Marcela A. Oliveira-Antunovich
An abstract of the crime reads as follows: On a mid-spring afternoon, a woman was driving through a trail on East Rock Park. While driving, her car veered off the trail and plummeted to the bottom of the cliff. As a result, the woman was found dead in her car. Reasons for the occurrence are still under investigation. As it stands, this may or may not have been an accident. Therefore, your lab will conduct the necessary tests in order to determine the nature of this incident. The tests performed will determine the cause of death, if there was foul-play, and how the car veered.
All necessary personnel reported the scene and were able to obtain evidence that were taken to the forensic laboratory for further investigation. As for the evidence obtained, the following consists of the list of evidence. Fingerprints
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1. A cup containing an unknown liquid substance.
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2. Hair and blood samples
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3. Larvae found on the body of the deceased woman.
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4. Data referring to the skid marks left by the projectile car.
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5. Impressions of footprints nearby the car.
Ready, Set, Go!!!!
The curriculum unit is geared toward the understanding of science through the integration of Chemistry, Biology, and Physics while studying the outcome of an unfortunate incident. The teacher's responsibility is to create six scenarios that pose different outcomes for students to investigate, making sure that at least one of the scenarios does not involve foul-play. In formulating the activities that go beyond the ones introduced in this unit, teachers need to make sure to incorporate at least one topic from each of the aforementioned concepts. It is fair to say that not schools have the same resources, for that reason; there is a form in the appendix for external laboratory requests. For example, in order to obtain specific readings on the composition of a soiled piece of fabric, students might need to have the samples submitted for HPLC testing. Teachers have access to chemical spectra and may provide the completed spectra for student analysis. This still gives students the ability to have skills gained from practicing the skills without having to run all the tests in-house.
Objective:
Activities and Concept Correlation:
(table available in print form)