The Case Opens
Open your materials, follow the steps, then turn in your work.
Open your section's case: record what each released document states, label what you add, start the timeline with sources, and write one open question for the scene walk.
1. Open your materials
2. Start the work
Read the Day 4 briefing and the grouped glossary; complete Part A of the Daily Evidence Sheet from the assigned reading.
Show all 5 required steps
- Read the Day 4 briefing and the grouped glossary; complete Part A of the Daily Evidence Sheet from the assigned reading.
- Record ten entries in the initial observations log, each labeled O or I, each with its source.
- Start the first timeline in Part B with at least five entries and sources; compare the sources in B2; show the time gap with units in B3.
- Write one open question for the scene walk in Part C and explain in 3 to 5 sentences why today's documents cannot answer it.
- Finish Parts D and E, then hand in the paper sheet or submit one PDF to your section's assignment.
Lost your place? Lost your place? You should have (1) ten log entries, each labeled O or I with a source, and (2) the first timeline entries with sources. If the log is short, take one released document, write what it states, name the source, and label it. Then move to Part B.
Check your work before submitting
- Every log entry carries an O or I label and a named source, with a caller's explanation recorded as a report.
- The first timeline entries keep their sources, and the time gap shows its units.
- The open question stays within what today's documents can and cannot answer.
3. Turn in your work
DueCheck Schoology- Hand in
- Daily Evidence Sheet, Parts A to E: an initial observations log of ten entries labeled O or I, first timeline entries with a source column, and one open question for the scene walk with its Part C explanation.
How to submit and name your file
Hand in the paper sheet or submit one PDF of it to your section's Wk3 D04 · The Case Opens (PLTW 1.1.1) assignment by September 10 at 11:59 PM. Notebook pages stay in your Investigative Notebook.
In Schoology, open your course and the assignment for this lesson. Attach your file, select Submit, and check that it appears in the submission.
PDF upload helpYou get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
Find this lesson's Schoology assignments
These are existing assignments for your section. Follow the directions in the assignment you are working on; this list does not add new work. Check Schoology for each deadline.
Link will not open? Open Schoology, choose your course and section, and find the title shown above.
How this lesson connects
Clear claims → honest graphs → careful evidence records → a case investigation. Use evidence to explain what you know and what you still need to find out.
Case background, evidence, and file details▸
How today connects to the case
Where: Statik Sound, a neighborhood recording studio. Who: Marcus Bell, 34, owner and producer of Statik Sound, found on the studio floor behind the mixing console on a Monday morning by his business partner.
The scene in our room is the scene in the case: tape at the door, the outline and torso behind the console, the lower body beneath a fallen speaker cabinet and an acoustic moving blanket. Responders left the scene as found, pending investigation.
Your job: By Day 18 your team names the manner and cause of death and backs each one with at least four exhibits across three different evidence types. Every claim stops where the evidence stops.
Today you will hear the dispatch call, meet the victim on paper, learn manner versus cause of death, and open the two organizers that will run the whole unit: the timeline and the suspect matrix.
Remember: Cause is what stopped the body. Manner is the story of how it came to happen. They are different questions with different evidence.
- Activity 1.1.1 A Sketchy Scene
This John Hay case practices skills connected to the PLTW activity above. Follow today's directions for the assigned work.
Missed class? Open today's worksheet and briefing. Use simulated data only if the worksheet or Mr. Mendoza provides it, and label it "Simulated data." If a required measurement or file is missing, ask Mr. Mendoza. Do not invent results.
Evidence released today
- Exhibit 001 · Person of interest: Terrence Cole (business partner) · Records thread · given at case open
- Exhibit 002 · Person of interest: Rina Vasquez (rival studio owner) · Records thread · given at case open
- Exhibit 003 · Persons of interest: Deshawn Okoye and Louise Tran · Records thread · given at case open
Exhibit means one numbered piece of evidence. Thread means the team lane it belongs to (Scene, Trace, Serology and DNA, Toxicology, Medical Examiner, Records). Exhibits are handed out on paper in class on the day they are released, and the same files are attached to that day's Schoology assignment.
Notebook reminders
- Investigation Day 4 pack (paper in class; the PDF is above and on the Schoology assignment)
- Investigative Notebook: Master timeline spread (opens today)
- Investigative Notebook: Suspect matrix (opens today)
- Investigative Notebook: Day 4 Cornell page
Daily Evidence Sheet, Parts A to E: an initial observations log of ten entries labeled O or I, first timeline entries with a source column, and one open question for the scene walk with its Part C explanation.
