Murder Mystery

These pictures include the following (in order): Karyotyping, Fingerprint Analysis, DNA Fingerprinting, Ink Chromatography, Blood Typing, DNA analysis, and Pedigrees.

In this project, "Murder Mystery", we were given a story line and multiple data points. We were then told to analyze the data and find possible suspects to the victim Carelton Comet. We used our knowledge of DNA, forensic sciences, and genes to come to our conclusion.

DNA Structure

The way in which a DNA is structured. This structure is a pair of two parallel strings made of 5 carbon sugars. Connecting these two chains are a series of nucleotides. These nucleotides are adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine. We used the double helix structure of the DNA to visualize DNA in it's form and how easily it can be rubbed off anywhere. The DNA sequences show patterns and can be translated into math.

Gene

Heredity passed on from parent to child, determining some characteristics of a child. We used genes in our project with our karyotypes. It helped us find motives and psychological inherited diseases. Genes can be related to me and my life because I am tall like my uncle.

Pedigree

This is a genealogical diagram of family of people. We used pedigrees to find motives as to why the killer might have done what they did. Pedigrees could also relate to real life to show the likelihood of carrying genes and family trees.

Karyotype

This is the number and the appearance of chromosomes in a cell's nucleus. We were able to use karyotypes to better identify the killers. This is connected to history because as we see in history, some of the royal families have chromosome malfunctions that are passed on through recessive genes.

Ink Chromatography

The process in which ink is analyzed to determine a source. We used ink chromatography to figure out from where the ink used to write the note was from. This can be related to math because you use math to find the distance traveled against gravity by the ink.

Fingerprinting

Identifying people based on their fingerprints. We did this by taking the fingerprints from the knife and analyzing them. This can be related to real life crime scenes because everyone has to give their fingerprint to a large database so police can find criminals/possible suspects.

Blood Type

A classification of blood. We found suspects' blood types through testing samples with antigens etc.

DNA Fingerprinting

The process of determining an individual's DNA characteristics. We did this by using PCR and gel electrophoresis to separate out the DNA segment lengths and matching them to those found at the crime scene.

All in all, I felt pretty good on this project. One thing I could work on is being a conscientious learner. I was accused multiple times by the teacher of being off task and this is something I strive to be better at. One thing I felt I did great was time management. Besides this website update, I have done extremely well on managing my time.

One thing I felt our group needs to work on is collaboration. We got everything done, but we split up our tasks and did not talk about them. This lead to our downfall in some parts in that we were not communicating so we lost time doing that. One thing I felt our group did good is critical thinking. We used our critical thinking skills to find and catch the killer, Nancy Normal. We were one of the few groups who got a warrant for the arrest.