A grade for the class is available if requested.

Save $26 on enrollment when you use coupon code DANLEYSAVE26 by November 21, 2024.

REFUND POLICY: Full refund until 12 hours after the first class meeting (6 hours in the summer).  If you do not notify me within 12 hours of the first class that you wish to be refunded, you will need to contact Outschool support to request a refund which they may or may not grant. 

This course will give students a solid understanding of the techniques used in forensic science.  We will focus on a different topic or set of topics each week.  A combination of wet and dry labs and demonstrations will help solidify the concepts along with images, hands-on activities, and weekly worksheets.  An optional at home activity each week will be provided for those students who wish to explore topics in greater depth.  Throughout the course, the students will analyze mini crime scenes using one or two of the techniques learned that day.  The class will end with a mock crime scene where students will use their analytical skills to solve the case.  We will also examine a few case studies where the various techniques learned helped to catch the criminal.  

There are topics where we will be doing some calculations, so students should have basic equation-solving skills for these activities, but a student who catches on quickly would probably be fine without it.  

Class 1 - Introduction to Forensic Science
We'll discuss the basic definition of forensic science, the types of evidence found at a crime scene and Locard's Exchange Principle, and then we'll practice observational skills

Class 2 - Processing a Crime Scene
We'll talk about the methods used to process a crime scene and why they are important. 

Class 3 - Fingerprinting
We'll look at the basic fingerprint types and the additional ridge patterns that help identify a fingerprint.  We'll take and analyze our own prints and then "lift" a fingerprint.

Class 4 - Blood Typing and Blood Spatter Analysis
We'll look at the different blood types and blood spatter patterns and talk about how they can help forensic scientists analyze a crime scene.  We'll then practice blood typing and analyzing spatter patterns using dry labs.

Class 5 - Ballistics
We'll learn about bullet cartridges and see how spent bullet cartridges can help crime scene investigators and see how the approximate location of the shooter can be calculated from bullet holes.

Class 6 - Forensic Anthropology
We'll learn all about bones and see what they can tell us about a person.

Class 7 - Hair and Fiber Analysis
We'll take a look at the structural features of hair and fiber and see how they can help in identification of a criminal.

Class 8 - DNA Fingerprinting
We'll learn about DNA and then we'll extract our own DNA from our saliva.  Afterward we'll see how DNA is used in forensics science to identify a criminal.

Class 9 - Tool Marks, Castings, and Impressions
We'll take a look at marks and impressions left at the scene of a crime and see how they can help forensic scientists during an investigation.

Class 10 - Toxicology
We'll take a look at the analysis of powders and other chemicals that might be involved in a crime and then we'll perform a simple analysis using household chemicals.

Class 11 - Glass Evidence
We'll take a look at how glass fracture patterns and differences in glass density can help in the crime scene analysis.

Class 12 - Handwriting and Document Analysis
We'll take a look at how handwriting and document analysis is used in a crime scene investigation and then take a crack at analyzing handwriting ourselves.

Class 13 - Ink Chromatography
We'll talk about how chromatography is used in the analysis of a crime scene and then we'll perform a simple experiment to separate pigments from markers and look at the calculations involved to determine if a pigment is the same from marker to marker.  

Class 14 - Mock Crime Scene
Students will work together to analyze the clues and interview witnesses and suspects to determine which suspect is guilty.

Class 15 - Mock Crime Scene and Case Studies Discussion
We'll finish up the mock crime scene and determine the culprit and then also discuss some case studies where the learned techniques were actually able to help catch the criminal.