Hand in the paper sheet or submit one PDF of it to your section's Wk3 D04 · The Case Opens (PLTW 1.1.1) assignment by September 10 at 11:59 PM. Notebook pages stay in your Investigative Notebook.
Schoology assignment: Wk3 D04 · The Case Opens (PLTW 1.1.1)
What the evidence can and cannot prove
- Classroom evidence supports a classroom finding. It cannot convict a real person or diagnose a real patient.
- A hair consistent with a person proves a hair like theirs was present, not that the person was, and never when.
- A fingerprint proves touch, not when or why. A pattern class narrows a crowd; only minutiae can name one finger.
- A presumptive test says maybe. Only a confirmatory test says blood, and only DNA says whose.
- One value outside its reference range is a flag, not a verdict.
Make only the claims your evidence supports. Explain what you still cannot tell.
Need help? Warm-up, timing, and directions▸
💡 Big idea: A record is usable evidence when the source stays beside each statement and every added inference is labeled, because a second reader can then check what was stated against what was added.
- 0-8Play the section's dispatch recording; read the briefing and the cause versus manner definitions
- 8-20Walk the bicycle-shop worked model: observation, inference, source, time method
- 20-40Read the released documents; record ten O/I entries with sources in the log
- 40-58Part B: first timeline entries with sources, the B2 source comparison, the B3 time gap with units
- 58-72Part C: one open question and its 3 to 5 sentence explanation with one O and one I
- 72-80Parts D and E; hand in the sheet or submit one PDF; carry the question to the scene walk
- • Today your section's case opens. A dispatch call is on the record, a background card describes the fictional person, and the documents released today are the only sources you may use.
- • Your job is to write down what each source states, label what you add, and start the timeline. Case A belongs to PBS1282 and Case B to PBS6782; the facts never mix.
- • The sheet's separate bicycle-shop model shows the method: read, label O or I, name the source, subtract the times.
- • Exit goal: the ten-entry log, the first timeline entries with sources, and one open question, all on the Daily Evidence Sheet.
- • An observation records what a source states or shows; an inference adds an explanation, estimate or calculation. A caller's words are evidence of what the caller reported, not proof of the caller's explanation.
- • A timeline keeps each event with its source; elapsed time is the later time minus the earlier time, and minutes divided by 60 give a decimal hour. Approximate statements keep the word 'about'.
- • is the injury or disease responsible for the death; is the category of circumstances. Today's documents leave both open, and no suspect is named.
PLTW connection and today's work
In myPLTW, open Lesson 1.1 and Activity 1.1.1 A Sketchy Scene, and read its opening to the stopping point Mr. Mendoza names in class. The official activity stays separate from today's sheet.
Today's stopping point: The chain-of-custody practice is done; today the case opens and the Daily Evidence Sheet is submitted. The official activity continues on its own schedule.
PLTW activity titles identify the course connection. If your account will not open, use the posted materials for today and tell Mr. Mendoza. Do not mark an online activity complete unless you completed it.
Open your section's PLTW handouts in Schoology. Find Activity 1.1.1, A Sketchy Scene; the official activity stays separate from today's sheet.
Use the turn-in directions at the top of this page. Do not create a second submission unless your teacher asks for one.
Show another explanation or a smaller first step
Need help? Choose a starting point
Lesson resources: reading, slides, and vocabulary▸
The deck walks through the same Daily Evidence Sheet, with source labels, a worked timeline and Part C help. No separate exit response is due.
Generated from this lesson's canonical data with a red-team citation check.
For the original slide animations, use the PowerPoint download.
Citation auditTrack who had the item, then check its condition. Do not fill a gap with a guess.
A record is usable evidence when the source stays beside each statement and every added inference is labeled, because a second reader can then check what was stated against what was added.
Driving question: Read your section's dispatch record. Which statement records what the caller reported, and which explanation would you label as an inference? Name the source beside each entry.
What you already know: On September 8 you tracked who had an item and checked its condition without filling a gap with a guess. Today the same habit runs on statements: keep the source beside each one.
New idea: A record is usable evidence when the source stays beside each statement and every added inference is labeled, because a second reader can then check what was stated against what was added.
Visual or model: F1. F1 is the sheet's separate bicycle-shop practice model as a text model, not a case fact: a call record, an estimated arrival that keeps its 'about', and a separate alarm log, each row with its source and label. What to notice: Keep the source beside the statement. Keep the question beside the gap.
- Read one released document. Write what it states, name the source and label the row O.
- Add any explanation, estimate or calculation as its own row, labeled I, with the source it came from.
- Put the timed entries on the first timeline; subtract call time minus arrival time and divide minutes by 60.
