Death, Soil Evidence, Forensic Anthropology
Forensic Science
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Chapter 12 Scenario - Mysterious Deaths at the Fair
The Washington County Fairgrounds in upstate New York was the site of the 1999 annual county fair. After a rainstorm, well water, the source of drinking water for the event, became contaminated by manure runoff from a nearby cattle barn. The cattle manure carried a variant of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria. E. coli is a natural, and necessary, inhabitant of our digestive systems, but one strain carried by cattle produces a powerful toxin. The cattle that carry this strain of E. coli are unharmed, but humans can become very sick and die from an infection. Two victims of the 127 confirmed cases of E. coli poisoning from the fair died from the infection.
Chapter 12 Introduction
Today, people rarely fear being buried alive. However, determining if a person is dead or alive can be difficult. Some signs of death, such as being cold to the touch and unresponsive, can be present even though a person is still alive. Is a person with a heartbeat alive even if there is no brain activity? Is a person alive if they must remain on life-support systems?
Chapter 13 Scenario - Sand Theft and Worldwide Sand Shortage
In 2008, the pure white sand of an entire Jamaican beach disappeared overnight. An eyewitness reported the theft, relaying that most of the sand was removed using heavy equipment. The prime suspects included the owners of the exclusive Jamaican beachfront resorts, who were known to steal or purchase white sand to replenish sand continually lost due to tides and hurricanes. Because Jamaica is a commonwealth of Great Britain, the Queen of England was involved in the investigation. The search for the stolen sand involved helicopters, police warrants, death threats, police corruption, and an early and abrupt judge retirement. The case was never resolved.
Chapter 13 Introduction
Forensic soil evidence analysis often is the key to solving crimes because of its diverse and unique properties and characteristics. Forensic soil analysts use soil sciences, geology, chemistry, mineralogy, and biology to aid in criminal investigations. In this chapter, you will explore how soil differences and the trace evidence found in the soil are used by forensic scientists to link people or objects, such as cars, drugs, and weapons, to a crime scene.
Chapter 14 Scenario - Bone Analysis and Clay Facial Reconstruction Lead to Murder Charge
A surveyor finds a skull in a remote wooded area in Missouri previously used as a Boy Scout camp. The county coroner, a pathologist, and a member of the sheriff’s department return to search and excavate the gravesite. They recover a lower jaw, 40 other bones, a few strands of hair, tattered jeans, and a plastic shopping bag. Crime-scene investigators (CSIs) later recover a button with a brand name of Texwood. What could this evidence tell them?
Chapter 14 Introduction
You might be surprised to know that your identity and a “record” of your life are contained within your bones. Information about who you are, and how and where you lived, is stored in your bones. Victims of war, mass disasters, severe burns, or victims in the stages of late decomposition have been identified through forensic bone analysis. In this chapter, you will examine how to analyze bone evidence to provide information regarding your age, sex, ethnicity, and height. You will explore how your bones contain evidence revealing where you lived, your nutritional status, and your history of disease and injuries.
Unit Standards
What is the NGSS & 3 Dimensional Science Learning and Why is it Important?
Science Practices - Disciplinary Core Ideas - Crosscutting Concepts
HS-LS1-1: Genes, Proteins, and Tissues
Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the structure of DNA determines the structure of proteins which carry out the essential functions of life through systems of specialized cells.
Clarification Statement: none
Boundary Statement: Assessment does not include identification of specific cell or tissue types, whole body systems, specific protein structures and functions, or the biochemistry of protein synthesis.
HS-LS1-2: Interacting Body Systems
Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms. (Systems and System Models)
Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on functions at the organism system level such as nutrient uptake, water delivery, and organism movement in response to neural stimuli. An example of an interacting system could be an artery depending on the proper function of elastic tissue and smooth muscle to regulate and deliver the proper amount of blood within the circulatory system.
Boundary Statement: Assessment does not include interactions and functions at the molecular or chemical reaction level.
HS-LS1-6: Formation of Carbon-Based Molecules
Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for how carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen from sugar molecules may combine with other elements to form amino acids and/or other large carbon-based molecules. (Energy and Matter)
Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using evidence from models and simulations to support explanations.
Boundary Statement: Assessment does not include the details of the specific chemical reactions or identification of macromolecules.
HS-LS1-7: Cellular Respiration and Energy Transfer
Use a model to illustrate that cellular respiration is a chemical process whereby the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and the bonds in new compounds are formed resulting in a net transfer of energy. (Energy and Matter)
Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the conceptual understanding of the inputs and outputs of the process of cellular respiration
Boundary Statement: Assessment should not include identification of the steps or specific processes involved in cellular respiration.
HS-LS3-1: Chromosomal Inheritance
Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring. (Cause and Effect)
Clarification Statement: none
Boundary Statement: Assessment does not include the phases of meiosis or the biochemical mechanism of specific steps in the process.
HS-PS1-1: Valence Electrons and Properties of Elements
Use the periodic table as a model to predict the relative properties of elements based on the patterns of electrons in the outermost energy level of atoms.
