Transcript Hip Hop Hijack - Portsmouth Public Schools

R3 - The Case of the
Hip Hop Hijack
Pilot – June 2007
Portsmouth Public Schools
The Concept
• Create a cross-curricular problem-based
thematic unit.
• Introduce 8th graders to graphing calculators
(pilot group consisted of primarily low
performers).
• Build interest in core content through real
world connections.
• Engage students with hands-on, minds-on
activities that use higher order thinking skills.
The Crime
• Location: Churchland Middle School,
Portsmouth, Virginia
• Hip Hop group R3 (Righteously Respectful Rap)
had just completed filming the music video for
the title track on their upcoming CD The
Authority of Wisdom.
• At approximately 10:49PM on 5/27/07, sound
engineer DeForest Lee, was assaulted in the
Churchland Middle School kitchen.
The Crime cont’d.
• The motive for the assault became apparent
when the police arrived. A master CD ROM of
the group’s upcoming album was stolen from the
sound engineer.
• Within 15 minutes of the crime, perpetrator’s
demanding $2 million dollars be wired to an off
shore account in the Cayman Islands within 48
hours or the album would be released free for
download on the Internet.
The Tasks
Note: In science, the students were so interested in the QX-3 that they took an
extra day to look at fibers and learn how to take pictures with the microscope and
import into Word. The science activities took 6 vs. 5 days.
Evidence Matrix
Perp #1 = Tonya
Perp #2 = Ding
The Case File
The Incident Report
The layout for the incident report will
give you a feel for the documents
created for the project.
Other Content Connections
Social Studies
• Debate (should math portion of police entry
exam be modified?)
• Court System – criminal vs. civil, jurisdiction, trial
vs. appellate
• Computer crimes – intellectual property – piracy
• Freedom of Speech - Lyrics
Language Arts
• Debate
• Cover the crime as a journalist (should math
portion of police entry exam be modified?)
Resources?
• CSI Blog – http://ppsblogs.net/crimescene
• Texas Instruments – now has lesson plans
integrating the use of their calculators and
probeware
• Court TV – downloadable pdf files of
various CSI lesson plans