Course Essential Questions

• How is Forensic Science used to solve criminal cases?
• How has the field of Forensic Science evolved?

Course Learning Objectives

• Explain how different types of evidence are properly collected, stored, and analyzed.
• Collect and analyze evidence of a simulated crime scene, and use the evidence to justify conclusions.
• Explain and provide examples of how technology has improved evidence analysis.

Week 1: Getting Started

Weekly Essential Questions 

• What are the rules, policies and expectations of this course? 
• How do I want to be treated and how do I want to treat others as I interact with my teachers and classmates? 
• How do forensic scientists use evidence and reasoning to solve criminal cases?

Weekly Learning Objectives

• Understand the rules and policies of the course, and expectations of you as a contributing member of our learning community
• Begin to build community by sharing important information with your teacher and classmates about yourself and your school, and creating a social contract together for guidelines on interacting throughout the class
• Develop your skills for navigating the course environment and using the various course tools
• Demonstrate the importance of observation in forensics

Week 2: The Crime Scene

Weekly Essential Questions 

• How is a crime scene properly secured and documented?

Weekly Learning Objectives

• Demonstrate Locard's Exchange Principle by performing a lab
• Identify the types of professionals present at a crime scene
• Identify the methods by which a crime scene is documented 
• Demonstrate the creation of a crime scene sketch by creating your own
• List the steps required for securing a crime scene and explain the consequences of not doing this 

Week 3: Types of Evidence

Weekly Essential Questions 

• What are the different types of evidence that can be collected by a forensic scientist and why is it important to document who handles it?

Weekly Learning Objectives

• Summarize Locard's Exchange Principle
• Identify at least four examples of physical evidence
• Distinguish between class and individual evidence by giving examples 
• Explain the importance of the chain of custody

Week 4: Fingerprints

Weekly Essential Questions

• How can fingerprints be analyzed to be used in a court case?

Weekly Learning Objectives

• Describe the characteristics of fingerprints
• Identify the basic three types of fingerprints
• Conduct class fingerprint analysis 
• Explain how fingerprint evidence is collected using the most current technology
• Determine if a fingerprint matches a fingerprint on record

Week 5: Casts and Impressions

Weekly Essential Questions 

• What are the different types of casts and impressions and how are they analyzed to be used in a court case?

Weekly Learning Objectives

• Distinguish between latent, patent, and plastic impressions
• Explain how various types of impressions can be used as physical evidence and how they are collected
• Determine if a shoe print matches a shoe print on record 
• Demonstrate the relationship between shoe print size and height by analyzing class lab data

Week 6: DNA

Weekly Essential Questions

• How has DNA changed forensic science? 
• What types of evidence can yield DNA and how is it used in a court case?

Weekly Learning Objectives

• Explain and give examples of how new DNA technology has led to exonerations
• Give examples of what types of crime scene evidence can yield DNA
• Describe how crime scene evidence is processed to obtain DNA 
• Conduct a virtual gel electrophoresis lab and draw conclusions from the data 
• Analyze a sample DNA fingerprint to determine a DNA match 

Week 7: Hair

Weekly Essential Questions

• What are the characteristics of hair and how can it be used in a court case?

Weekly Learning Objectives

• Identify the anatomy of a hair
• Explain how hair can be used in a forensics investigation and how it is collected and stored
• Describe variations in the structure of the medulla, cortex and cuticle 
• Calculate the medullary index for a hair 

Week 8: Forensic Anthropology

Weekly Essential Questions

• What information can a forensic anthropologist learn about a skeleton?

Weekly Learning Objectives

• Distinguish between male and female skeletal remains based on skull, jaw, pelvis, and femur
• Collect class data on height and body proportions and explain what forensic information you can learn from this information 
• Give an example of how forensic anthropology can solve cold cases

Week 9: Human Remains and Death

Weekly Essential Questions

• What information can a forensic scientist learn from an autopsy? 
• What factors determine time of death?

Weekly Learning Objectives

• Identify the information a forensic scientist can obtain from an autopsy by performing a virtual autopsy
• Distinguish between cause, manner, and mechanism of death
• Use evidence of rigor, algor, and livor mortis to determine time of death 
• Explain how the Body Farm is used to study time of death 
• Explain how time of death information can be used in an investigation

Week 10: Blood

Weekly Essential Questions

• How can blood spatter tell the story of a crime scene?

Weekly Learning Objectives

• Demonstrate how passive blood spatter can determine height
• Demonstration how the length of blood spatter can determine angle
• Explain how blood is collected, stored and analyzed 
• Identify different blood types using a virtual lab

Week 11: Drugs and Poison

Weekly Essential Questions

• Why is forensic toxicology an important part of a forensics investigation?

Weekly Learning Objectives

• Describe the role of various toxins in causing death
• Explain how toxicology evidence is collected and used in a forensics investigation
• Conduct a virtual toxicology testing lab and analyze results

Week 12: Ballistics and Arson

Weekly Essential Questions

• How can different bullet markings lead to a firearm match? 
• How is an arson investigation conducted?

Weekly Learning Objectives

• Determining a bullet match with a database
• Determine the position of the shooter using bullet trajectory
• Explain the challenges of an arson investigation
• Discuss how ballistics and arson evidence is collected, stored, and analyzed

Week 13: Documents and Data

Weekly Essential Questions

• What characteristics of handwriting can be analyzed and matched? 
• How has cybersecurity changed over time?

Weekly Learning Objectives

• Describe types of handwriting exemplars that can be analyzed in a document
• Explain how documents are collected, stored, and analyzed
• Give examples of cybersecurity threats and what can be done to combat them

Week 14: Final Crime Scene Wrap Up

Weekly Essential Questions

• Looking at a sample crime scene, what do you think happened based on your analysis of the evidence found?

Weekly Learning Objectives

• Utilize knowledge of different types of evidence to determine the timeline of a crime scene
• Summarize the final crime scene using proper techniques

Week 15: Bringing It All Together

Weekly Essential Questions

• What have you learned about forensic science?

Weekly Learning Objectives

• Summarize final course thoughts
• Identify similarities and differences between classmate crime scene analysis