Course Description: Forensic Science¶

Overview¶

Forensic Science is a rigorous, laboratory-intensive high school course that bridges chemistry, biology, physics, anatomy, and law through the lens of criminal investigation. Students learn how physical, biological, chemical, and digital evidence is collected, analyzed, and presented in a court of law. Every chapter is organized around authentic casework methodologies used by practicing forensic scientists, crime scene investigators, medical examiners, and digital forensics specialists.

The course is structured as six thematic modules spanning 19 chapters:

Module 1 — Forensic infrastructure and crime scene methodology
Module 2 — Physical and microscopic trace evidence
Module 3 — Biological evidence and biochemistry
Module 4 — Chemical and biomolecular analysis
Module 5 — Anatomical and ecological analysis
Module 6 — Materials science, digital evidence, facial recognition, cell phone analytics, social media analysis, and aviation crash forensics

By the end of the course, students will be able to apply scientific reasoning to solve simulated casework, communicate findings in the language of expert testimony, and evaluate evidence under the legal standards used in US courts.

Target Audience¶

High school students (grades 9–12) with a background in introductory biology and chemistry. The course is appropriate for college-prep and AP-track students seeking a rigorous application of STEM skills in a real-world investigative context. It is also suitable for dual-enrollment programs at community colleges.

Prerequisites¶

Introductory Biology (cell structure, genetics basics)
Introductory Chemistry (states of matter, chemical reactions, basic lab safety)
Algebra I (ratio and proportion calculations, basic trigonometry helpful but not required)

Main Topics Covered¶

History and legal foundations of forensic science — Daubert/Frye standards, Fourth and Fifth Amendments, expert witness ethics, criminal vs. civil law
Crime scene investigation and documentation — Seven S's protocol, chain of custody, search patterns, scaled sketching, evidence packaging
Fingerprint analysis (dactyloscopy) — friction ridge anatomy, pattern classification (loops, whorls, arches), minutiae analysis, chemical/physical development techniques for latent prints
Hair and fiber analysis — hair anatomy, medullary index, human vs. non-human differentiation, natural vs. synthetic fibers, microscopy and burn testing
Glass, soil, and sand analysis — refractive index, Becke line testing, fracture mechanics (3R Rule), soil composition and gradient density profiling
Forensic serology — blood composition, presumptive vs. confirmatory testing, ABO/Rh typing, secretor status, semen/saliva/urine detection
Bloodstain pattern analysis (BPA) — blood drop physics, velocity classifications, angle-of-impact trigonometry, area of convergence and origin in 3D space, passive vs. transfer vs. projected stains
Forensic DNA profiling — nuclear vs. mitochondrial DNA, STRs, CODIS loci, PCR amplification, capillary electrophoresis, electropherogram interpretation, random-match probability statistics
Forensic toxicology and medicine — pharmacokinetics (ADME), Controlled Substances Act schedules, color presumptive tests, GC-MS and LC-MS/MS confirmatory analysis, BAC retro-extrapolation
Arson, explosives, and fire chemistry — fire tetrahedron, oxidation and combustion, arson pour patterns, headspace SPME analysis, low vs. high explosive classifications (post-blast diagnostic level only)
Forensic anthropology and skeletal biology — human osteology (206 bones), biological sex estimation, age-at-death estimation, stature regression equations, antemortem/perimortem/postmortem trauma differentiation
Forensic entomology and taphonomy — five stages of decomposition, blowfly lifecycle, Accumulated Degree Hours (ADH) calculations, insect succession ecology, environmental variables affecting colonization
Firearms, toolmarks, and ballistics — internal/external/terminal ballistics, rifling striations, GSR analysis, toolmark impression comparison, serial number restoration via acid etching
Document examination and forgery — handwriting characteristics, exemplar collection, forgery types, ink analysis via paper and TLC chromatography, counterfeit currency detection
Digital forensics and cybercrime — volatile vs. non-volatile storage, write-blockers, forensic imaging, MD5/SHA-256 hashing, EXIF metadata recovery, network forensics basics, encryption and steganography
Digital face recognition technologies — biometric identification principles, 2D and 3D facial detection algorithms, facial landmark detection, eigenface method, deep learning approaches (convolutional neural networks), law enforcement facial recognition databases (NGI-Facial), CCTV and surveillance footage analysis, facial superimposition, age progression modeling, Daubert admissibility of facial recognition evidence, and algorithmic bias assessment
Cell phone analytics and mobile forensics — SIM card extraction and analysis, IMEI device identification, cell tower records and Call Detail Records (CDR), tower triangulation for geographic location estimation, GPS coordinate extraction, application data and social media evidence recovery, deleted data recovery from mobile devices, iOS vs. Android forensic tool chains (Cellebrite UFED), cloud data extraction and legal process, and privacy law considerations for mobile evidence
Social media analysis and open-source intelligence (OSINT) — principles of legally compliant open-source intelligence gathering; evidence collection from Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, and LinkedIn; profile data preservation and authentication; obtaining platform records through legal process (preservation letters, subpoenas, and court orders); geolocation inference from post content and embedded metadata; timestamp analysis and chronological reconstruction; deleted post recovery techniques; social network analysis (mapping relationships and communication patterns); image metadata in social media uploads; and authentication and admissibility standards for social media evidence under Federal Rules of Evidence 901
Aviation crash forensics and aircraft accident investigation — the ICAO Annex 13 framework and the NTSB go-team / Investigator-in-Charge system, the prevention-not-blame principle, debris field analysis (intact impact vs. in-flight breakup), wreckage reconstruction, flight data and cockpit voice recorders (FDR/CVR), crash-survivable memory units and underwater locator beacons, radar and ADS-B flight-path reconstruction, metallurgical failure analysis (fatigue vs. overload fracture), in-flight fire and explosion patterns, human factors analysis, aviation pathology and crash survivability, and probable-cause determination

