Introduction

Practiclly everyone knows the story of Sherlock Holmes! Well if not here are some facts about him. He is a fictional character who is hired for his intelligence in order to solve crime cases. By searching for clues and annalysing them he almost always catches the criminal. Like Sherlock Holmes in modern day times we have Crime Scene Investigators. With the help of Forensic Science, they to invest their time in hopefully solving a criminal case. Throughout the past couple of weeks young Crime Scene Investigators of Mr. Kelly's class have studied the various parts of Forensic Science. After reading this blog about their study and experiments hopefully you to will have an understanding and be able to bring a criminal to justice.

Picture link: http://tux.crystalxp.net/png/brunocb-sherlock-holmes-tux-5975.png

History of Finger Prints (Timeline)

http://www.aladdinusa.com/documentationservices/fingerhistory.htm
As the website above stated, fingerprints were once used as seals on clay tablets for bussiness transactions. During the 14th Century they were also used on some government papers. Near that time a doctor/government official discovered that no two fingerprints were identical. Through the years various people discovered/studied fingerprints and eventually found the different patterns. It was not until the 1880's that Dr. Henry Faulds, a British surgeon-Superintendent, discovered the use of fingerprints as a way to identify a person.

Fingerprint Patterns

Of all the MILLIONS of fingers in the world there are only 8 fingerprint patterns. There's the Plain Arch, Tented Arch, Ulnar Loop, Radial Loop, Double Loop Whorl, Plain Whorl, Central Pocket Whorl, and Acciddental Whorl. Of course some have multiple names but the pattern is the same. Anyways, here is a short list of each one's discription:

Plain Arch-a small hill that forms an almost perfect equalateral triangle
Tented Arch: a Plain Arch extended upwards
Ulnar Loop: curvy L figure
Radial Loop: backwards curvy L figure
Double Loop: two intwined whorls
Plain Whorl: multiple cricles placed in the center
Central Pocket Whorl: Combination of the Tented Arch and a Plain Whorl Accidental Whorl: uncentered whorl(s) that may not form a circle

There are also different types of finger prints. They are as follows:
Direct: pressed into a medium such as blood, dirt, or substance in which the print (visible to the naked eye)
Latent: usually made from leaving sweat or bobily fluids that in turn leave a print ( not visible with the naked eye)
Plastic: an indentation into wax, clay or pliable substance (visible to the naked eye)

Picture link: http://onin.com/fp/fmiru/fppatterns.gif

Simple Way to Lift Finger Prints

Materials:
flour (other powders can be used)
brush (soft brissles)
Tape
Black Paper

Directions: Place your finger on any clean hard surface. Lightly tape your brush brissles into a small amount of flour. Barely touch the brush to the fingerprint until the entire print is covered with flour. Make sure you do not smear the print by applying too much pressure. When finished blow the excess flour away. You should be able to see the print and all the ridges on the hard surface. If not blow one more time to make sure all the excess was off, otherwise start over. The Next step is to take a peice of clear tape that sould be a bit bigger then the finger print. Place the tape directly over the fingerprint and press delicately on the tape to make sure the flour has stuck to it. Again make sure you do not smear it by applying too much pressure. Last but not Least Place your Tape on a black peice of paper so that the print can be seen.

My Finger Prints

(My very own fingerprints on a standerd Fingerprint Card) I realized that the hardest thing about makinging fingerprints is making sure the ink is neither too light nor too dark and that you don't smear the fingerprint. I also had diffuculty doing all four Fingers simaltaniously. From my fingerprints I noticed that most of the patterns where either Ulnar Loops, Radial Loops, or Tented Arches. Doing this experiment was fun and messy but i think i did a wonderful job! Don't you?

Writing Lab

Lab #1

During class we wrote out fake checks and tried to figure out who originally wrote the check. Everyone first copied down the same check in their own hand writing (above) and then tore them apart into many peices. We then exchanged our torn checks with one another and put them back together. Last but not least, we analysed the writing with our 12 Characteristics Writing sheet. Based on the 12 Characteristic we were able to analyze the writing and figure out the original author. The Person who had my fake check had no trouble finding who had written my check for they said my P's where always written high, my cursive o's looked similar to cursive a's and my spacing was always somewhat cramed. After this experiment I realized my handwritting is very distict and using my own writing to fake a check would be very stupid unless I wanted to be caught in my first place. Therfore I don't think you will see my handwritting on any forged checks!

Lab #2

In another effort to discovery writing and how it relates to forensics we practiced forging signitures. I think I can clearly say that everyone had a hard time forging names free handed. Even with multiple practices I still could not make my forged signiture look as if it was possibly written by my classmate. Anyways during this experiment we also traced signitures which was a lot easier for me. I finally got the writing to look like my partners but it seems like tracing doesn't allow the writing to have much flow. By saying this I mean that all the charcters were distict and had no stray marks whereas original writings usually have marks or curves. Also tracing makes you press down harder then when writing in your own pace so the letters were a lot darker than the original writing.

Hair Ananlysis

(asian hair)

(blonde hair of a female)


(color treated hair)


(black hair of a white male)

After looking at different types of hair through a microscope I was really amazed how a small change in genes or even color can be such a strange effect on hair. For example the African male hair was black and had various splits throughout the strands whereas the white male hair didn't have a single split in it and had a different color as well. Anyways I enjoyed this lab because i got to look at my own hair and I also got some great pictures!