4 Day Forensic Summer Training Institute
Presented by Robert Adamo, Adjunct Professor of Forensic Science, Former Director of Westchester County Forensic Labs
This Forensic workshop will offer teachers the opportunity to explore the following topics: Blood & Blood Spatter Analysis, Finger-printing, Hair & Fiber Analysis, Toxicology, Physical Evidence, Skeletal Remains, and Entomology.
Participants may use the information, labs, crime scenes and resources provided to start their own half-year course or supplement current science curriculum to stimulate student interest by using the science of criminology.
The goals of the program are to provide the following:
| Curriculum Structure and Sequencing | |
| Context Knowledge for the Specific Discipline | |
| Methods of Teaching Specific topics within the Curriculum | |
| Enhance your classroom presentations in many areas of the Forensic program. | |
| Encourage teachers to use methods in their classrooms that involve new demonstration ideas | |
| Expand the scope of your laboratory activities | |
| Provide a forum for discussion and sharing of their materials and ideas | |
| Provide an opportunity for teachers training for multiple disciplines |
The program consists of 30 hours of training. Each Day will be focused to specific areas of the forensic science curriculum.
4 days Mon-Thu. 8:30-4:30 each day
Date: June 24th to June 27th, 2024
Time : 8:30 AM-4:00 PM
Cost: $499.99
Place: Science Building, Purchase College, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, NY 10577
Sponsored by: PWISTA
Credit : A 30-hour certificate toward in-service credit will be issued for use according to your school district’s policy.
Course Description and Outline
This course is intended for educators currently teaching a class in Forensic Science or are contemplating starting one. In this course we will go over a number of topics related to Forensic science and the role it plays in the criminal justice system. We will discuss the operations of a typical Forensic “Crime lab “and how scientists are able to take minute fragments of materials and provide important investigative clues in criminal investigations. In addition, we will discuss various tips and techniques that educators can use to provide interesting course material for their students. Lists of companies that sell materials that educators can use in their classes will be provided. We will also go over simple DIY projects they can use in their classes at minimal cost.
Lectures will be in a PowerPoint format and attendees will be provided with an electronic .PDF of each lecture with areas for notes. Handouts will only be provided for the afternoon exercises. Several of the hands-on exercises involve the use of a magnifying glass so attendees are encouraged to bring one with them. Attendees are required to bring a pair of safety glasses which will be needed during some of the exercises.
Forensic science:
- incorporates math, biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, technology, and writing skills
- provides a means to integrate skills around a theme of problem solving a mystery
- includes hands-on activities, labs, interactive computer activities, case studies and Power Point Presentations.
Forensics addresses the following topics:
- Evidence collection
- Trace evidence including: hair, fiber and pollen
- Death determination using rigor, algor and livor mortis
- Forensic Entomology
- Forensic Botany
- Blood spatter
- DNA fingerprinting
- Impression evidence: fingerprints, foot, dental and tire, tool mark evidence
- Bone analysis and osteobiography
- Ballistics
- Glass
- Hand writing analysis
- Drug analysis
- Sand & Soil Analysis
- Forgery & Counterfeiting
Special emphasis will be placed on lab set-ups and organization, cost reduction options and meeting the needs of heterogeneous classes.
Course Objectives-
Understand the role the Forensic Science laboratory plays in the Criminal Justice system
To explain how scientists use a variety of techniques to examine evidence and provide useful information in criminal investigations.
To examine controversies in the field of forensic and the impact they have had in the Criminal justice system.
To prepare educators who are involved in teaching Forensic science how to deliver informative and accurate information about what Forensic science is and isn’t and to assist in encouraging students who may want to pursue a career in Forensic science
Monday morning session 8:30 AM-12 PM
8:30-8:45 AM – Introduction, course overview
8:45-10:00 AM – Lecture
Introduction to Forensic Science-
- History and development of crime labs
We will discuss how Forensic Science and medicolegal investigations developed first in Europe and China and how eventually it was introduced into the U.S. We will discuss the pioneers in Forensic science and the role they played in establishing the use of scientific techniques as an aid in criminal investigation. We will also discuss some historical cases such as Jack the Ripper and the Marie La Fage poisoning case and how they would be handled today.
We will also go over the move toward accreditation and regulations of Crime labs and how this has changed the way forensic science is practiced in the U.S and throughout the world. We will also go over the CSI effect and how that has played a role in the expectations of jurors, police, prosecutors, and the average citizen when it comes to solving crimes.
10:00-10:15 AM Break
10:15 -12:00 PM – Lecture
- Sections of a Crime laboratory- operations
In this lecture we will describe the operations of a modern crime laboratory and how the individual sections contribute to criminal investigations .We will discuss the requirements needed to run specific sections including educational requirements for hiring staff for each discipline .We will look at how colleges are seeking accreditation for their Forensic Science programs and the type of accreditation they must meet to confer a degree in Forensic science We will also go over how each discipline has changed over the years due to technological advances and the greater reliance on the use of science in helping to solve crimes .
12:00-1:00 PM Lunch
Monday afternoon session – 1-4 PM Lecture and exercises
1-2 PM lecture
- Class and individual types of evidence
We will discuss the various types of evidence and the significance they play in criminal investigations. Topics will include the distinctions between class vs. individual type characteristics, what an analyst is permitted to testify to and the challenges of explaining the distinctions to a jury.
2-3:30 PM – Hands on exercises
- Impressions- examination and classification
Attendees will be given footwear impressions to examine and compare. The student will be asked to identify class and individual characteristics in the impressions and to identify the shoe that made the impression. We will discuss manufacturing vs. wear characteristics and how each contributes to a final comparison classification.
