Lesson 4: Acquiring & Organizing Additional Evidence

Objective:

Students will be able to extract and organize additional information from the suspect data cards.

Materials:

Suspect Data Cards (FULL)
1. Print Option: (LMR_U1_L03_A_Suspect_Data_Cards_FULL)
2. Digital Option: (LMR_U1_L03_D_DIGITAL_Suspect_Data_Cards_FULL)
Large posters, whiteboards, or online collaborative tools (ex. Google Docs, Google Sheets, Canva, etc.)
Markers

Vocabulary:

survey questions

Essential Concepts:

A successful investigation requires detectives to use all available evidence and clues. Data can be acquired in different ways, either through direct observation or by collecting specific information from individuals via survey questions. Organizing data systematically is crucial for finding patterns and managing a complex investigation.

Lesson:

Class Setup

Advanced preparation required.
- Prior to class starting, select whether your class will use the print or digital option of the Suspect Data Cards.
- Note that the FULL version of the Suspect Data Cards is required for this lesson.
  - Print Option: (LMR_U1_L03_A_Suspect_Data_Cards_FULL) [color printing recommended]
    Print and cut out enough sets of cards so that each group of 3 to 4 students gets their own set. As an example, if there are 20 students in the class and they are placed into groups of 4, you will need to prepare 5 sets of the Suspect Data Cards. The card sets can be stored in zipper bags or envelopes for easy distribution.
  - Digital Option: (LMR_U1_L03_D_DIGITAL_Suspect_Data_Cards_FULL)
    A Canva whiteboard template has been created for you to copy. Each group would need access to their own whiteboard.

Opening

Entrance Ticket: Have students answer the following 2 questions:
1. What were 3 characteristics you observed and recorded from the Suspect Data Card photos in the previous lesson?
2. Pictures can't tell us everything. What is one other piece of information you would want to know about a suspect, and how might a detective find that out?
Recap that in Lesson 3, the detectives made initial observations about the suspects based on their school ID photos, and then identified some groups of people with similar visual characteristics. Today, they will be given even more information about the suspects by examining the full version of the school ID cards.

Concept Development

Part 1: Creating Simplified Displays of New Evidence
Place students into the same teams from Lesson 3 and distribute the prepared sets of the FULL version of the Suspect Data Cards OR provide a link to the Canva whiteboard template.

Using the Pencils in the Middle strategy described in Lesson 2, instruct students to examine all the available information on the Suspect Data Cards and record some of their observations in their notebooks.

They should notice that the left side is what they considered in Lesson 3 (the photos), but now they have a lot more written information on the right side about each person.
Explain that the information provided on the right side of the cards was collected by asking survey questions, which they first learned about in Lesson 1.
1. Challenge students to write some possible survey questions that would have generated the data that are on the cards.

As the student detectives look at both sides of the data cards, ask them to note any differences in the types of information provided for different people.

Does every data card contain the exact same information? Sample answer: no, but they do have a lot of similar information. For example, all of the cards list a “Favorite Candy”.
More specific follow-up: Do all of the suspect data cards have GPAs listed? Do all cards have the number of years of service listed? What do you notice? Sample answer: GPA is only for students, and Years of Service is only for staff.

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT:
Optional Guided Exploration for Diverse Learners
For teams that need a more structured start, explore ONE of the suspect data cards together. As a group, go piece by piece through the written information on the right side of the card.
For each item (like Favorite Candy), ask:

"What survey question do you think the school asked to get this answer?"
"What does this piece of information tell us about this suspect?"

This models how to extract and interpret the data before they start organizing.

Explain that a core challenge during any investigation is managing a growing pile of evidence. Detectives need to simplify and organize all of the information so they can quickly analyze it, follow new leads, and present their findings to teammates, bosses, and sometimes even the courts. Our goal is efficiency in solving the case!
Pose the following questions to prepare students for the next activity:
1. Will it be convenient to keep all 30 Suspect Data Cards with you throughout the entire investigation? Sample answer: No. It would be difficult to sift through all 30 cards each time something new happens.
2. Do you need to examine all 30 cards individually every time you receive a new piece of evidence? Sample answer: No. Once we have eliminated a suspect, we wouldn’t need to consider them as the Candy Culprit anymore.
3. Is there a faster way to rule out suspects than by removing cards one-by-one from your suspect pile? Hint: Think back to the Guess Who? game at the beginning of class. Sample answer: Yes. We can have all the suspect photos and names put onto 1 page and cross them off as we eliminate them as suspects.
Describe the next task for our detectives. In their teams, they will need to organize all of the data from the Suspect Data Cards and create a single, one-page display that will allow them (and others) to quickly access and view the information.
1. Provide poster paper and markers or access to an online collaborative tool (ex. Google Docs, Google Slides, Canva, etc.) for students to create their displays.
2. Additional instructions to guide students during the activity:
  1. When creating their displays, students should think like a lead detective preparing for a briefing. The display should allow them to quickly answer questions such as:
    1. Who are all the staff members?
    2. What is everyone's favorite class?
    3. Who has a high GPA?
    4. What activities are people involved in?
  2. Encourage creativity! There are no strict guidelines for how to complete this activity, but emphasize that their displays should be in an easy-to-understand format.

As students work in their groups, circulate and guide as needed. You can prompt them with questions like:

What's the most important information to put on your poster for our investigation?
How can you make it easy to compare suspects?
Is there a way to group similar information together like we did in Lesson 2?
If you had to quickly find every suspect's favorite candy, how should you arrange the data to do that easily?

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT:
Optional Small-Scale Practice for Diverse Learners
Instead of immediately jumping to the large poster with all 30 suspects, allow groups to first create a mini-display for just 3 to 5 suspects on a smaller piece of paper. This allows them to experiment with organization strategies on a lower-stakes task before tackling the full dossier.
Optional Pre-Sorted Card Piles for Diverse Learners
Have students physically sort the cards into two piles before recording any information (Example: (1) all staff cards, and (2) all student cards). Suggest they start by organizing the staff data first since there are only 9 of them.

Allow ample time for the detective teams to create their displays. This activity will likely take up most of the class period.

Part 2: Gallery Walk and Discussion
Gallery Walk: Once teams have completed their posters, conduct a gallery walk around the room so they can observe how other teams chose to organize and present the suspect data.
1. As they walk around, they should use their notebooks to record their observations about any similarities and differences between their displays.
2. Additionally, provide teams with sticky notes and ask them to post constructive comments or questions for the other teams.
Once students have returned to their seats, lead a discussion about the different layouts presented around the room. Pose the following questions to guide the discussion:
1. Are some displays easier to understand than others? What makes them easy or hard to read?
2. What are some characteristics of displays that you can understand quickly?
3. Did anyone notice that some information was only on certain types of cards (ex. Students had GPA values, but staff members did not). How did your team decide to represent that on your display, or did you leave it out?
4. Did any team organize the data in a way that looks like a table with rows and columns?
  NOTE: This is not the goal of this lesson, but it could be a nice segue into Lesson 5 where they will start considering how computers organize and understand data.
Closing
Wrap-Up: Today, we moved beyond just visual observations and incorporated written data that was gathered from survey questions.
Exit Ticket: What piece of information do you think will be most important to investigate to identify the Candy Culprit and why?
Transition to the next lesson: Announce that we will learn an even more efficient and standardized way to organize our evidence, which will be crucial during the next stage of our investigation.

Lesson 4: Acquiring & Organizing Additional Evidence