17-6
Students: That one of her children stole the jam.
Instructor: How can she find out which of her 7 children did it?
A student: She could call all the children and ask them.
A student: But what if they don’t tell?
A student: Or what if the one who did it lies and says someone else did it?
A student: She could find out what the children were doing while she was at
the river. Maybe some were away so she can be sure they didn’t
steal the jam.
Instructor: Good! Let us suppose she finds that one of the children was away
gathering firewood and has the wood to prove it. And that another
was at her grandmother’s house. But the others were all at home.
How many possible culprits does that leave?
A student: Five.
A student: Why doesn’t she look at their hands and mouths? Gualamo leaves a
purple stain.
Instructor: Good! Suppose she finds that 3 of them have purple stains on their
fingers and tongues. Then what?
A student: Punish all three!
Instructor: But suppose each one says he didn’t steal the jam; that another gave
it to him. How can Mama be sure which one actually stole it?
A student: Maybe the one who did it left handprints in the kitchen, so she can tell
which one it was.
Instructor: Good! But what if the 3 children’s hands are all about the same size?
Then what?
A student: I’ve heard that real detectives take fingerprints. Maybe she could take
their fingerprints with ink . . .
A student: or with the jam itself! Then she could compare the prints of each
child with the prints in the kitchen. That would be a good test!
If some students don’t know about
fingerprints, and if there is time, the
instructor can have students actually take
each other’s fingerprints. They can use
ink or jam and act out the ‘test’ to see
which child stole the jam.
fingerprints
of the three
children
1.
jam print
in kitchen
2.
Which child do
3. you think stole
the jam?