AVON, Ohio -- Someone stole cookies from a lunchbox and left a note taunting the victim, but the thief did not count on fourth-grade students in Eleanor Shuder's class being amateur detectives.
Over the next two weeks, the Heritage Elementary School students are using their science, math, reading and logic skills to track down the culprit in the "Case of the Missing Lunch" project.
"The mystery allows the children to use all these skills, especially math and science, to track down clues," said Shuder. "We came into the classroom and found the crime scene, an opened lunch box, cookie crumbs, footprints and a note that said 'Yum Yum.' There was also a mysterious white powder on the floor."
The mystery clues came from the Educational Service Center of Lorain County Consortium.
Students are investigating the clues, as well as the statements of a half dozen people who claim to be witnesses. But the children know that one of the witnesses is the guilty party.
"I thought one of the witnesses sighed too much in his statement," said Alex Downing, 10.
Another student thought that one of the witnesses was rude.
"She said that she packed whatever she wanted in her lunchbox," said Natalie Ulery, 9. "I'm looking at her."
Once the students got over their investigative skills culled from television shows like "CSI," they got down to business.
"The first thing they did was call for fingerprint and DNA analysis," Shuder said. "I said we had no access to such things, but there are many other methods open to us."
The students carefully measured the footprints, noting the type of footwear the thief wore. They examined the ink used in creating the note and tested the mysterious white powder.
"We are testing the reaction of the powder to things like iodine, water and vinegar," explained Ethan Broz, 10. "We should be able to determine what the powder is and that could help us."
Shuder says the hope is to bring in "a real police officer" to talk about crime investigation. "We're working on it," she said.
She handed out another substance to mix with the powder and test the reaction.
"What is the first rule of experimentation?" she asked the students.
"Don't eat it," several students said.
The new testing substance was powdered sugar.
The students, working in small groups of four, will work on various clues before coming together to solve the crime in a few weeks. Then they will announce the name of the culprit.
Is this how Batman got started?