High School Science Fair Projects Involving Forensic Science

Forensic science uses information gathered from evidence to solve crimes.

In forensic science, high school students learn the elements of a criminal investigation and how the science is applied in court. Science projects about forensic science hold many possibilities. Students can examine forensic sciences such as fingerprinting, bite mark analysis, chromatography or blood spatter to show how these things are properly performed in a real criminal investigation.

Fingerprints

Fingerprints are classified as four types in forensic science but all prints are unique.

Examine fingerprints in a science project to demonstrate how investigators use them. For example, hypothesize whether or not related people will have more similarities in their fingerprints than those who are not related. Find a variety of siblings. Take fingerprint samples of all fingers on both hands of each person and label the prints. Study the prints to categorize each as loop, whorl, arch or abstract. Separate prints to compare with those not related to determine the percentage of similar prints in the related and non-related groups of prints. Did your conclusions support your hypothesis?

Bite Marks

Dental records help to compare characteristics of bite marks to match them to individuals.

In forensic investigations, dental records are used to match teeth to victims and suspects. To use this science in a science project, use polystyrene foam plates to make impressions of teeth from different subjects. Develop a hypothesis. For example, determine if you can easily match teeth to bite marks in a piece of chocolate. Have each subject bite down on a chocolate bar; label the top and the bottom impressions. Study the impressions and count the teeth. Make note of other characteristics such as chips, spaces, or crooked teeth and compare to the plates.

Chromatography

Forensic investigators can match ink by comparing the colors that are used in it.

In a forgery investigation, an investigator uses chromatography to determine whether more than one ink was used on a check.

Attach four strips of paper to a stick so that one end hangs down. Using a different brand of black marker for each strip, make a large dot of ink about a 1/2 inch from the bottom of the strips. Place the strips on a glass of water so that just the ends are in the water, not the ink dots. As the paper soaks up the water, the ink begins to separate. This experiment shows that inks are not made of just one color. When examining ink samples, investigators do this to see the colors used in the ink.

Blood Spatter

Blood spatter shows forensic investigators important facts in a violent crime.

Forensic science determines a variety of facts about violent crimes using blood spatter evidence. Show how investigators use patterns to determine how and where a subject is hit.

Mix 44 grams of cornstarch to 3 ounces of water and add 6 ounces of corn syrup and red food coloring to make your blood. Attach paper to the wall and floor of a corner of the room. Wet a sponge with fake blood using a teaspoon but don't soak it. Place the sponge on the floor and hit it with a hammer. Let the spatter dry and examine the drops. Forensic investigators measure the ellipses that form to determine the position of the object that made the spatter and the angle that the drops impact the surface. Measure the length and width of five spots. Use the trigonometric function arcsin (sin-1) to determine the angle of blood spatter. Hit the sponge at different angles and measure. Examine the drops to determine how far they traveled and patterns you see.

References

• Westport Public Schools: The Crime Lab -- Staples High School Forensics
• Selah School District: "The Effect of Fingerprint Similarity..."; Hannah R.; 2006
• Adventures of Cyberbee: Teeth Impressions
• Home Training Tools: Forensic Science Experiments
• Science Buddies: Science Fair CSI: Can You Predict the Spatter

Resources

• Champion Magazine: "Interpretation of Blood Spatter..."; Louis L. Akin; 2005