Case 47: Behind the Yellow Tape

Join us for an exciting, weeklong STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, & Math) adventure in partnership with CU Boulder's Science Discovery program. Students will dive into hands-on workshops that spark creativity and innovation through forensic science. The program will be conducted by CU Boulder Science Discovery staff.

To solve a case, detectives and forensic scientists work together to identify relevant data, analyze evidence, and draw sound conclusions. For the week, you’ll step into the role of a forensic scientist and put your skills to the test to solve a mock case. We’ll make detailed observations to sketch a crime scene and review our persons of interest. Then, using biology, chemistry, and physics, we’ll analyze evidence such as fingerprints, hair, blood, and DNA, and even perform a mock autopsy. By the end of the week, it will be up to your team to determine the cause, mechanism, and manner of death.

Day 1

Case 47 – Beyond the Yellow Tape, students stepped fully into the role of crime scene investigators as they worked through multiple stages of analyzing a potential crime scene. The day focused on documenting the scene, examining evidence, and beginning to piece together a timeline of events.

The investigation began with a discussion of the “Golden Rules of CSI” and how investigators approach a scene using careful scanning, detailed observations, and scientific questioning. Students then searched the crime scene, placing evidence markers where potential clues were discovered. Working in teams, they created accurate sketches of the scene, paying close attention to proportions and measurements. Each sketch included detailed notes and scientific questions about the evidence, along with ideas about how those questions could be investigated.

Next, students shifted their focus to digital forensics. By examining digital evidence such as text messages, emails, and social media activity, along with statements from persons of interest, teams worked to construct a timeline of events. This helped investigators identify when key actions may have taken place and how different individuals might be connected to the case.

The afternoon moved into trace evidence analysis, where students examined clues collected from the scene. Using microscopes, they prepared dry-mount slides to study hair samples and compared them with samples from the persons of interest. Students also analyzed fingerprints, comparing patterns and minutiae to determine possible matches.

One of the most engaging activities involved blood spatter analysis. Students created their own blood spatter patterns outside and challenged other groups to interpret how each pattern was formed. This hands-on activity helped demonstrate how investigators use stain patterns to infer actions that may have occurred during a crime.

Throughout the day, teams added new findings to their evidence boards, building concept maps that highlighted connections between suspects, evidence, and key events. By the end of the session, investigators had gathered important clues, raised new questions, and taken another step toward uncovering the truth behind Case 47.

The mystery continues as students prepare to analyze additional evidence and refine their theories about what really happened beyond the yellow tape.

Day 2

Day two of Winterim: Case 47 – Beyond the Yellow Tape pushed students deeper into the role of forensic scientists as they explored how physical evidence can reveal what happened at a crime scene. The focus of the day was blood spatter analysis and DNA fingerprinting, two powerful tools investigators use to reconstruct events and identify individuals involved in a case.

The morning began with a blood spatter investigation. Students examined how different types of blood stains form and how investigators interpret them. By carefully measuring the width and length of blood stains, students used trigonometry to calculate the angle of impact of the droplets. This helped them understand how analysts can determine the direction from which blood traveled during an incident.

Students then designed and conducted their own blood spatter experiments. Teams dropped simulated blood from different heights and measured the resulting stain diameters. Through this investigation, students observed that blood droplets tend to create larger stains when dropped from higher heights and smaller stains when dropped from lower heights. Using their data and calculations, teams attempted to determine the height and angle at which blood may have originated at the crime scene, helping them better understand the mechanism of the decedent’s injury.

The investigation then shifted into the world of forensic DNA analysis. Students reviewed the structure and function of DNA and learned how scientists can separate DNA fragments by size using gel electrophoresis. Before running their samples, students practiced micropipetting, an essential laboratory skill required for accurately transferring tiny volumes of liquid.

Next, students completed the key steps of DNA fingerprinting. They followed a three-stage process commonly used in forensic labs:

Extracting DNA from blood samples.
Amplifying the DNA using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) to create enough copies for analysis.
Separating the DNA fragments through gel electrophoresis to produce a unique banding pattern.

Once the gels finished running, students carefully visualized and recorded the results by sketching the band patterns. By comparing the DNA profiles from the crime scene with those from the persons of interest, teams worked to determine whose DNA matched the blood evidence found at the scene.

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

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