Forensics

Our Task

The task for this project was to solve and investigate a murder. We were given a case and evidence along with it, and throughout different labs, we analyzed fingerprints, ink chromatography, blood typing, pedigrees, kayrotypes, and DNA fingerprinting. By examining the evidence, we were able to put the pieces together and charge a suspect.

Evidence of Work

Content

Fingerprint -

A fingerprint is the impression left by a person's fingertip. On every finger tip there is a unique pattern, falling in the category of whorl, arch, or loop. Fingerprints are very helpful when identifying people who were potentially at a crime scene. In our murder case we used fingerprint analysis to identify who's fingerprint was on the murder weapon.

Ink Chromatography -

Ink Chromatography is the process of analyzing mixtures by separating the chemicals from which they are made. With ink chromatography the pigments of the pen are separated and able to be compared to other pens. In our murder case there was a note given to the deceased stating "u r a dead man." Pens were taken from the suspects and analyzed, showing who potentially could have written the note.

Pedigree -

Pedigrees are the recorded ancestry of a person. In simpler terms, a family tree. We used the background information given to us to create a pedigree. This allowed us to connect the suspects and create possible motives. We also used the pedigrees to trace family genetic history, showing the potential of genetic diseases that could have been located at the crime scene.

Karyotype -

A karyotype is an image showing a person's complete set of chromosomes. Karyotypes can be taken from blood samples and can show chromosomal disorders, depending on the identified irregularities. In our case we took blood samples from the crime scene and used the karyotypes to compare the found chromosomes to the suspects chromosomes.

Gel Electrophoresis -

Gel electrophoresis is a laboratory method used to separate mixtures of DNA, RNA, or proteins according to their sizes. We took DNA from the suspects and compared it to DNA at the crime scene. The DNA was separated and because the colors were vibrant, we were able to quickly compare and analyze the results.

Inheritance -

Inheritance is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring. Traits can be anything, from hair and eye color to height or weight. Every trait is determined by dominant or recessive genes. If a dominant allele is present it will be shown in the phenotype. If there are two recessive alleles then that trait will be present. One example being if brown eyes are the dominant phenotype and the blue eyes are the recessive, a person with brown eyes may have the genotype BB(homozygous dominant) or Bb(heterozygous), but a person with blue eyes will only have the genotype bb(homozygous recessive). There are more complex inheritance traits including codomiant and incomplete traits. In our project we used inheritance to show which genes and traits passed on from the parents to offspring.

Reflection

Out of all the projects we have done this year, this has been my favorite. I really enjoyed working with my team for a number of weeks to complete all of the different labs. It was really interesting to watch all of the pieces come together and be able to make an educated guess about the suspects.

One thing we did really well during this project was listening to the teacher. This project had lots of labs and with each lab came lots of instruction. Following each step took concentration and my group was able to listen well and complete everything with precision. Another thing we did well was staying organized. Each lab had a separate paper and we kept track of this information really well. We were able to keep our folder and information very neat.

Something our group could have improved on was being productive with class time. Most of the time we finished our labs early, leaving us with extra time in class. We probably could have used this time efficiently for our project, however we chose to do work for other classes. Though this did not impact our final project, we may have been able to finish faster than we did. Another thing we could have improved on was our presentation. I could have also improved my communication. I was absent a couple of days during the project and would either forget to email my group or remember after the class period. This is something I can be more diligent about in the future.

Of the 6 C's, I think I best demonstrated collaborator and critical thinking. Because this was a group project with many parts, collaboration was needed if our group wanted to get everything done and do it well. I contributed to the group by helping take initiative when our work was slow and distributing equal work throughout the labs. As for critical thinking, this project took a culmination of analyzing multiple different labs and putting together all the evidence to create a well backed claim.