Critical Thinking About Something Fishy (A Homeschool Coffee Break Review)

We recently took the opportunity to add something fun to the end of our school year that also encouraged critical thinking skills. Developing those skills are exactly what products from The Critical Thinking Co.™ are designed to do. We were able to review a Whodunnit Forensic Mystery called Something Fishy at Lake Iwannafisha. 

The Critical Thinking Co.™ is the publisher of over 200 award-winning educational books, e-Books, and apps. They've been helping students of all ages improve their academic results since 1958, with help in reading, writing, math, science, history, and test prep. Critical thinking is built into all their lessons to encourage students to analyze carefully, think deeply, and build understanding. And what is critical thinking? The company defines it as "identifying and evaluating evidence to guide decision making". And careful, critical thinking in order to learn more and apply knowledge to life is something we definitely want to encourage!

With such a long list of products for all age and grade levels, The Critical Thinking Co.™ has something for everyone. Homeschool Review Crew members reviewed math and vocabulary books, as well as a couple of Critical Thinking Detective books. We were among those asked to review Something Fishy at Lake Iwannafisha. This book is described as a Whodunit Forensic Mystery, and although the title may sound like it's just silly fun, this is a crime investigation that introduces students to the world of forensic evidence, and gives them a chance to use that knowledge along with critical thinking skills to solve a case.

We received the 124-page book which contains all the information and handouts necessary for the case, from start to finish. Don't just hand the book to your kid! As the parent/teacher, you will want to read about How This Crime Investigation Works at the beginning, and all the Teacher Instructions. When you do, you'll find that you need to give the applicable pages and handouts to your student(s) in bits and pieces, when appropriate, and often - only when asked.  

Here's how it works: Students start out with all the background information provided about forensic evidence. There are about 20 pages giving students overview lessons on anthropology, arson, ballistics, counterfeit money, death investigation, document and handwriting analysis, and fingerprinting. Once students have learned the basics of forensics, they can be presented with the first reports of the evidence of possible crimes at a cabin at Lake Iwannafisha. They start with the Case File Introduction, Crime Scene maps and preliminary reports, and pages for them to start assembling their own Investigation Notes.

Learning about forensic anthropology and how skeletal remains
can give investigators clues to identity and cause of death. 

Learning how rifling and striations can be used to determine
firearms used in crimes.

Learning how fingerprints can be recovered as evidence and used
as identification.

As the students examine the evidence, they will need to request further information from the teacher, who plays the role of a sergeant obtaining the requested reports. So students will need to use critical thinking skills to decide what kind of evidence to ask for - what will they need first, and where will each additional piece of the puzzle lead them? They can examine Missing Persons Reports, Witness Statements, reports from the various labs and units (arson investigation, ballistics and striations reports, firearms identification catalog, counterfeit currency department, vehicle registrations, handwriting samples, fingerprint records, and the medical examiner's report), and record their findings on various forms. 

The teacher can keep a record of which reports have been given to the student
on this checklist.

The investigation is designed to be used by students working in small groups or by individual students. Either way, we found that the teacher needs to be available throughout, even if it's only to provide the requested reports quickly. Kennady's investigation stalled a couple of times when she wanted a particular report but I wasn't home to get the copy for her. By the way, the handouts can be photocopied from the book or printed out from the Critical Thinking website as pdf's. A link to the page of printables is provided in the front of the book.

How did we use it?  Obviously, I have only one student, so Kennady worked on her own to try and solve this case. In some ways, we thought this might make it easier, since she could work at her own pace without needing to compare notes or look at the evidence requested by a team member, but eventually we decided that this investigation would probably go faster and be more fun with a partner or two to think aloud with.

I started Kennady out with the background information and preliminary reports, and explained how she was to go about investigating the case, but felt that I needed to fill her in on all the possible evidence she would be able to request as needed. Since she was working by herself, I stepped in and provided "hot tips" and a bit of input to help her decide what evidence and reports to ask for and how to organize her growing pile of evidence so she could build her case.

Analyzing evidence and recreating a timeline of events.

The evidence at a hunting cabin includes a shallow grave with human bones, a body in a burning shed, a couple of guns and some bullets, and money that might be counterfeit. And in fact, some counterfeit bills were used at a nearby gas station during the same time frame. Kennady had to determine if the counterfeiting case was related to the evidence of possible crimes found at the cabin. As she gathered the various reports, she had to compare handwriting samples to a note gathered as evidence, compare fingerprints lifted from the crime scene to fingerprint cards, and check the forensic information on the bones and body against missing persons reports. She's also using the ballistics lab report to determine which of the weapons found were used to fire the bullets, and of course, she has to compile all her findings to give final reports building a solid case for charging a specific suspect (or suspects) with specific crimes.

We used this investigation purely as a fun supplement, but it does present a lot of great introductory information on forensic sciences and how experts and detectives use these specialized fields of science in solving crimes. The practice in logical and analytical thinking is also valuable. 

What we liked best:

• broad overview and introduction to forensic sciences presented concisely, and it's easy to understand
• fun way to see how science and critical thinking is used in practical applications
• when used with a group of students, it would be great for team-building.

What I need to mention:

• be prepared to make a lot of copies or do a lot of printing, even if you have only one student. Since the student should only receive the report they ask for, you'll usually have to copy or print at least part of it, since the pages in the book are printed front and back. (For example, she asked for the witness statement of Person A, but I couldn't just give her those pages out of the book, because the witness statement for Person B starts on the flip side of the page.)
• I wound up choosing to photocopy the necessary pages from the book, because when there was more than one page of a particular printable, only the first page showed up in the pdf from the link at the website.
• In hindsight, Kennady and I both felt that more information about how to examine the evidence and what kinds of reports were available for her to look at would have been helpful. I thought I'd provided everything the book told the teacher to provide at the beginning of the case, but Kennady still felt a little lost as she got started.
• On a positive note, I do want to mention that even though the students are learning about analyzing evidence from human remains, where the cause of death was violent, there are no graphic or disturbing images or descriptions. Students will need to determine cause of death and time of death based on evidence such as condition of the lungs, presence of blow fly eggs, and contents of the stomach, and rigor mortis, but none of these are presented in a way that would be disturbing for most kids in the target age range for this book. 

Our bottom line: We both had a lot of fun sifting through evidence, analyzing information, and figuring out which Persons of Interest should be charged with the crimes. This book would be great for siblings to work on together, or as a fun project for a co-op.

Whodunnit? We feel like we've got a pretty airtight case against . . . well, we're not authorized to speak to the press about it, so you'll have to investigate the evidence for yourself!

Case closed!

Would you like to investigate this mystery? Here's what you need to know:

Visit the website:  www.CriticalThinking.com

Pricing: Something's Fishy at Lake Iwannafisha is available as a paperback or as an eBook for $14.99. 

Age recommendations: Grades 5 through 12 and up.

You can follow The Critical Thinking Co.™ on Facebook, on Twitter, on Pinterest, and on Google+.

The Critical Thinking Co.™ has also allowed Crew members to share this special freebie and coupon offer with our readers:

Free Critical Thinking Puzzles!

A $75 Value! Delivered weekly to your inbox. Choose PreK - Grade 8. Sign up now: CriticalThinking.com/toscrew

Special Offer from The Critical Thinking Co.™!

Free shipping + 15% off any size order when you use the coupon code: TOSCREW18 (This offer expires 12/31/2018)

Visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog for more information and to read other reviews. Crew members also reviewed the following titles: Understanding Pre-Algebra, Critical Thinking Detective Book 1, Critical Thinking Detective: Vocabulary, Dare to Compare Level 1, and Vocabulary Riddles Book 1.

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