Test on Glass and Impressions and Prints (shoe, tool, tire) Wednesday.  Check out iLearn practice quizzes.

We will continue with our impressions and prints unit.  More shoe and tire analysis – background information and lab work.

We will finish the forensic glass analysis be looking at and comparing becks lines between unknowns and knows.  We will also calculate the densities of different types of glass, compare these densities with unknowns and identify.  After that we will start the unit of impressions and prints (shoe, tire, and tool).

Forensic Glass Analysis is in full swing this week.  We will be discussing how to determine direction of force, IDing concentric and radial fractures, how to determine sequence of events, and how to use refractive index to determine the type of glass.  Several lab and in-class activities will be done to help with student understanding.

We will be in the lab for 3 days using all the things we learned about soil analysis to try and solve a crime that involves 3 known samples and 2 unknowns.  Can we connect the suspect to the crime scene or the victim by comparing the chemical and physical properties of those samples?  Near the end of the week, we will start the forensic glass analysis unit.  Check out the iLearn site for the learning targets.

We will be finishing the soil analysis unit with a chemical properties lab and a little in-class reviewing.  Check out iLearn for a practice quiz.  Look over the review topics given in class last week.  They are posted on iLearn if you lost your copy.  Test on the intro unit, the crime lab and the soil unit will be on Thursday.

We will be acting a forensic geologists this week.  We will be looking at the physical and chemical properties of soil so that unknown samples (found in the treads of tires or shoes for example) can be scientifically links to a suspect, victim, or crime scene.  Check out iLearn for review topics and a practice quiz for next week’s test.

Welcome to semester 2.  This week will be devoted to learning about the full-service crime lab with its units and specialists.  Check out the iLearn site for more information.

We will be spending the better part of this week in the lab developing latent fingerprints using a variety of techniques discussed in class.  Test- Friday.

We will continue learning about fingerprints and their forensic significance.  Students will ink and roll their own fingerprints.  After doing so, they will identify each pattern type, cores and deltas, 10 minutiae, calculate the Henry fraction, and compare their percentages of loops, whorls, and arches to the class’s and the world’s.