Engaging Alignment with NGSS

Murder at Old Fields is an exciting new Forensic Science Lab Activity for grades 7 - 12. Based on the 1842 double-murder of Alexander and Rebecca Smith at their farmhouse in Old Fields, Long Island, students examine evidence and conduct labs based on the historical facts of this case.

There are two versions of the Murder at Old Fields activity; a real-world kit and an online version available on this website. Read more below about each version or try our online demo.

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What People are Saying…

Murder at Old Fields allows the kids to each work at their own pace.

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Cara J.
Instructional Specialist

I've used the kit by itself and also in conjunction with the online version. The blended experience allows the students to really visualize the crime scene.

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Karalyn R.
Associate Chair of Science Dept., Science Teacher

It helped me to learn forensics a little bit better.

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Kecia S.
Forensic Science Teacher

Some of (the students) have gone looking for the evidence even on their own time, at home, so I think it's been an outstanding response.

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Rich F.
Forensic Science Teacher

I would strongly recommend adding it to the curriculum because it's a great way to supplement the evidence or you can use it as a culminating activity as well.

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Keith M.
Forensic Science Teacher

It was super fun and the kids loved it. They got to go search out the clues and just got into it.

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Jen T.
Science Teacher

We have students all over the world in our program so I saw Murder at Old Fields at an NSTA conference and was so excited and was able to integrate it into our course.

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Katherine E.
Doctoral Student

I purchased Murder at Old Fields with my own money because I wanted the kids to have something real world to do in the classroom.

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Nancy K.
Forensic Science Teacher

Online Activity

The Murder at Old Fields online activity is a cutting edge tool for teaching forensic science. It features an online classroom with lessons and quizzes, a 3D crime scene to explore, a virtual lab to study gathered evidence, and an easy-to-use interface for teachers to manage their classes.

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Real World Kit

This kit includes easy-to-follow and well-written student and teacher guides which go step-by-step through the lab activities. The guides are in modular form, so a teacher can choose to use only those labs that fit the class time available for it. Available from Ward’s Natural Science.

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