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ScienceMathHistory

Cold-Case Timeline Lab

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Grades 6-860-75 minSource: Creative Dad Company

Teams reconcile conflicting witness accounts, records, and physical measurements to build the most accurate timeline of a fictional cold case, respecting what the evidence can and can't prove.

Budget levels

Amazon prices checked Oct 9-10, 2026 and may change

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change. As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Quick Start

Digital downloads only.

$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.

Student time: one class period, one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one class period on a single day.

Scale back: Fit it into a shorter period, use fewer effects, or run a demo instead of a build.

Scale up: Add one extra effect, or spread the share-out across another day.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

  • ThermometersBorrow or school hasuse what you have
  • cupsBorrow or school hasuse what you have
  • kitchen scaleBorrow or school hasuse what you have
  • warm and hot tap waterRequireduse what you have
  • iceRequireduse what you have
  • timerBorrow or school hasuse what you have

Full Experience

Required materials for the class.

About $23.88 (estimate, some items still being priced) per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one school day.

Scale back: Fit the build into one period with fewer effects.

Scale up: Spread the work across days, or add more effects.

  • zip bagsRequired1120 bags$23.88Amazon
  • sandRequired1price not confirmed

Total Transformation

The bigger kit, with every optional item included.

About $23.88 (estimate, some items still being priced) per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day (one session, one-day event).

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one session, a one-day event.

Scale back: Shorten the event, or run a demo for a smaller audience.

Scale up: Spread the build and the event across days, or invite a bigger audience.

Choose your version

Every level teaches the same core idea — pick the one that fits your time, budget, and energy today.

Student time: 40 min, one class periodTeacher prep / build-ahead: 15 min$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.One table or a clear section of floorBeginner-friendly

Setup

Print or hand-copy the essential prompt for Cold-Case Timeline Lab, then set out only paper, pencils, and the common or recycled items needed for one test. Use a tabletop representation whenever the original version mentions a room, specialized device, or digital tool; the learning comes from the decisions and evidence, not elaborate scenery.

Activity

  1. Read the witness statements and physical evidence cards and predict what order of events they suggest.
  2. Build a timeline on poster paper, placing each piece of evidence at its estimated time.
  3. Find two pieces of evidence that contradict each other, weigh their reliability, and adjust the timeline to reflect the uncertainty honestly.
  4. Present the reconstructed timeline, clearly marking which parts are certain and which remain unresolved.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

Done when: The group has completed Cold-Case Timeline Lab when it can present the reconstructed timeline, clearly marking which parts are certain and which remain unresolved and point to the observation, measurement, comparison, or trial that supports its conclusion.

Materials

printed witness statement cards, timeline poster paper, string, sticky notes, markers; Thermometers; cups; kitchen scale; warm and hot tap water; zip bags; sand; ice; timer

Shown for the Quick Start version — switch tabs above to see what changes.

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change.

As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Steps

  1. Read the witness statements and evidence cards for a fictional cold case. One clue: a cup of cocoa at the scene was found lukewarm and a glass of iced water had partly melted. Predict the order of events.
  2. Plan an investigation as a team. Write your question (how do the energy transferred, the mass and the type of matter affect a sample's temperature change?), the independent variables, the dependent variable (starting and final temperature), the controls (cup type, starting temperatures, time, room), how you will give samples the same amount of energy, and how many trials. Choose your own masses, materials, energy source and levels. Write a numbered step-by-step procedure and a blank data table for each test. Get your plan checked before testing.
  3. Carry out your approved plan for energy transferred. One possible setup is the same mass of room-temperature water in each cup with 1, 2 or 3 weighed ice cubes added, stirred until melted, recording the temperature drop. More ice means more energy transferred out of the water.
  4. Carry out your approved plan for mass and type of matter with the same energy. One possible setup is a sealed zip bag of hot tap water (same mass and starting temperature each time, not boiling) set into cups of 100 g water, 300 g water and 100 g sand for 5 minutes. Record mass, type of matter, starting and final temperature, and temperature change for every trial.
  5. Make cooling curves for the timeline using samples your team chooses (for example 100 g and 300 g of warm water and 100 g of warm sand), recording temperature every 2 minutes, and graph temperature over time.
  6. Explain the results using particles: temperature measures the average kinetic energy (speed) of the particles. Write claims, backed by your tables and graphs, describing how more energy transferred causes a bigger temperature change, how the same energy causes a smaller change in a larger mass, and how sand and water change differently.
  7. Use the cooling graphs to estimate how long the cocoa had been cooling, and use the ice data to estimate how long the ice had been melting, each with a time range for uncertainty.
  8. Build the timeline on poster paper, placing each clue at its estimated time and marking data-based times with their ranges.
  9. Present the timeline, your investigation plan and procedure, and your claims, clearly marking which parts are supported by data and which remain unresolved.

Standards mapped

  • NGSS · MS-PS3-4

    Plan an investigation to determine the relationships among the energy transferred, the type of matter, the mass, and the change in the average kinetic energy of the particles as measured by the temperature of the sample.