Topics NOT Covered¶

To meet school board adoption standards and protect student audiences, the following topics are explicitly excluded:

Graphic autopsy photography or graphic medical media (line drawings and skeletal representations are used instead)
Molecular synthesis routes for illicit drugs or homemade explosives (explosive chemistry is treated at the post-blast diagnostic level only)
Detailed hacking or intrusion techniques (digital forensics covers evidence recovery and analysis, not offensive cyber operations)
Offensive techniques for bypassing facial recognition systems (spoofing attacks, adversarial patches, or deepfake generation)
Cell interception methods using IMSI catchers or SS7 protocol exploits (mobile forensics covers evidence recovery from devices and carrier records only, not active interception)
Unauthorized access to private social media accounts or scraping in violation of platform Terms of Service (OSINT collection is limited to publicly available content and lawfully obtained platform records)
Methods for sabotaging aircraft or constructing explosive or incendiary devices (aviation crash forensics is treated at the post-event investigative and diagnostic level only)
Graphic depictions of violence or crime-scene gore

Learning Outcomes¶

After completing this course, students will be able to demonstrate the following competencies organized by the 2001 Bloom's Taxonomy:

Remember¶

List the Seven S's of Crime Scene Investigation in correct procedural order.
Recall the three major fingerprint pattern families (loops, whorls, arches) and their subtypes.
Name the anatomical layers of a hair shaft (cuticle, cortex, medulla) and the corresponding microscopic features of each.
Identify the five stages of human decomposition and the blowfly lifecycle stages (egg, 1st/2nd/3rd instar, pupa, adult).
List the CODIS core STR loci used in forensic DNA databases.
Recall the Controlled Substances Act schedule classifications (I–V) and representative compounds in each.
Name the components of the fire tetrahedron (fuel, oxygen, heat, chain reaction).
Identify the 206 bones of the human skeleton and major anatomical landmarks used in forensic biological profiling.
List the primary biometric modalities used in forensic identification (face, fingerprint, iris, voice) and the law enforcement databases associated with each.
Recall the key data fields stored in a Call Detail Record (CDR) and the investigative information each field provides.
List the four major social media platforms commonly examined in digital investigations and the primary evidence categories each platform stores.
Recall the three legal mechanisms used to obtain social media records from platforms (preservation letter, subpoena, and court order) and the scope of data each compels.
Identify the stages of an aircraft accident investigation under ICAO Annex 13 and the role of the NTSB go-team and Investigator-in-Charge, and name the two flight recorders (FDR and CVR) and what each captures.

Understand¶

Explain how the Daubert Standard differs from the Frye Standard and why the distinction matters for admissibility of scientific expert testimony.
Describe the difference between presumptive and confirmatory tests for biological fluids, including why both are scientifically necessary.
Distinguish between patent, plastic, and latent fingerprints in terms of their formation mechanism and visibility at a scene.
Explain how Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) amplifies specific STR loci from trace amounts of biological evidence.
Describe the pharmacokinetic ADME pathway (absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination) that governs how the body processes a toxin.
Explain how headspace gas chromatography isolates and identifies volatile accelerants collected from airtight arson debris cans.
Describe how fracture mechanics (radial vs. concentric lines) encode the direction and sequence of impact forces in shattered glass.
Explain how a convolutional neural network (CNN) extracts facial feature vectors for biometric matching and why training data diversity affects system accuracy and fairness.
Describe how cell tower triangulation estimates a mobile device's geographic location from signal timing data and the relative positions of three or more towers.
Explain the difference between publicly accessible open-source social media content and private content that requires legal process to access, and why that distinction governs investigative collection methods.
Describe how geotagged images and platform check-in features on Instagram and Facebook can corroborate or contradict a subject's claimed location.
Explain why the goal of an aircraft accident investigation is prevention rather than blame, and describe how a crash-survivable memory unit and an underwater locator beacon allow flight recorders to be recovered after a severe impact or deep-water loss.

