Last year I (along with a team of Bushscouters) ran a tracking base at Gilwell Reunion (Scouting event) based on a CSI type crime scene to get young people and leaders into the notion of tracking, whilst giving it some mystery and and activity to go along side.
This year I am doing the same for the 100 years for Gilwell Reunion with the previous CSI scenarios and an all new scenario. After lots of calls to make it downloadable for groups to run, I have kept that in mind for this year and this post is for those who want to download the scenario.
Here are a few photos from last time and yes we will be in the white suits again this year.
Purpose of the Activity
The case of the Bluebell Ambush teaches participants how to:
- Interpret ambiguous evidence
- Separate observation from assumption
- Build multiple hypotheses
- Work collaboratively
- Challenge stereotypes (“foxes do this”, “owls do that”)
- Understand that real investigations rarely have a single obvious answer
- Pick up some tips on tracking and increase observation skills
The goal is not to guess correctly, it’s to reason well.
Timings
The activity can take around 50-60 mins. Here is a suggested order to run the activity
| Phase | Activity | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction | 5 min |
| 2 | Evidence Review | 10–15 min |
| 3 | Suspect & Witness Review | 10–15 min |
| 4 | Hypothesis Building | 10 min |
| 5 | Group Discussion | 10 min |
| 6 | Closing Reflection | 5 min |
Leader Pack
A leaders pack is included to help run the activity along with worksheets.
Files to download
This zip file contains everything that you need to run the activity.
You will need to print out the relevant files in order to run it.
There is an A3 copy of the detective board. Alternatively the relevant pictures have been included so you can cut them out and make your own board as part of the activity. This should be a good step to get the Young People to do whilst they are working through the evidence.
There are evidence pictures you can print out to make your own crime scene.
Finally
Just to say, have fun with this and let me know how your sessions went.
You can send pictures and feedback to Bushscout and Sparrowhawk Bushcraft facebook pages
Sparrowhawk Bushcraft 
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