Welcome to Forensic

Science!

Find your seat based

on your table

number.

FORENSICS

BIOLOGY

CHEMISTRY

PHYSICS

EARTH SCIENCE

Why did you choose to take this course? What are you hoping to get out of it? Where do you fit in?

WHAT YOU NEED

• Composition Notebook

• Pencils and Pens

• (Blue or Black ONLY)

• 3 Ring Notebook

• Loose Leaf Paper

• Graph Paper

GRADING

• Tests 50%

• Labs 20%

• Classwork/Homework 20%

• Student Engagement 5%

• 1st Q: 40%

• 2nd Q:40%

• Final Exam is 20% of overall grade

• You MAY be exempt if you are a senior and do not have any UNEXCUSED absences.

TEACHERS

Mrs. Mastersonwmasterson@wcpss.net

SMART LUNCH Mondays AWednesdays B

Websitepcforensics.weebly.com

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

You will be working in groups for most labs.

Yes your data may be similar; however, your pre-lab questions, conclusions, and post-lab questions should BE IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

QUESTIONS?

HOW GOOD IS YOUR MEMORY?What do you recall from the first slide that was posted when you came into class? Write them down.

Questions to Consider

⬜ How many people were on the slide?

⬜ How many people were wearing a blue shirt?

⬜ How many babies were there total?

⬜ How many people were not looking straight forward?

⬜ Where was the person wearing a hat and scarf located? Was the person a male or female?

FORENSIC SCIENCE

▪ Forensic means “before the forum”

▪ In ancient Rome, if a person was accused of a crime they were brought before the forum (public marketplace/town square) to present their case.

▪ The gatherers determined if he/she was guilty or not based upon the presentation of their case.

FORENSICS TODAY

⬜ Today, forensic science is a marriage of science and law.

⬜ It is the act of gathering and interpreting evidence so that it is presented to persuade a jury or judge that an act has or has not take place.

⬜ Forensic science may be more precisely named criminalistics as it is very closely related to criminal law.

Observations

⬜ Central element of scientific method

⬜ Consists of receiving knowledge of the outside world through our senses, or recording information using scientific tools and instruments.

⬜ The ability to notice specific details.

WHITE BOX ACTIVITYIN LAB MANUAL.

Observations and Inferences verses Facts. What’s the difference?

Fact vs. Inference

⬜ Fact – proven or accepted as truth

⬜ Observation- using senses to gather information about environment

⬜ Inference- Deductive reasoning or interpretation of observations

State one: Fact, Observation and Inference about the children below….

TYPES OF EVIDENCE OBSERVATIONS

⬜ QUALITATIVE: Descriptions of evidence involved in a crime scene that are descriptive, observable, but not measureable.

⬜ i.e. Color, smell, sound, texture

⬜ QUANTITATIVE: Descriptions of evidence involved in a crime scene that are measureable, precise, etc.

⬜ i.e. Temperature, length, width, height, mass, etc.

COMPARISONS

⬜ Individual Characteristics: Properties of evidence that can be attributed to a common source with an extremely high degree of certainty.

⬜ Class Characteristics: Properties of evidence that can only be associated with a group and never with a single source.

FORENICS BACKGROUND

⬜ CRIME SCENE

⬜ Location where crime took place. May involve more than one location.

⬜ EVIDENCE

⬜ Any material or information gathered that helps determine the 5 W’s. Material that establishes a relationship between a crime (scene), victim, & suspects.

⬜ CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATOR

⬜ A trained forensic specialist responsible for gathering evidence from a crime scene.

⬜ CIVIL LAW

⬜ Rules & regulations which govern civil rights, grievances, private rights, property rights, and transactions. May involve punitive damages but rarely jail time.

⬜ CRIMINAL LAW

⬜ Rules/laws which govern actions deemed dangerous to the individual or society at large.

BRANCHES OF FORENSIC SCIENCE

⬜ PATHOLOGY

⬜ ENTOMOLOGY

⬜ FINGERPRINTING

⬜ AFIS

⬜ SEROLOGY

⬜ BLOOD SPLATTER

⬜ DNA

⬜ CODIS

⬜ PSYCHOLOGY

⬜ ANTHROPOLOGY

⬜ ODONTOLOGY

⬜ TRACE EVIDENCE

⬜ HAIR/FIBERS

⬜ TOXICOLOGY

⬜ BALLISTICS

Divisions of Forensics

⬜ Ballistics Identification of weapons, matching bullets and guns

⬜ Toxicology

the systematic study of poisons.

Divisions of Forensics

⬜ Documentation

Handwriting analysis, forgery and authenticity of documentations

Divisions of Forensics

⬜ Anthropology study of skeletal remains, includes aging, sexing and classifying bones

⬜ Fingerprints print identification, preservation and classification.

Divisions of Forensics

⬜ Serology

Study of blood spatter. May include identification of blood type and DNA retrieval.

Divisions of Forensics

⬜ Psychology

Serve as behavior specialist for victim or suspect; including but not limited to profiling.

Divisions of Forensics

⬜ Odontology

Study of bite marks, dental impressions or identification based upon dental records.

⬜ Entomology

Study of insects as they pertain to the decomposition of human remains.

Divisions of Forensics

⬜ Engineering or reconstruction

The study of devices, structures and what may have caused failure or activation in them.

Divisions of Forensics

⬜ Crime scene investigator or criminalist

Specializes in evidence search and collection at crime scenes; may be the first branch of forensics to respond to a crime.

Divisions of Forensics

⬜ Pathology

Responsible for determining cause of death by examining body or the remains

Divisions of Forensics

⬜ Trace Evidence

Identification and classification of trace materials such as but not limited to hair, fabric, impressions, pollen, soil, carpet, glass and paint chips…..