LEARN

1. Be a forensic scientist! Do three of the following six activities:

• o Take the "Hair" quiz at http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/ onthecase/photo/photo.html
• o Participate in solving a crime at www.crimescene.com
• o Crack "The Case" at www.planet-science.com/whodunit/go/TheCase/ Default.html
• o Follow a case called "A Strange Flashlight" through the FBI at www.fbi.gov/kids/6th12th/investigates/ investigates.htm
• o Solve a gruesome murder mystery at www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/ Myst/en/game/index.phtml o Create a DNA fingerprint and solve "It Takes a Lickin'" at www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sheppard/ analyze.html

2. Interview someone in forensics about her/his job. Consider talking to someone in the coroner's office, medical examiner's office, or the forensics office of your local police department. In addition to questions about their educational background, consider asking what they like about their job and the strangest thing they've encountered so far.

3. Fingerprints, hair, fibers, soil, tire tracks, footprints, bite marks, and blood are all examples of physical evidence. Prepare a presentation about a specific kind of evidence examination and present your findings to a group. Your presentation should help explain how a particular kind of evidence is examined (tools used, science applied) and include a brief history of how forensic scientists discovered the examination method. Consider including an example of a crime that was solved using it.

4. Forensic science has become one of the hottest genres on television today. Make a list of the shows now on TV that involve some element of forensic science. Watch an episode of one show. Write a scene (or a script) for a forensic science drama of your own. What is the crime, how will it be solved, and who will solve it?

DO

1. Forensic fruit files: Perform DNA extraction in your kitchen. You'll need: 1 strawberry or kiwi

• o Salt o Tap water
• o 1 Ziploc™ bag o Paper towel
• o 1 small glass
• o Cold 91% or 100% isopropyl alcohol
• o Plastic wrap
• o 1 coffee filter
• o A toothpick or coffee stirrer

Place a strawberry or kiwi in a zipper bag. Add one drop of soap to the fruit. Add a pinch of salt. Pour in a little water (no more than four teaspoons). Mash the mixture in the bag to a pulp. Pour the mixture through a wet paper towel into a small glass. Once the mixture has finished draining into the glass, remove the towel. Slowly pour the cold alcohol down the sides of the glass so that it forms a separate layer on top of the mixture (don't stir these contents). Watch for a few minutes until a white glob forms at the interface of the two liquids. This "glob" is DNA! Use the toothpick or coffee stirrer to remove the DNA strands. Place them on plastic wrap for examination. If you have a microscope, examine the strands more closely. Check out how and why this process works at www.life.uiuc.edu/hughes/footlocker click on "Biotech lab ideas for your classroom" and then the "DNA in a Lunchbox: Isolate DNA from Fruit and Make a DNA Smoothie!" link.

2. Make arrangements for your group (school class) to visit your local police department's forensics office and learn about different positions or jobs within a forensic department. If a visit isn't possible, arrange for them to come speak to your group.

3. Your artistic talents could translate into a career as a forensics photographer, artist, or sculptor. Test your ability to be any one of these by 1) staging a crime scene and photographing it in detail; or 2) having someone describe a person you've never met and then sketch or sculpt what that person looks like. Refer to the FBI's Handbook of Forensic Services for descriptions of how to photograph and sketch for forensic purposes (www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/handbook/intro16.htm).

4. Being a crime-scene investigator requires heightened powers of observation. Test your own powers by drawing a diagram of your first period or homeroom classroom from memory (no peeking). Include as many objects as you can remember, along with their correct location and orientation (this includes seating arrangements, people's names and physical appearance). The next day, compare your diagram with the actual classroom—how accurate are you?

SHARE

1. The tibia of a 22-year-old female measured 31.5 cm. How tall was she? If you know basic algebra, you can help police identify how tall the victim was by using the formula below. Scientists discovered the relationships between height and the length of each bone after much study and data collection. The bones that are used are the femur (F), tibia (T), humerus (H), and radius (R).Bone Formula for Females(P represents the person's height. The last letter of each formula stands for the unknown length of the bone)Femur P = 61.412 + 2.317FTibia P = 72.572 + 2.533THumerus P = 64.977 + 3.144HRadius P = 73.502 + 3.876RImpress your teachers by challenging a class to solve CSI problems like the one you just solved. The challenges you come up with can be trickier if the age of the victim is known. After the age of 30, a person's height decreases at the rate of about 0.06 cm per year.

2. Host an "Identity Crisis" party for a group. The party's main activity should be the REQUIRED activity (above) in a group setting. After everyone has been "printed," explain the three types of fingerprints and review the group's fingerprints to determine which type each person has. Keep a tally in order to discuss the findings: is one type more common than another type? Is one type rare? Create a collage or catalog of your group's fingerprints. Consider playing games like "Clue" and serving "finger food."

NOTE: the REQUIRED activity is to be completed as an individual whereas this SHARE activity is to be completed a group (the same activity but in different settings). The first time, you learn the skill for yourself; the second time, you share the skill with others.

3. Design and present a forensic science lesson for your school or Girl Scout group. Use resources on the Web or your local police department for ideas. The lesson should include an introduction to what forensic science is and an activity/experiment that the entire group does. (Consider an assignment you may already have at school—could this satisfy it?)

4. Organize a "CSI" night for your group, friends, or family. Watch a TV show like "CSI," "Forensic Files," "The New Detectives," and "FBI Files." Play a game along with the show like tracking the number or kinds of forensic tools and techniques used (microscopes, Luminol, profiling, etc.), number or kinds of forensic tools and techniques used (microscopes, Luminol, profiling, etc.), careers portrayed, or make up a game of your own.