Subject
Science

Activity Overview
Forensics, the science of solving crimes, is relying more and more on the findings of genetics to crack cases. Two examples of such genetic evidence used in solving crimes are fingerprints and hair analysis. Both are determined by genes. In this activity students will use forensic techniques to solve a "robbery" that teacher stages using genetic evidence from the class.

Activity Outline
Compare hair characteristics, such as width, curl and color, under the microscope.
Study the various fingerprint patterns, including: loops and double loops, whorls and arches; and find out about finer fingerprint details, such as islands, enclosures and bifurcations.

Have students use this knowledge try to solve a "classroom robbery" in which hair strands and fingerprints were left at the scene of the crime.

Assessment
· A scoring rubric can be used to assess student lab techniques.
· Students can be assessed though a written test over fingerprint patterns and hair structure.
· A lab report can serve as an assessment.

Standards and Benchmarks
Standard 4: Understands the principles of heredity and related concepts
4. Knows that hereditary information is contained in genes (located in the chromosome of each cell), each of which carries a single unit of information; an inherited trait of an individual can be determined by either one or many genes, and a single gene can influence more than one trait
5. Knows that the characteristics of an organism can be described in terms of a combination of traits; some traits are inherited and others result from interactions with the environment