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1. Practice the power of observation:
* Ask an adult helper to find and watch a one-minute online video, and come up with three questions. Then, watch the video and try to answer their questions.
* Shake up a room. Have someone take five items out of a room and see if you can identify what's missing. Then try adding items to the room.
* Take notice. Every day for one week, make a note of three new things on the way home from school.
2. Communicate in code:
* Learn some classic codes - Morse code, Pigpen code, or another code. How are they used?
* Create your own code.
* Make invisible ink.
3. Fingerprint for fun:
* Study three sets of prints. Learn about the loop, arch, whorl, tented arch, double loop, central pocket loop, and accident. How are the sets the same or different?
* Make your own identity card.
* Get fingerprinted at your local police dept.
4. Try out detective science:
* Look at three kinds of "evidence". Use a microscope or magnifying glass to compare them.
* Find out about DNA.
* Detect handwriting details. Compare your handwriting to a friends. How are they similar? Different?
5. Follow the clues to solve a real mystery:
* Ask friends or an adult helper to create a clue hunt.
* Find clues "on the scene". Choose a room and be a detective. What do you see? What do you think may have happened there?
* Solve three online mysteries on sites like the FBI's kids' site or Planet Science.