1. What makes a good crime scene investigator? How can we find out?

2. Our K-W-L What do we Know about forensic science? What we Want to know about forensic science? What we Learned about forensic science.

3. To answer our Wonder questions we need to…. (sample responses) do research to find out how math and science are used in forensics set up experiments to answer our questions about forensic science (fingerprinting, handwriting analysis, and DNA analysis) make predictions about the best conditions and then try to answer them collect our data carefully make graphs and models to help display our work compare our results with others draw conclusions based on our experiments and research

4. How does one gather and process scientific data to support a conclusion? Is it possible for a scientist to always find out “who done it?”

5. Let’s brainstorm what we know… Science and Math: Ask questions Form hypothesis Test hypothesis Analyze results – Do the math Form a conclusion Communicate results

6. Let’s go to work… Distribute school crime scenarios on slips of paper to small groups of students. –Tell students that the crimes occurred in the school, and students are going to consider the scenarios in order to establish the steps of investigating crime. –Have each group brainstorm how they would go about solving the crime, and write up a list of about 10 investigative questions that they would need to pursue in order to solve the crime. Define and discuss vocabulary words as they come up, such as witness, testimony, red herring, trace evidence, alibi, and physical evidence. Instruct students to keep a glossary in their science journals.

7. Let’s go to work… For example, for the first crime scenario: When did Louise notice that her CD was missing? Ask: Was there a witness? How was her locker broken into? What evidence was left at the scene of the crime? Have each group share what its process would be for solving the crime. Through sharing and discussion, point out the steps involved in solving a crime.

8. Let’s go to work… Crime Solving Steps Investigate the crime scene Diagram and photograph the scene Gather physical evidence from the scene Process the evidence Collect testimonial evidence (i.e., witness statements, interviews) Identify suspects Analyze suspects and evidence Draw and report conclusions

9. Let’s go to work… Ask students how this is similar to the scientific inquiry process. Review the steps of the scientific inquiry process (observing, hypothesizing, collecting and experimenting with data, and drawing conclusions). Emphasize that the goal of criminal investigation is to reconstruct a past event (the crime) in order to solve it.

10. Interesting Things To Know… Major contributors to the field Mathieu Orfila (1787-1853) – father of toxicology – the science of dealing with poisons and their effects. Alphonse Bertillon (1853-1914) – developed science of anthropometry – the taking of a series of body measurements for means of personal identification (later replaced by more reliable fingerprinting)