FROM murder to car theft, criminal activities plotted by bright, young school students are being solved by dozens of their peers from across the eastern seaboard at a unique, immersive science camp in northern NSW this week.
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The five-day camp involves 76 boys and girls from 24 different state and independent schools, from cities and country towns in four states and territories, spending the week at the 18th annual Forensic Science Camp at The Armidale School (TAS).
The camp was first held in 1994 and attracted widespread interest after featuring on the former ABC TV science show Quantum.
It is acknowledged as a leading academic-enrichment opportunity for gifted and talented students in Year 8 (NSW) and Year 9 (Queensland), and interest remains strong, no doubt due to the continuing popularity of forensic and crime shows on television.
For the camp, participants are divided into groups and then solve fictitious felonies using a range of forensic techniques, including microscopy, chromatography, fingerprint analysis, cryptography and general science. They analyse the evidence, identify and interview the suspects, order medical and scientific tests and search criminal databases.
On the final day, teams present their committal cases to a legal professional, who determines whether they are strong enough to go before a court.
The camp is run by older students who have previously taken part – some developing the crime scenarios (the “controllers”), some managing the event itself. Two staff attend, but only in a supervisory role.
Camp director Mitch Cartwright, a Year 10 student at TAS attending his third camp, started working on this year’s event with a team of others last year.
“The controllers started developing their scenarios camp in November, and, at a management camp here at TAS in January, they nutted out most of the details of scenarios, and collect ‘evidence’ for the campers. Meanwhile, the management team organise the logistics, which included recruitment, catering, and organising accommodation in the boarding houses,” he said.
“Once again, students are coming from all over eastern Australia, and we even had a student from India try to apply.”
Sydney Grammar student Sam Cass, one of last year’s directors, said: “It is a really unique opportunity. The campers are largely left to their own devices in how they solve their crime. It’s great for building independent thinking, learning to deal with others, and leadership,” he said.
For more information about the camp visit http://wordpress.as.edu.au/forensic
