Rogue Rodent Mystery Resources and Activities: Part II

Welcome to The Rogue Rodent Mystery: A Crime Scene Investigation!

In our last article, we shared Part I of The Rogue Rodent Mystery resources, providing helpful links for lessons 1-5. Simply click here to scroll through Part I of the resources or you can keep reading to jump right into Part II, lessons 6-10.

You can also read through the complete course overview by visiting our website and clicking The Rogue Rodent Mystery course kit. This will also give you a detailed description of each and every lesson.

You can even watch a helpful introductory video to the course by clicking here!

Lesson 6

Inspecting Pattern Evidence: Comparing Shoe Prints

The following activities and websites will enrich what has been already learned in this lesson.

1. Create plastic, three-dimensional shoe prints outside! Have students walk through loose dirt, sand, snow, or grass (whatever you happen to have outside). Compare how easy or hard it is to see a shoeprint in each medium. Spend time changing the amount of force you use while you walk. Tiptoe, walk, stomp, and run across the ground. How does changing your gait change your print?

2. Experiment with weight and shoe prints. Lay two sheets of card stock side by side. Create one print by walking across the paper in the regular way. Create another print while holding a gallon of water. Does your increased weight change your print?
3. Provide students with play dough and an array of different textured materials. Give them time to make different impressions in the dough with the tools. How many different patterns can you create? What happens if you push down lightly? What happens if you push down with all of your weight? Use a tool to create your own pattern. Challenge students to try to replicate the pattern
   with the tools provided.

Head over to Answers in Genesis to learn more about shoe prints and additional activities that students can perform in the classroom and or at home.

Lesson 7

Researching Rodents: Discovering a Guinea Pig’s Survival Needs

The following activities and websites will further enrich what has been already learned in this lesson.

1. Survey the class to find out what the most popular type of pet is. Use the results to make a bar graph. Help students discuss the results. Are these animals domestic or wild? To learn about the 10 most common pets in the United States, click here!

2. Watch live-streaming videos of guinea pigs. Spend time observing the movements, behaviors, and interactions of live guinea pigs. Create a behavior observation chart with the time in the left column and a space to write the behavior in the right column. Try to check the guinea pigs at the same time each day. Do you notice any behavioral patterns? When do they eat? When do they sleep?
3. Learn more about how guinea pigs communicate. This YouTube Video made by Jaw-Dropping Facts explores all of the sounds that Guinea Pigs commonly make, along with the meaning behind each one.

Lesson 8

Following Colorful Clues: Making Orange Paint

The following activities and websites will further enrich what has been already learned in this lesson.

1. Use the different colors created during the activity to paint a picture. While you are painting ask students to recall what the three original colors of paint were. How many colors do we have now? How many new colors show up as the paint mix in your art? Click here to watch Simple Art Tip’s helpful YouTube video on Color Theory Basics.

2. Make rainbow fruit smoothies! Choose two different colored fruit or vegetable ingredients (red=strawberries, spinach/kale=green, blueberries=blue, etc.). Add these to a blender with a little bit of plain yogurt and ice. Before blending, have students guess what color the smoothie will be. Blend, notice the new color, and enjoy!
3. Make or buy play dough in red, yellow, and blue. Have students mix together small bits at a time. How many colors of play dough can you create? Build something beautiful with your new rainbow of dough!

Lesson 9

Weighing the Evidence: Testing the Scales of Justice

The following activities and websites will further enrich what has been already learned in this lesson.

1. Choose an assortment of objects from around the classroom. Challenge groups to put the objects in order from lightest to heaviest just based on their sense of touch. Then, use the balance and gram weights to determine how many grams each object weighs. Put the objects in the correct order from lightest to heaviest. How well did students order the items using their sense of touch?

2. Challenge students to build the strongest bridge they can out of newspaper and masking tape. Encourage them to try folding, draping, rolling, and stacking the paper as they build. See how many gram weights each bridge can hold. Challenge students to re-work their bridge to hold more gram weights.

Click here to indulge in some other fun, weighing activities, created by Amy Lemons.

Lesson 10

Spend time allowing students to learn more about the career of a forensic scientist.

You can also watch this overview on Forensic Scientists, learning about what their jobs entail and why they are such an important part of the justice system.

If you found these links helpful, keep a lookout for more resources to come in the near future!

We’d love to hear your feedback or any questions that you might have. You can email us at any time by sending a message to info@commlearning.com and together, we can bring this Rogue Rodent Mystery to life!