3:30-4:30 PM
Casting and lifting impressions
- Students will make two-dimensional dust prints and three-dimensional footwear impressions. They will then use various techniques to lift the 2D impressions and to prepare a cast of the 3D impression
- Demo. of how to cast a toolmark will be conducted by the instructor.
Tuesday Morning– 8:30-12 PM
8:30-10:00 AM – Lecture
Identification part 1
- Methods of personal Identification – DNA
In this lecture we will go through the steps of how a DNA analysis is conducted in the laboratory. We will start with the initial examination of evidence, how samples are screened and how samples move through the laboratory. We will then go step by step into the DNA analysis protocols and how ultimately a DNA profile is obtained.
Students will be given a fictitious DNA profile and will be asked to calculate the probability of finding someone at random having the same profile
10:00-10:15 AM – Break
10:15-11:15 AM-Lecture
- Computer databases, – CODIS
In this lecture we will discuss how the nationwide DNA database, CODIS is configured and how DNA profiles are searched. We will also go over other methods of DNA analysis including the recent introduction of using genealogical data bases such as 23 and me and Ancestry.com to criminal investigation. We will also discuss the introduction of rapid DNA testing at crime scenes and some controversies related to how DNA samples are sometimes obtained.
11:15-12:00 PM
Case studies
- We will discuss several cases that were solved by DNA utilization of the CODIS system
12:00-1:00 PM -Lunch
Tuesday afternoon session – Lecture and Exercises 1-4 PM
1:2:00 PM Lecture
Chemical Identification of biological fluids on evidence
In this lecture we will discuss the various screening tests used to identify biological fluids on evidence from crime scenes. We will discuss the limitations of these procedures and the role potential false positives and false negatives play in interpretation of test results. We will also discuss nondestructive techniques to identify biological stains.
2:00-4:30 PM – Hands on exercises
- Presumptive testing for blood- Phenolphthalein and Luminol tests
Students will be given samples containing non-human blood and non-blood samples and will be asked to perform two presumptive different tests to identify the presence of the heme portion in hemoglobin. Students will also test materials that give false positives with these reagents
- Examining stains with UV. Light
Students will examine nonbiological stain samples with a UV light to mimic how stains are identified at crime scenes. Students will be provided with both positive and negative samples and will be asked to identify which are “positive”
Morning– 8:30-12 PM
8:30-10:00 AM – Lecture
Lecture – Identification part 2
Methods of personal Identification- Fingerprinting
In this lecture we will discuss the history of fingerprinting and the pioneers in fingerprint identification. We will also discuss the various types of fingerprint patterns and how they are classified. We will also discuss different methods for developing fingerprints on evidence. Students will be given premade fingerprints with which they will identify as to type and classification. They will be asked to identify the fingerprint type, do a ridge count, and calculate a Henry primary classification on a set of fingerprints that will be provided.
10:00-10:15 AM – Break
10:15-12:00 PM Lecture
- Computer databases, – AFIS,
In this lecture we will discuss another computer database that is used for identification AFIS. This database stores fingerprints of individuals that can be compared against fingerprints collected at crime scenes. We will discuss how computer digitization allows these lifted prints to be compared.
- Case studies
We will go over several cases where finger printing played an important role in the investigation. We will also go over a case where fingerprinting implicated an innocent person and the outcome of that case.
Wednesday Afternoon 1-4 PM
1:00-4:30 PM Exercises- Identification and development
- Fingerprint Identification – making and classifying fingerprints
In this exercise w will have students ink their fingers and make a set of fingerprints which they will have to classify and conduct a Henry primary classification on.
- Fingerprint development – powders, magna brush, glue fuming
In this exercise we will have students prepare a set of latent fingerprints and have the students develop and lift them similar to how it is done at a crime scene.
Morning– 8:30-12 PM
8:30-10:00 AM – Lecture
- Firearms evidence
In this lecture we will discuss firearms evidence and how it is examined in the firearms section of the laboratory. We will discuss the difference between class and individual type firearms evidence and how the markings left on items such as cartridge cases and bullets can be searched against the NIBIN firearms evidence computer database.
10:00-10:15 AM Break
10:15-12:00 PM Lecture
- Chemical testing of firearms residue, toolmark evidence
In this lecture we will discuss how various chemical and instrumental techniques are applied to the analysis of the residue left after the discharge of a firearm. We will also discuss the role the firearms examiner plays in the examination of toolmarks and the microscopic and chemical techniques they apply.
12:00-1:00 Lunch
Thursday afternoon 1-4 PM Exercises
1:00-3:00 Exercises -Examination of cartridges and bullets
- Examining Cartridge cases for class and individual characteristics
In this exercise students will be given several expended cartridge cases and bullets to examine for class and individual characteristics. Students will use a vernier caliper to determine the caliber of the bullet both in mm and in hundredths of an inch.
- Testing materials for “gunshot residue “
In this exercise students will perform several simple tests used to detect lead, copper, nitrates, and nitrites in gunshot residue.
Introduction to Crime Scene Exam
Role of Physical Evidence in Criminal Investigations
Nature of Physical Evidence
Objectives Behind Evidence Examination
Applying the Scientific Method to Crime Scene Examination
Gathering Information From the Scene
3:00-4:30 PM
Wrap up of class
Certificates
Resources:
How to Cast and Analyze Dental Impressions Click here.
Forensic Pollen Analysis Click here.
- NSTA
- Free Sample Text
- Printable Flyer
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