- Write the one question the documents cannot answer, then finish Parts A, D and E and hand in the sheet or one PDF.
Real biomedical example: An investigator keeps a caller's report and an added estimate in separate log rows. With a source beside each row, a second reader can check which statements came from the record. Source: Instructions for completing the cause-of-death section of the death certificate for injury and poisoning (usually completed by a medical examiner or coroner), CDC Stacks record, two pages.
What the evidence supports: Your case's released documents, the worked model and the grouped glossary support the one product: the Daily Evidence Sheet with its ten-entry log, timeline entries and open question.
What it cannot prove: Today's documents cannot name a , a or a responsible suspect.
- • Observation (O): Something directly recorded or reported in a source. Write 'the caller reports' when the wording matters.
- • Inference (I): An explanation, estimate or calculation you add using the evidence. Label it so someone can check it.
- • Source: The document or record where the information came from; a label such as DOC-1 or 'background card'.
- • Timeline: Events in time order, each with its source. Write 'none' when a source gives no clock time.
- • Elapsed time: The time between two events: call time minus arrival time; divide minutes by 60 for a decimal hour.
- • Corroboration: Independent sources supporting the same specific claim. A usual routine alone does not confirm that it happened this time.
- • : The injury or disease responsible for the death. A statement that a heart stopped does not identify it.
- • : The category of circumstances: natural, accident, homicide, suicide or undetermined. Today's documents leave it open.
Use it now: Use the model: a call is stamped 2:38 AM and the caller arrived 'about six minutes earlier'. Write the arrival row with its label and source, then the gap in minutes and as a decimal hour.
Go further, optional: The CDC instruction sheet for the cause-of-death section (the medical examiner and coroner version, two pages) shows how professionals separate the immediate from the underlying cause that started the chain of events; it is optional reading and not a form to complete. Your case's documents supply everything the sheet needs.
Case A (STATIC, a recording studio): DOC-1 (the dispatch call record) and the background card. The call is stamped 7:40 AM Monday (DOC-1); the caller says he badged in 'like two minutes ago', so the arrival is about 7:38 AM and the gap about 0.03 hours.
Limit: A source label says where a statement came from. It does not prove the statement is correct, and a caller's explanation is evidence of what the caller reported.
The separate bicycle-shop practice example on the sheet, pages 2 to 3: a call record at 2:38 AM, an arrival estimated at about 2:32 AM from the caller's 'about six minutes earlier', and a separate alarm log at 2:05 AM; three rows, each with its source and an O or I label.
Limit: The model is a separate practice case. Its events never enter your case log; only its method (read, label, cite, subtract) carries over.
The caller says the door was locked 'like normal', and the background card describes a locked-studio routine. The routine is consistent with the statement; it does not independently confirm it. Case B belongs to PBS6782; its records never enter Case A's log.
Limit: Today you may record what a source states, label what you add, compare sources, calculate a time gap and explain an unanswered question. Today's documents cannot name a , a or a responsible suspect.
PBS-CASE-OPENS-A · Simulated classroom evidence scenario
Your role: student writing the initial observations log
Decision: A partner logs the caller's explanation as a fact, with no source or label, and says the log can wait for every document. Decide how your first entries are written.
- • Write the caller's words as an observation with DOC-1 as the source, and put any explanation in its own row labeled I.
- • Log the caller's explanation as a fact, because the caller was there and said it on the record.
- • Leave the log empty until every document has been released, since one call record is too little to start a timeline.
Response: One Daily Evidence Sheet, Parts A to E, with the ten-entry O/I log, the first timeline entries with sources and the Part C open question, handed in on paper or submitted as one PDF to the PBS1282 assignment Wk3 D04 · The Case Opens (PLTW 1.1.1). The choice discussion is preparation, not another submission.
Claim ceiling: Today you may record what a source states, label what you add, compare sources, calculate a time gap and explain an unanswered question. Today's documents cannot name a , a or a responsible suspect.
Reason for review: Case A (STATIC, a recording studio) opens with two or three released documents. Before any conclusion, the log must show what each document states and what the reader added.
Context: A fictional classroom case with invented people and places, used for evidence organization. It is not a real death, and today's documents are not a medical or legal record.
- • 7:40 AM Monday: the dispatch operator stamps the call (DOC-1).
- • About 7:38 AM: the caller's badge-in, computed from 'like two minutes ago' (DOC-1 plus arithmetic, labeled I).
- • Weekend routine, buyout refusal, lapsed fill: background card entries with no clock time.
- • Each entry names its source: DOC-1, the background card, or for Case B the supplied DOC-3.
- • A caller's report is recorded as a report; an estimate or explanation is its own row labeled I.
