
The curriculum uses supplies and materials that should be readily accessible or easy to obtain at your school or home. Lessons that require supplies that may be more expensive or difficult to find are marked as optional.
The implementation schedule of the curriculum can be modified to take a classroom’s structure, resources, and student needs into account. For example, some teachers complete one lesson every day and some teachers opt for one lesson every week. While the curriculum was developed for the fourth grade classroom environment, BCI Science School could easily be adapted for after-school programs, summer camps, and homeschool settings.
We hope that students become excited about science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics with our curriculum and that they are exposed to potential careers and opportunities to pursue in the future!
Learn more at these links: