Mystery Tales by Thomas Currie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at docs.google.com.

Story: Red Riding Hood

Setting: A forest

Mystery: Set up a scene (on stage) that represents an outdoor setting, specifically a forest.  There appears to have been an altercation between a hunter, and a wolf, but there is also evidence that a young girl has been in the area.  How do you represent this evidence on stage in a way that allows others to infer what has happened?

Create a story line for what actually happened that leaves evidence behind at the scene.  “Seal” this solution in an envelope to be revealed at the end of the unit.  

Key Points to Include:

• The video testimony from the three characters (in costume); a hunter, a young girl, and a wolf that reveals an inaccuracy between the evidence and the tale they tell.
• Correctly show the footprints that reveal what happened
• Correctly use hair, and/or fabric samples related to different suspects

Create an investigative assignment (a document that outlines the mystery of what happened, and points to some of the key evidence, and distractions that might appear).  Ensure that between the crime scene and the document there is enough information for your classmates to arrive at a conclusion that is accurate.

Story: Jack and Jill

Setting: A Hill

Mystery:  You suspect that Jack’s fall may not be accidental; some foul play may be afoot and Jill may be a suspect.  You’ve collected soil samples from the area (top of the hill, and bottom) and soil samples from Jack’s boots, as well as Jill’s.  You’ve taken pictures of the foot prints that lead up the hill, and there is a set of tire prints as well traveling in the same direction.  A bicycle was found at the top of the hill leaning up against the wall.

Create a story to explain what actually happened that fateful day, and “seal” this solution in an envelope not to be revealed to anyone until the end of the unit.

Key Points to Include

• Video that has Jack accusing Jill of pushing him down the hill, and staging her own fall.
• Video that has Jill countering Jack’s statement saying that she was followed up the hill by Jack who then staged his own fall.
• Soil samples from the area, and their boots that tell the tale
• Photos of the foot-prints and tire-tracks that lead up the hill.

Create a portfolio for the evidence and provide students with the mystery to solve.  Be sure to include enough evidence that students should be able to rationally solve the mystery.

Story: Snow White

Setting: Castle

Mystery: The assassination attempt on Snow White may not be as clear cut as originally thought.  It seems that the Queen is claiming that the Royal Scribe has forged her signature on the “Kill Order” and that she never intended to have Snow White killed.  The Royal Scribe is claiming that he had no knowledge of the “Kill Order” and that it was the Queen who wrote the letter.  You have collected a sample of the Scribe’s black ink from his writing desk, and a sample of the black ink used by the Queen from her writing desk.  You’ve also got a sample of the Queen’s handwriting in a journal that you’ve taken from her bedroom drawer.

Create a story line for what actually happened that leaves the correct evidence behind at the scene.  “Seal” this solution in an envelope to be revealed at the end of the unit.  

Key Points to Include:

• The handwriting sample
• Enough of the ink samples for students to do an experiment with
• The original “Kill Order” as submitted by the assassin
• Sworn statements on video from the Assassin, The Queen, and the Royal Scribe attesting to their innocence.

Create a portfolio for the evidence and provide students with the mystery to solve.  Be sure to include enough evidence that students should be able to rationally solve the mystery.

Story: Cinderella

Setting: A Country Cottage

Mystery: The prince has a glass slipper to fit on his True Love’s foot.  There are three women who are sisters that all fit the shoe, but he suspects that none of them are actually Cinderella, but that they live with her.  They will not let their servant try on the shoe.  He decides to match their fingerprints rather than their shoe size, but how does he get an accurate set from each of the women, including the servant without actually printing the ladies?  A security camera has filmed the Prince’s whole visit.

Create a story that solves his dilemma and reveals the true identity of his true love, based on what they have touched.  “Seal” this in an envelope not to be revealed until the end of the unit.

Key Points to Include:

• Different objects that the women could have handled
• Actual set of four different finger prints
• Set of key fingerprints on the glass slipper
• The video story that reveals using logic, and physical evidence the owners of different objects

Create a portfolio of evidence to accompany this story that others can use to solve it.