Honors Chemistry Name______________________________

Unit 1- Matter
The Baby and the Bottle: Making a Case 
 
DUE: FRIDAY NOVEMBER 13th 
 
Format: Google Docs. Make sure that your project is well organized so that it is VERY 
CLEAR which part of the project each section is. Let me know if you need help with 
that. 
  
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) must decide whether to press charges against 
anyone for trying to intentionally harm the boy.   
 
AGO staff members have prepared a case file which includes: 
  I. The boy’s medical records 
  II. Interviews with family members and hospital staff 
   
You will need to work to complete the file by providing: 
I. A ​summary of the lab procedures​ that allowed you to identify the unknown 
substance. (Approximately a paragraph of your project) 
  II. Research describing ​symptoms of an overdose of the unknown substance. 
  III. Research ​examples of other criminal cases involving the unknown substance. 
  
Finally, write a short statement explaining whether or not your office will press 
charges, against whom, and the evidence that supports your reasoning. (at least 1-3 
paragraphs) 
  
  
Section  Description of Task  Points 

Identifying the  Provide a clear summary of how the  10 

Unknown  identity of the substance in the water 
Substance  was identified. 

Research the  Describe the symptoms (from 2 or more  10 

Symptoms  reputable sources) of an excess 
consumption of the unknown. ​Sources 
are listed. 

Research Other  Summarize at least one other criminal  8 

Cases  case involving the same substance. 
Source(s) are listed. 

Statement  Explains whether the AGO will press  22 

charges and against whom. Outline the 
relevant evidence and explain how the 
evidence supports the charge. 

     
Total  50 
 ​Case File 
I. Available Medical Records 

 
II. Witness Statements 

  

Name: Alicia Naurburg  Relationship to Patient: Mother 

  

Charlie woke up screaming around 6 in the morning. I heard him throwing up. I ran into his 
room. He was covered in vomit. He kept throwing up for maybe the next hour. Then he threw 
up any time I tried to give him something to drink. I had to hold him all day. 

​Around
maybe 5:30 pm, I tried to give him some water, but he didn’t want it. The phone rang 
and I passed him to Emmy. I heard him scream for a few minutes but then he must have gone 
to sleep. 

​James
checked on him a little later. I heard James scream “Call an ambulance.” I dialed 911 
on my cell as I ran into his bedroom. Charlie was having a fit. 

Until Charlie got sick, it had been a regular normal week. He went to daycare Friday. Friday 
​

evening, James picked up Emmy from her mom’s and brought her to our house. We ate pizza 
for dinner. Charlie didn’t eat much but he never does. 

  

​Name: James Thompson  Relationship to Patient: Father 

  

Saturday evening Alicia asked me to go to the store to get some of that drink you give sick 
kids so they don’t get dehydrated. The gas station didn’t have any so I went up to the grocery 
store. I was probably gone about 45 minutes. 

​When
I got home, Emmy was in her room and Alicia was on the phone. I looked in on Charlie 
and he was asleep. I grabbed a leftover piece of pizza and watched some TV. I heard 
something moving in Charlie’s room so I went to check. He was shaking and thrashing around 
the bed. I screamed to Alicia to call 911.  

  

  

Name: Emmy Thompson  Relationship to Patient: Half Sister 

  

Alicia threw Charlie at me when the phone rang. I tried to get him to drink some water from his 
bottle, but he didn’t want it. I put him in the crib and the bottle down next to him. He cried but 
he was too tired to try to climb out of the crib. I went back to my room to listen to music. Later 
I heard my dad screaming.  
 

Name: Samuel Dyspepper  Relationship to Patient: EMT 

  
My partner and I arrived at the house at 7:40. We knocked on the door and it took a few 
minutes for the daughter to answer. She pointed us to the back bedroom. The house was a 
mess. We had to step over boxes and piles of clothes. We found the child still in his crib. He 
was having trouble breathing. The EKG showed bradycardia. We put on a mask to help him 
breathe. He was pale. His pupils fixed and dilated. 
  
His mother rode with us in the ambulance. The father drove with the daughter. The mother 
couldn’t stop crying.  

  

Name: Dr. Gloria Busch  Relationship to Patient: ER Physician 

  

I suspected poisoning because of his symptoms. I’m also always suspicious when a kid shows 
up with a bunch of bruises.  

​The
mother was not forthcoming with answers to my questions. She couldn’t even seem to 
remember things like the child’s birthday. The father was in the waiting room, I guess with his 
daughter. I didn’t get to interact with him. 

​Mothersaid the child had been vomiting much of the morning, but had stopped. She said he 
hadn’t had any food or milk that day, but had kept down a little water.  

  

  

Name: Michael Chapman  Relationship to Patient: ER Nurse 

  

When I went to give an update to the father, he was watching television in the waiting room. 
His daughter was lying across several chairs watching the TV as well. I told him about the 
cardiac arrest and that the child had been resuscitated. He didn’t say anything. I asked what 
he knew about the child’s illness, and he said his wife had been taking care of him. He had 
been out in the garage repairing a lawn mower engine. I asked if they needed anything, and 
he asked how much longer they’d be there.