Forensics Murder Mystery
In this project, our group was tasked with solving the murder case of the fictional Carleton Comet. We had to solve this case using science-based forensics by conducting different experiments to match DNA, fingerprints, pedigrees, and karyotypes. After we collected all data and made our various findings, we presented our them to the class who drew different conclusions from the same data set. Due to the nature of the case, we decided to present it in a court-style context in comparison to the hit show "Better Call Saul" which is a spinoff of "Breaking Bad".
Below is our presentation:
Key Terms + Concepts
Forensics:
The application of scientific procedures to aid in the solution or detection of a crime is referred to as forensics. Forensics may often link a person to a certain thing, place, or time. This does not, however, imply that forensics can quickly identify the perpetrator of a crime – someone could be present at the crime scene but not involved in the act entirely. We found that this was mainly the case in our evidence samples given to encourage different conclusions about the same events.
Heredity:
This is also called inheritance or biological inheritance. It is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic information of their parents. All of your traits and DNA are a result of the combination of chromosomes and genetic material in humans.
Fingerprints:
This is an impression or mark made on a surface by a person's fingertip, especially as used for identifying individuals from the unique pattern of whorls and lines. There are three types of fingerprints; these include whorls, loops, and arches. These are decided by co-dominant genes and therefore all people have unique fingerprints.
Blood Types:
A blood type is a classification of blood, based on the presence and absence of antibodies and inherited antigenic substances on the surface of red blood cells. These different blood types are categorized into different charges (positive or negative) and A, B, AB, and O. Different blood types are compatible with each other which is important in emergencies for blood transfusions. This also can help us find the identity of an individual.
Pedigree:
Pedigrees are charts showing the family trees of a group of people as well as any genetic conditions that they may have carried or expressed. By following these charts, you can see who is related to whom just by which conditions or traits are expressed throughout different generations of people.
Reflection:
This unit I learned how forensics work and how they are applied in everyday life in the use of solving crime or especially murder cases in this instance. Especially how forensics are romanticized in movies: they aren't nearly as fast or accurate as in the movies. For example in movies you hear scientists get results in a few hours when in reality it can take days or weeks to run these tests and sometimes samples get contaminated or the results aren't accurate. In this project I collaborated and communicated very well with my partners and we we were ahead of schedule in every stage of this project. We worked hard and were dedicated which led us to having an extra class period where we finished all the work assigned to us with plenty of time to spare which was really nice since we didn't have to worry about not finishing in time.
I think for next time it would help to be a little more creative in our slideshow since I feel it was lacking even with all of our pop culture references. I wish we would have spent more time touching up our project and adding smaller details to make it seem more complete, but overall I am very happy with how our project and this unit turned out and I don't have many bad things to reflect on.