Chemistry: Sherlock Holmes Mysteries

This is an end-of-the-year week long investigation intended for honors high school chemistry. There are 12 different Sherlock Holmes type "cases" [intended for up to 24 students working in lab teams] that students solve for faculty and staff members across campus, with the ability to modify/rotate and reuse scenarios annually. It is designed to be a mystery where students actually go and collect a sample from faculty/staff collaborators, each with a different Chemical Mystery that they need solved. Students work in the lab to decipher clues and report back to the faculty/staff collaborator.

I have used it with great success as a review and reinforcement of concepts, enhancer of lab skills, and chance to prepare students for a lab practical as the final exam.

WHAT WILL I GET WITH THIS DOWNLOAD?
You will get a Word document describing basic prep for the instructor, a Word document with general directions for collaborators, and a presentation file (formatted for either power point or smart notebook) which provides a daily mini-lesson and explains the work that students need to do each of the five days (see preview file). All student handouts, instructor keys, and an evaluation rubric and letter-template for students are also included.
Sharable/printable Saftey Data Sheets are also provided.

WHAT DO I NEED IN ORDER TO CONDUCT THIS MYSTERY?
As this is intended for an end of the year honors chemistry class, and there is an advanced but very basic mini-lesson on reading mass spec plots, you should have a well equipped lab and already covered (or expect to introduce) some basic chemical tests such as Density, Melting Point, Conductivity, pH, Boiling Point, Distillation, Benedicts, Iodine test.
Ideally, you would have access to most of the test equipment pictured in the preview images, but it is possible to conduct the investigation with some sensors/tests missing if you work with the students to share results. For example: Built into the lesson/labs is a portion where students must submit a portion of their mystery substance for running in a mass spectrometer, and the instructor provides the pre-made mass specs (which are provided with the download) to the appropriate student's case#.

The product is a thematic Unit, based on various quotations made by the fictional Sherlock Holmes. “Education never ends, Watson. It is a series of lessons, with the greatest for the last.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle