I am inspired to write today for some unknown reason. Maybe because of the cuddle weather, and the only thing I can cuddle with is my keyboard and laptop. It's a difficult time here in the Philippines because of tropical storm "Kristine". It's been 3 days since the said storm entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility and it's been moving real slow. Different areas in our region are already submerged in flood and people are asking for help. Some are already rescued but some are still inside their houses or at the top of their roof wanting refuge. The electricity in our area was restored just an hour ago, good thing I can contact my family back at home; I am living far away from them because of work.
I want to go back home. I want to spend more time with my mom. I am still building my career profile tho. Since I am working in a small town, the competition is not that difficult compared to my birthplace which is the center of our province. It's not yet a city but it's way more progressive than the rest of the small towns in our province. Right now, I am a science teacher to high school students and also an instructor to criminology students. I teach Forensic Chemistry and Toxicology in college. It's difficult because honestly, I don't have the greatest credentials to teach the subject but for some reason, it was given to me. I am doing the best that I can to still provide them with the necessary knowledge and skills they need. Challenging yet fulfilling.
Here are some photos of our laboratory activities from the past months.
This is the first lab activity that my students accomplished. Their goal is to collect all the necessary evidence from a crime scene that I set up. They have to properly apply the skills and theories they gain not just from my subject (forensic 3) but also from their previous forensic subjects which are Forensic Photography and Forensic Fingerprints.
I also thought them the easiest way to analyze ink as part of the evidences that they collected from the previous activity.
Paraffin test and Gun powder analysis. After some of the students had a firing activity, I assigned an examiner and did the paraffin test. Although this test is not reliable as the gunpowder will be gone after 72 hours from the alleged shooting, they still need to understand the concept of this basic knowledge. Just hit the comment section if you want to know more about the paraffin test.
For our topic about poisons, I gave them a laboratory activity in which they will use a color test to identify which of the following common substances contains poison. Not all of the groups got the correct answer but I can say all of them have a good observation. The poisoned substances are sugar and salt, and not all the groups got both. Some say sugar has poison but some conclude salt has it. They realized both substances have poison after they submitted their report, but I didn't allow them to change it lol. I want them to learn careful and keen observation before submitting their results. After all, in real life, they'll be working with cases in which the fate of a person relies on their expert testimonies- they can't afford to make mistakes.
The most recent is the Blood and Blood Spatter Analysis. I drew a small amount of blood from my students (with consent) and I asked them to present different blood spatter that I have discussed.
Supposedly, we'll be conducting soil analysis starting on Friday but I think classes are still suspended since a lot of areas here experienced damage because of the storm. Nevertheless, I hope everyone is safe and be able to get back on track as soon as possible.
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