Project OverviewCarleton Comet went on a picnic with Nancy Normal, Sam Sophomore, Theresa Terra, Fred Flimmer, and Glen Glee. At 7:35pm, the sky darkened and Carleton Comet was brutally murdered. On the scene, the murder weapon which was a steak knife was bagged and sent to the lab for us to analyze. The murder weapon had hair and two blood types on it. We also found fingerprints and a death note on the scene. We also looked at the family pedigrees and karyotypes of each suspect. You can view all our evidence in the presentation below.ConceptsHomicide: the taking of a human life Types of murder:
First degree murder is the most serious of all homicide charges. It applies to situations in which someone is accused of killing another person after having planned to kill the victim. It requires malice and evil intent beforehand.
Second degree murder usually applies to cases in which someone may have intended to kill another, but did not have time to plan it (a crime of passion).
Manslaughter is when the accused did not plan the crime nor did he or she intend for the victim to die because of his or her actions.
Ink Chromatography: the process we used to determine the pen ink used to right the note. A dot of ink was put on a paper that was then put in isopropyl. We then saw how much the ink traveled on the paper. See the above presentation for pictures. Gene: sequence of DNA that codes for a protein and thus determines a trait. Genotype: genetic makeup of an organism Phenotype: physical characteristics of an organism Alleles: one of a number of different forms of a gene Dominant: has power over the recessive traits Recessive: falls under dominant Co-dominant: when both alleles of a gene contribute to the phenotype of the organism Incomplete Dominant: situation in which one allele is not completely dominant over another Polygenic: trait controlled by two or more genes Homozygous: term used to refer to an organism that has two identical alleles for a particular trait Heterozygous: term used to refer to an organism that has two different alleles for a particular trait Segregation: separation of alleles during gamete formation Probability: likelihood that a particular event will occur
Reflection: Overall I felt that this project helped give my classmates and I a closer look at how a crime scene is viewed in a scientists perspective. The freedom and liberty in this project was great but at times the process felt slow and tedious. This helped me understand exactly what forensic experts look for in a crime scene and how much time and work is put into it. Although real forensic experts have high tech equipment and a more efficient process, it was fun seeing what it could be like doing something interesting in the field of crime studies.