Clarification Statement: Examples of properties that could be predicted from patterns could include reactivity of metals, types of bonds formed, numbers of bonds formed, and reactions with oxygen.
Boundary Statement: Assessment is limited to main group elements. Assessment does not include quantitative understanding of ionization energy beyond relative trends.
HS-PS1-3: Electrical Forces and Bulk Scale Structure
Plan and conduct an investigation to gather evidence to compare the structure of substances at the bulk scale to infer the strength of electrical forces between particles. (Patterns)
Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on understanding the strengths of forces between particles, not on naming specific intermolecular forces (such as dipole-dipole). Examples of particles could include ions, atoms, molecules, and networked materials (such as graphite). Examples of bulk properties of substances could include the melting point and boiling point, vapor pressure, and surface tension.
Boundary Statement: Assessment does not include Raoult’s law calculations of vapor pressure.
HS-PS1-4: Total Bond Energy Change in Chemical Reactions
Develop a model to illustrate that the release or absorption of energy from a chemical reaction system depends upon the changes in total bond energy. (Energy and Matter)
Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that a chemical reaction is a system that affects the energy change. Examples of models could include molecular-level drawings and diagrams of reactions, graphs showing the relative energies of reactants and products, and representations showing energy is conserved.
Boundary Statement: Assessment does not include calculating the total bond energy changes during a chemical reaction from the bond energies of reactants and products.
HS-PS4-5: Waves and Information Technology
Communicate technical information about how some technological devices use the principles of wave behavior and wave interactions with matter to transmit and capture information and energy. (Cause and Effect)
Clarification Statement: Examples could include solar cells capturing light and converting it to electricity; medical imaging; and communications technology.
Boundary Statement: Assessments are limited to qualitative information. Assessments do not include band theory.
Learning Objectives / Career Connections
By the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
Chapter 12
12.1 Explain the forensic importance of examining death, and the role of the coroner, medical examiner,
and pathologist in death investigations.
12.2 Describe how the examination of death in early history compares to our approach today.
12.3 Discuss manner, cause, and mechanism of death, and how “death” itself is defined by experts.
12.4 Explain the predictable sequence of changes that occur during the process of death, including
algor, rigor, and livor mortis.
12.5 Describe the chemical and physical changes that occur during the stages of decomposition, and
how they provide evidence in the examination of death.
12.6 Identify the questions to be considered, and the steps that need to be taken, during a death-scene
investigation.
12.7 Explain what is involved in the forensic analysis of a deceased body, including conducting the
autopsy, establishing a postmortem interval, and determining a probable cause of death.
12.8 Summarize how new technologies are improving death investigations.
12.9 Estimate postmortem intervals based on evidence from proposed death scenes.
12.10 Analyze data collected from a simulated model of a human body to determine rate of heat loss over
a 24-hour period.
Chapter 13
13.1 Explain why soil is considered a valuable form of trace evidence.
13.2 Summarize two significant events in history when soil was used to solve a crime.
13.3 Describe the varied composition of soil, including how it is formed, and its texture, chemistry, and
profile.
13.4 Describe the distinguishing characteristics of different textures of sand.
13.5 Explain the procedures for properly collecting and documenting soil evidence and discovering and
assessing gravesites.
13.6 Explain how forensic experts macro- and microscopically examine soil evidence, as well as test its
chemical, physical, and biological components.
13.7 Identify examples of technology that are used to detect and analyze soil evidence.
13.8 Differentiate between different soils by observing, measuring, and testing samples.
13.9 Determine whether soil evidence is consistent or inconsistent with a crime scene.
13.10 Discuss the reliability and validity of the results of soil evidence examination.
Chapter 14
14.1 Identify the importance of anthropology in a forensic investigation and the characteristics
anthropologists use to build a biological profile of skeletal remains.
14.2 Discuss how different organizations have helped the advancement of forensic anthropology.
14.3 Describe the structure, function, and composition of bones and how they develop, change with age
14.4 Explain how bones can help forensic anthropologists create a biological profile of a deceased
person, including evidence of geographic location, gender, height, disease, injury or trauma, and
ethnicity.
14.5 Discuss how to properly collect and document bone evidence.
14.6 Describe techniques that forensic anthropologists use to analyze bones for the cause of death and
to help determine someone’s identity.
14.7 Identify advances in technology that have enhanced the analysis of skeletal remains.
14.8 Estimate the age of deceased persons based on characteristics present in skeletal remains.
14.9 Distinguish between male and female skeletal remains based on descriptions.
14.10 Estimate body size and proportions based on individual body and bone measurements.
14.11 Construct biological profiles based on actual and proposed cases.
Using ChatGPT to find local Colorado Phenomena
Use the following prompt, adjust accordingly. "I am a high school science teacher looking for a local Colorado phenomena to address NGSS standard (enter standard you are looking for... example HS-LS1-6)"
Career Connections
Connecting what students are learning to careers not only deepens their engagement in school but also helps them make more informed choices about their future. Browse the following related career profiles to discover what scientists really do on the job and what it takes to prepare for these careers. For additional profiles visit your Year at a Glance Page.
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