Science, Grade 9 - 12, Forensic Science Elective, 2005
1.) Describe responsibilities of various personnel involved in crime scene investigations.
Examples: police, detectives, laboratory specialists, medical examiners
• Explaining how to search, sketch, and record data from a crime scene
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2.) Explain ways to collect and preserve evidence from a crime scene.
• Distinguishing between physical evidence and witness evidence
• Comparing the three main pattern types that combine to form an individual's unique fingerprint
• Explaining different methods of latent fingerprint development
• Identifying origins of impressions, including footwear and tire treads
• Describing ways to identify hair, fiber, and blood evidence
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3.) Distinguish between class and individual characteristics of firearms.
Examples: toolmark, caliber, scatter pattern
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4.) Describe presumptive and confirmatory tests.
Examples: blood type comparison, DNA testing
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5.) Describe the importance of genetic information to forensics.
• Using the process of gel electrophoresis to identify patterns in DNA
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6.) Describe the decomposition process.
• Using rigor mortis to determine corpse position
• Identifying decomposition by-products to determine cause of death
• Using entomological life cycles to determine time of death
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7.) Identify the importance of skeletal remains in forensics.
• Comparing bones and skulls based on age, sex, and race
• Using forensic dentistry to establish identity
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8.) Describe general categories of drugs and poisons and their effects on humans.
• Explaining ways poisons are detected at autopsy
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9.) Use laws of physics to explain forensic evidence.
• Analyzing blood splatter patterns in relation to speed, height, and direction
• Tracking trajectories of collected evidence
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10.) Describe techniques used to determine the validity of documents.
Examples: fiber and handwriting analyses, ink chromatography
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