Lab Reflections

Create a Profile Lab


During this lab, there was a mini-crime scene like the one we investigated a month later. We received 5 clues and at the end of all investigation of the "crime scene" we had to write-down what we knew, what we knew but needed testing to prove, and what we just couldn't figure out.


Clue #1 was a group of 4 fingerprints. My team members and I decided that it was from the right hand based on how they are placed on the page.

Clue #2 was a piece of red hair which we discovered was a Caucasian's colored hair.
Clue #3 was a ripped-up note that, when put together, read "you will never find her."
Clue #4 was another hair that was proved to be that of an African-American female. 

Clue #5 was either blood or lip-gloss smear. We decided that it was supposed to be a fake blood smear since it was too thick to have been lip stick or lip-gloss.


As a group, we were required to investigate and use our previously learned knowledge to find out who was involved and who committed the crime. My team members and I determined that the guilty one was an African American woman, and that the victim (or someone who was there) was a Caucasian female.Further investigation of other evidence showed that there was a struggle and the victim was injured.


Handwriting Lab
For this lab, we simulated a few forgeries. We each wrote "the quick fox jumped over the lazy brown dog." We then passed the paper to our neighbors and they attempted to free-handedly forge our handwriting, then the next person had to try and forge it by tracing.


Next we participated in an activity where we tried to figure out who wrote the check based on our handwriting lab sheet. We sent our handwriting sheets and our ripped-up written checks to another table. The people would have to put the check back together and then try and guess who wrote it. I almost automatically knew who wrote the check just because I knew the person's handwriting so well.

Lip-Print Lab


In this lab, we were to apply lipstick or a colored lip-gloss and kiss a small piece of paper, then observe the unique characteristics of our print. For example, in my print, I found that my upper lip was a little bigger than my bottom one, I also had very prominent ridges on some sections of my lips. I had a scratch on my lip t the time, so that was quite obvious, and the indentation at the top of my lip wasn't very deep.


Witness Account Lab


This lab was created so to see how helpful we would be if we were questioned about a crime. We got into pairs and cut out faces that were all about the same size, then we cut apart the prominent features in the faces (eyes/forehead, nose/cheeks, mouth/chin and hair). Then, we each constructed a face out of the different pieces of the faces and had our partner try to memorize the face, and then re-construct it at the end. The face I challenged my partner with wasn't very difficult, but it did take a while for him to put it back tgether.


Footprint Lab

This foot print is hard to
see, but it is mine.

In this activity, we had a small container of dirt. Each member of our group (4 were in my group at the time) took turns making their foot-print in the dirt. The rest of us would then measure the length and width, the weather conditions, date, time, and medium  at the time the footprint was "found." The foot print to the left is mine. 
During the activity, we had to record this data:


Experiment Title: Footprint Analysis for Natassja
Date:11/17/11 
Time: 11:42 
Observer’s Name: Iyanna, Sammie and Brandon Weather Conditions: Partly cloudy 
Temperature: 64F
Wind Direction: (NW) 
Wind gust: 46mph 
Wind speed: 29 mph 
Relative humidity: 83% 
Most Recent Precipitation: Rain 11/16/11 
Substrate: Sand
Number of Track’s identified: 1 
Impression measurements=Length:10 inches, Width (at the widest part of foot): 5 inches 
Position in track series: Forward 
Direction of Track: North 
Analysis: We can tell that the shoe had a heel because the dirt towards the back of the print is slightly deeper than the rest of the print. Because of the heel and the size of the print, we could tell it was a woman's shoe.


Drug Lab


In the drug lab, we were required to test each artificial/simulated drug with drug reagents in order to determine what kind of "drug" we were dealing with. The 3 drugs that we used for testing was "cocaine,""LSD," and "methamphetamine." Unfortunately, in this lab, we were not able to test for the meth-positive drugs, since we were not provided the reagent to do so. From here, we took the pH of each drug by dipping it in the "drug" mixed with water. 


Poison Lab


For this lab, we began by researching the definition of a poison, the common sources of a poison, how crime labs deal with testing for poisons and the signs of a poison. 


Research

1. Poison: a substance that, when introduced or absorbed, causes disturbance to living organisms that can sometimes lead to death.
2. Common Sources:
    a) a bug bite
    b) spoiled food
    c) substances that irritate or cause allergic reactions
    d) some plants/wild berries
    e) exposure to certain metals (lead for example)
3. Symptoms of poisoning:
    a) drooling/ foaming at the mouth
    b) dilated pupils
    c) bruising or slight discoloration around injection site 
    d) prolonged vomiting
    e) increased heart-rate and/or breathing
    f)  internal bleeding (sometimes blood vessels may burst) 



Experiment
The experiment was to test for poisons. For 6 different poisons, there was a reagent to help us prove that it was a poison. For example, we tested for sugar since it could be fatally poisonous to a diabetic. We also tested for some harmful household chemicals and for metal poisons (lead).