Solving the Cake Caper!

Hello Everyone! Another update from our CSI group!

CSI Forensic Fun: Today we had to figure out the Cake Caper using chemical analysis in our forensics lab. Betty Crocker had a cake competition, and the regular winner of the competition lost this year for the first time ever! When she went to taste her cake entry, however, she found out the cake tasted terrible! It had way too much baking soda! Security was called, and three fellow competitors were discovered with mysterious vials of white powder in their aprons. By looking at the physical and chemical properties of these substances, we analyzed which one was baking soda and solved the crime! Don’t forget to turn in your Case Closed notes and chart, detailing your evidence of who was guilty!

Ethics: We also continued our discussion on the book Mufaro’s Daughters, which is an African tale from Zimbabwe. The big questions in the text deal with human nature — are we caring because we are genuinely good, or are we caring because it is expected of us? Also, are there situations in which it is okay to deceive someone or lie? It turned out these questions were very complicated and stirred up some great discussion. Students were asked to respond to some questions, and then we had a brief class debate. Some of our thoughts were definitely connected to what is happening in the world and politics we hear about in the news. Everyone needed to finish their journal response to the questions, which can be completed in class:

1. Do you think someone who is selfish is worse than someone who is kind or altruistic? Why or why not?

2. What do Kings, Queens, or leaders with power have that ordinary people do not?

3. Is Nyasha’s personality GOOD for being a good or effective queen? Why or why not?

4. Is beauty important for being a queen or leader?

5. The king deceives (lies to) the girls to test them. Was this okay? Is it sometimes okay to deceive people? Why or why not?

Discrimination and Racism: As we talk about ethics, we will begin to relate it to situations that have occurred in BC or world history related to discrimination and racism. Students brainstormed the meaning of the words, and we discussed how talking about this topic is serious and requires a certain maturity and thoughtfulness. I encourage you to have this discussion at home, as well, guiding students to be thoughtful in their questions and assisting them in finding out more information about some of the situations we discuss should they want to know more. We will do the same here in class, while focusing on three case studies from BC. Our first will be the Japanese Internment in BC during World War 2, and students received a handout to read to better understand the history behind it.

French: We went over packet one, practicing pronunciation today for vocabulary related to parts of the body, as well as possessives in French. Students with French Immersion background will be thinking of fun ways we can review the vocabulary as a class. We will have a quiz on packet one Friday, January 27th, so I recommend practicing at home to supplement what we do in class.

Thank you, everyone, for all of your thinking today! See you tomorrow!

Ms. D