- • A usual routine is consistent with a statement and is not independent confirmation of it.
Measurements: One value today: the call-to-arrival gap, two minutes, about 0.03 hours, with the source of each time named. No physical measurements are released.
Figure finding: What the released documents state, and which entries were added by the reader, are settled once labeled and sourced. Nothing else is.
Uncertainty: Today you may record what a source states, label what you add, compare sources, calculate a time gap and explain an unanswered question. Today's documents cannot name a , a or a responsible suspect.
Students often think Students think that if a caller or a background card says something happened, the log can record it as a fact.. The trap: A caller's explanation is evidence of what the caller reported, and a routine is what usually happens; neither confirms what happened this time. The log records the report as an observation of the source and keeps any explanation as a labeled inference.
Worked on the sheet's separate bicycle-shop practice case, never on Case A or Case B:
Log entries (source, label):
- 2:38 AM: the call record states this call time. (Practice DOC-1, O)
- About 2:32 AM: arrival estimated by subtracting six minutes from 2:38 AM. (Practice DOC-1 plus arithmetic, I)
- 2:05 AM: the alarm log records the alarm. (Practice alarm log, O)
- The caller reports arriving 'about six minutes earlier'. (Practice DOC-1, O)
Time gap (B3): 2:38 minus 2:32 = 6 minutes; 6 / 60 = 0.1 hours.
Open question (Part C): What happened between the 2:05 AM alarm and the caller's arrival? The call record states the call time and the caller's approximate arrival (O). The arrival is my estimate from the caller's words (I). The alarm log records a different event 33 minutes before the call. Neither document says who was present in between, so today's documents cannot answer it.
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: The Daily Evidence Sheet's initial observations log of ten entries labeled O or I with sources, first timeline entries with a source column, and one open question for the scene walk with its Part C explanation.
- Read the Day 4 briefing and the grouped glossary; complete Part A of the Daily Evidence Sheet from the assigned reading.
- Record ten entries in the initial observations log, each labeled O or I, each with its source.
- Start the first timeline in Part B with at least five entries and sources; compare the sources in B2; show the time gap with units in B3.
- Write one open question for the scene walk in Part C and explain in 3 to 5 sentences why today's documents cannot answer it.
- Finish Parts D and E, then hand in the paper sheet or submit one PDF to your section's assignment.
Keep the structure. Replace the question, facts, measurements, and evidence. Then recheck units, vocabulary, and whether the conclusion goes beyond the evidence.
Also due today: Hand in the paper Daily Evidence Sheet or submit one PDF of it to your section's Wk3 D04 · The Case Opens (PLTW 1.1.1) assignment by September 10 at 11:59 PM.
- CER:
- Claim, Evidence, Reasoning: make a claim, back it with evidence, explain your reasoning.
- SOP:
- Standard Operating Procedure, the exact steps to follow (especially in a lab).
- Tracker:
- Your PLTW progress log where you record completed evidence.
- myPLTW:
- The PLTW course site where you do the online activities. Find it in Clever with your Microsoft sign-in, right next to Schoology.
Practice: try a question, then check your answer▸
Claim ceiling for this check: Today you may record what a source states, label what you add, compare sources, calculate a time gap and explain an unanswered question. Today's documents cannot name a , a or a responsible suspect.
In the separate bicycle-shop model, arrival is about 2:32 AM. Which source and label does that entry need, and what arithmetic produced it?
Write an answer and pick a confidence to unlock the key.
Missed class or ready for more?▸
What today's skills lead to. These are real health-science careers this course builds toward. Tap one to see, on the US Department of Labor's O*NET site, what the job actually involves, what it pays, and how fast it is growing.
Absent? Use your case's source-labeled make-up extracts on the Day 4 reading page, write 'canned data set' at the top of Part B, and complete the same sheet.
Day 4 reading, worked model and make-up extractsHand in the paper sheet or submit one PDF of it to your section's Wk3 D04 · The Case Opens (PLTW 1.1.1) assignment by September 10 at 11:59 PM. Notebook pages stay in your Investigative Notebook.
Class still runs. Complete the online activity above (it's self-guided). Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
Day 4 reading, worked model, grouped glossary and your case's make-up extractsHow I will check this work
- Every log entry carries an O or I label and a named source, with a caller's explanation recorded as a report.
- The first timeline entries keep their sources, and the time gap shows its units.
- The open question stays within what today's documents can and cannot answer.
Today you may record what a source states, label what you add, compare sources, calculate a time gap and explain an unanswered question. Today's documents cannot name a cause of death, a manner of death or a responsible suspect. Use the Schoology assignment linked above to submit it.
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