Teacher's Notes
NSES
The national standards that will be addressed
in this lesson are those that relate to Science and technology.
Scientists in different disciplines ask different questions, use
different methods of investigation, and accept different types of evidence to
support their explanations. Many scientific investigations require the
contributions of individuals from different disciplines. New technological
advances that were developed for scientific research have crossed over into
other aspects of the community to make better those aspects of society, as in
using DNA fingerprinting to prove one’s innocence in a crime.
DESE
The main state
standard that will be addressed in this lesson is scientific inquiry; processes of scientific inquiry and investigations.
Here, students will use the scientific method to combine their knowledge of other subjects to help
them ask questions and formulate hypotheses in order to solve a ‘crime’.
The
Concept:
This lesson is one that teaches across the
curriculum. This will involve an
intricate level of observing, hypothesizing, testing, analyzing, and concluding.
Students will be presented with a crime scenario and will need to
investigate the crime scene, gather the evidence, and analyze the evidence in
order to identify the guilty party.
Exploration activities:
The exploration phase will be divided into two parts.
During the first part, the students will observe the crime scene and
gather and record physical evidence. During
the second part, the students will be given the police reports and asked to
include this information in their analysis of the crime.
See
Advanced Preparation for details.
Description of Data
Here, the students will describe the physical evidence that they observed form the crime scene. This should include: the M&M's, footprints, black marker, soda can, school's phone number on paper towel, etc. They should also relate the evidence they find to each of the suspects.
Evidence to be planted by teacher
Suspects:
Gene Poole:
He had been very frustrated with the research lately and decided to take the day
off. He spent the day at the shore walking along the beach in his favorite
sandals. He spent the night at his cabin at the shore, but no one can verify his
alibi. A black marker was found in his pocket along with a paper towel with a
strange stain.
Vera Cruise:
Was working in the lab all night. The night watchman talked to her at 12:00
midnight, but when he returned at 1:00 a.m. she was not there. She says that she
had gone to the bathroom around that time. On his 2:00 a.m. round of the
building she was in the lab. Her favorite perfume is Kerrie and she always uses
a fine tipped black marker to fill out her reports.
Kendra Goode:
Spent the night at home. After watching the first game of the NBA finals, the
Jazz won in overtime, she went to bed. She was awakened at 7:30 a.m. the next
morning with the news that Dr. Bulldog’s body was found at Beers Street Middle
School in the science lab. A black marker was found on the nightstand next to
her bed and a pair of sneakers was on the floor.
Alfredo Fettuccine:
Spent the night working on the computer in the office down the hall from the
research lab. He was putting all of their data into the computer. The computer
had crashed and all of their data had been wiped out. He was busy putting all of
their data back into the computer. He had told everyone he would be working all
night and he did not want to be disturbed. When the watchman checked on him at
3:00 a.m. he knocked on the door, but there was no answer. All the watchman
could hear from the room was some very loud music. Alfredo’s favorite candy is
plain M&M’s.
Concept Introduction:
The students will be
directed to the website: http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/genetics/medgen/dnatesting/
The students will be directed to read the following website to reinforce their understanding of the processes involved in using DNA evidence in a criminal trial and to get a different perspective on DNA fingerprinting: http://www.scandals.org/articles/pk021019.html
To
further build upon their previous lesson of Heredity, the students will review
the following website to tie this lesson and the previous lesson together:
Application:
The application phase of this lesson is the investigation and
analysis of evidence to solve the ‘crime’. The students will perform the
experiments listed on the application page and analyze the results to determine what actually happened.
Each team will be required to write a report of their scenario of the event, justifying
their conclusion by incorporating their
results of the evidence to serve as the proof to defend their position.
History:
Forensic investigative techniques is an area of Bigfoot research that needs to be utilized more than it has been in the past. To some Bigfoot investigators, forensic investigative techniques may be a new thing. There are only a few investigators who are actually applying the techniques of the forensic sciences in their investigations.
The Bigfoot investigator has always been a detective. Traditionally he/she has had to use his tools and talents for gathering evidence for his/her investigations. The application of science by the investigator has pointed the way for many of the ideas and techniques that were later to be discovered very beneficial regarding Bigfoot investigations.
The Bigfoot investigator maybe regarded as the Sherlock Holmes of his/her field. After all, it was Sherlock Holmes who inspired many new techniques for investigating crime that became standard procedures for law enforcement around the world. It was just a matter of time before his techniques of investigation would be recognized. Those techniques are now called the forensic sciences, and are used by the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
The forensic sciences must be used more extensively in the investigation of Bigfoot cases. The multitude of problems an investigator faces at the site of an alleged Bigfoot case are compounded when the investigator is not prepared to secure all the evidence left behind by the unknown. These cases are not common, but neither are they so rare as to preclude specialized training and instruction in their proper handling. It is a well recognized fact that mistakes are made during preliminary investigations, especially in an alleged Bigfoot case, may well prove fatal to the successful conclusion of the investigation.
Information found at the following website: http://users1.ee.net/pmason/forensic.html
Forensic science is a scientific method of gathering and examining evidence. Crimes are solved with the use of pathological examinations that gather fingerprints, palm prints, footprints, tooth bite prints, blood, hair and fiber samples. Handwriting and typewriting samples are studied, including all ink, paper, and typography. Ballistics techniques are used to identify weapons as well as voice identification techniques are used to identify criminals.
Italian, Fortunatus Fidelis, was the first person to practice modern forensic medicine in 1598. Forensic medicine is the "application of medical knowledge to legal questions." It became a recognized branch of medicine in the early 19th century.
In the 19th century it was observed that contact between someone's hands and a surface left barely visible and marks called fingerprints. Fine powder (dusting) was used to make the marks more visible.
Modern fingerprint identification dates from 1880, when the British scientific journal Nature published letters by the Englishmen Henry Faulds and William James Herschel describing the uniqueness and permanence of fingerprints. Their observations were verified by the English scientist Sir Francis Galton, who designed the first elementary system for classifying fingerprints based on grouping the patterns into arches, loops, and whorls. Galton's system was improved upon by London police commissioner, Sir Edward R. Henry. The Galton-Henry system of fingerprint classification, was published in June 1900, and officially introduced at Scotland Yard in 1901. It is the most widely used method of fingerprinting to date.
Found at the following website: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blforensic.htm
Related Websites:
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blforensic.htm
http://www.scandals.org/articles/pk021019.html
References:
http://users1.ee.net/pmason/forensic.html
http://www.netlabs.net/hp/ebend/
http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/genetics/medgen/dnatesting/
Curtis,
H. & Barnes, N. S., Biology of Cells, Worth Publishers, Inc., 1989.