Unlocking mysteries with science: ORISE’s Forensic Chemistry Mini-Academy inspires future STEM leaders

The crime scene tape only indicated an immersive learning environment—not a real crime.

Students who participated in the ORISE Forensic Chemistry Mini-Academy, held June 16-17, 2025, at ORAU’s Pollard Conference Center in Oak Ridge, Tenn., plunged into a world of intriguing clues and investigation. The fictious mystery begged for an answer to the question: who poisoned Principal Parker? Ten suspects emerged right away, and they all had motive and opportunity.

Course instructor Chelsi Day believes that when students are challenged to solve puzzles using forensic chemistry, the experience is both unforgettable and fun. “In the state of Tennessee, high school students are required to take chemistry or physics to graduate, but so many of them think they hate those classes,” Day said. “They walk into the classroom and say things like, ‘I don’t care about electrons.’ Or ‘I don’t want to do math to figure this out.’ But in a forensic chemistry class, we’re applying chemistry to a real-world setting, and they’re more likely to engage.”

As a high school chemistry and physics teacher at Walker Valley High School in Cleveland, Tenn., Day decided to collaborate with a criminal justice class last school year, and it excited her students so much, she was enthusiastic to facilitate ORISE’s mini academy.

Using the experience at her own school, Day created this mystery as a STEM enrichment exercise. “This scenario includes a white powder residue, fibers found at the scene, a formula from the ‘secret chemistry club,’ and there’s spilled liquid,” Day explained. “The students are going to test all pieces of evidence to determine who had it out for Principal Parker! He does survive,” she winked. “Even so, there’s malicious intent, so the students are crime scene investigators trying to solve the case.”

In two days, 24 students worked in small teams to examine the evidence and conduct eight lab tests to narrow the list of suspects. “A lot of people in my group thought the honor student was going to be guilty,” said Kindred Batterson, an 8^th grader at Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge, “but the fiber testing proved that wrong!”

Batterson found ORISE’s Forensic Chemistry Mini-Academy when she looked for summer activities and said she was immediately intrigued. The free academy is designed for rising 7^th through 9^th graders and encourages students to make observations, test theories and draw conclusions. One of Batterson’s favorite moments was the burn test: “We looked at different types of fabric, and we looked at them under a microscope to see different patterns in them. Then we went outside and burned the different fabric samples to see how they reacted to the flame.”

Forensic chemistry is a specialized branch of chemistry that focuses on analyzing substances, particularly in investigations. Not only did the students conduct a burn test, but they also learned how to dust and lift fingerprints, test unknown substances (through solubility, acid, pH, and iodine tests), and experiment with ink chromatography (a method for separating mixtures). They even got an introduction to blood typing.

“This has been super fun. I don’t know anywhere else I would get to do this type of stuff!” Batterson laughed. Though Batterson never considered a future in forensic chemistry before, she’s now interested in possible STEM-related fields.

That’s exactly why Ms. Day enjoyed her role in the mini academy. “In this mystery, everyone wins—everyone except the suspect who is discovered!” Day said. “Principal Parker survives, and the student investigators learned new skills that they can confidently carry into the next school year. We covered lab safety and lab vocabulary. We had to use critical thinking and problem solving. As a teacher, I love this academy because students walk away with fun experiences with science. It’s like unlocking a mystery helps educators gain ground in inspiring students to love science.”