Apply¶

Calculate the medullary index of a hair sample and use the result to classify it as human or non-human.
Formulate an evidence-collection strategy — including the appropriate search pattern — given specific environmental constraints at a crime scene.
Calculate the angle of impact of blood droplets using the trigonometric formula sin θ = width/length.
Calculate a retro-extrapolation of Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) given a timeline of consumption and known metabolic clearance rates.
Apply stature regression equations to long bone measurements to estimate the living stature of a skeletal individual.
Calculate the Minimum Post-Mortem Interval (mPMI) using Accumulated Degree Hours (ADH) models and ambient temperature data.
Select the correct chemical or physical development method for latent prints based on the porosity of the substrate surface.
Apply a facial recognition workflow — image preprocessing, landmark extraction, and feature vector comparison — to evaluate whether two surveillance images depict the same individual.
Extract and interpret Call Detail Records and cell tower logs to reconstruct the geographic movement of a mobile device across an investigative timeline.
Preserve and authenticate a social media post as digital evidence using accepted screen-capture documentation, URL notation, and hash verification protocols.
Apply social network analysis techniques to map communication relationships and identify key actors in a criminal network from platform connection and messaging data.
Interpret an aircraft debris field — its length and density sorting — to distinguish an intact ground impact from a low- or high-altitude in-flight breakup.

Analyze¶

Analyze GC-MS spectral output to identify a specific compound within a complex biological matrix.
Determine the direction of impact force on a shattered window by applying the 3R Rule to radial fracture patterns.
Distinguish antemortem, perimortem, and postmortem bone trauma using structural and microscopic indicators.
Categorize dynamic bloodstain patterns to infer the mechanics, weapon types, or movements that produced them.
Differentiate between the chemical combustion dynamics of low explosives, high explosives, and structural fires.
Analyze handwriting samples across 12 discrete structural characteristics (line quality, spacing, slant, size consistency, etc.) to identify alterations or authorship.
Differentiate between the legal evidentiary thresholds of criminal law (beyond a reasonable doubt) and civil law (preponderance of evidence).
Analyze the sources of error in facial recognition matches — including pose variation, illumination, aging, and algorithmic bias — and assess their cumulative impact on evidentiary weight.
Distinguish between data recoverable directly from a mobile device and data that requires a carrier subpoena or cloud legal process, explaining the legal authority needed for each.
Analyze a series of posts across multiple platforms to construct a chronological activity timeline and assess its consistency with physical and digital evidence from other disciplines.
Distinguish between content data, metadata, and subscriber information available from social media platforms and identify the specific legal authority (subpoena, court order, or search warrant) required for each category.
Distinguish a fatigue fracture from an overload fracture using the features of the fracture surface (beach marks and striations vs. dimpled or fibrous rupture) and infer the failure history each implies.

Evaluate¶

Evaluate a simulated case scenario to determine whether evidence collection violated a citizen's Fourth Amendment rights.
Evaluate the statistical probability of a random DNA match using product rule calculations across multiple CODIS loci.
Assess the evidentiary value of class evidence (hair, fibers, glass) versus individual evidence (DNA, fingerprints, striations) in a collaborative case study.
Appraise how pharmacological compounds or environmental anomalies disrupt standard entomological timelines and what corrective adjustments are required.
Design a laboratory validation protocol to rule out false positives when using Luminol at a suspected crime scene.
Appraise the security features of a currency bill or legal document to detect fraudulent duplication.
Evaluate the integrity of a digital evidence acquisition by verifying cryptographic hash values before and after forensic imaging.
Evaluate whether facial recognition evidence in a case meets the Daubert Standard, citing peer-reviewed false-positive rate studies and documented bias disparities across demographic groups.
Assess the chain-of-custody implications of extracting mobile evidence using different acquisition methods (logical, file system, physical, and chip-off) and the data categories each method reaches.
Evaluate whether a social media exhibit meets the authentication requirements of Federal Rule of Evidence 901 and anticipate the most common defense challenges to its admissibility.
Assess the reliability of deleted post recovery techniques and the conditions — platform retention policy, device cache, third-party archive — under which recovered content retains sufficient evidentiary integrity.

Create¶

Construct a mathematically accurate, scaled crime scene sketch with triangulation measurements, north arrow, legend, and complete chain-of-custody documentation.
Reconstruct the three-dimensional area of origin for a bloodstain impact event by applying stringing techniques or digital mapping to a spatter cluster.
Develop a complete forensic case report that integrates evidence from at least three disciplines (e.g., DNA + BPA + digital metadata) into a coherent investigative narrative suitable for expert testimony.
Construct a data-flow map tracing an unauthorized network intrusion using server logs, IP routing protocols, and hash verification.
Execute a full mock trial in which student forensic analysts present physical, biological, and digital evidence findings under direct and cross-examination using correct expert-witness protocols.
Design a peer-reviewed laboratory protocol for a novel trace-evidence comparison scenario that includes hypothesis, methods, controls, and an evidence admissibility argument under the Daubert Standard.
Develop a mobile device examination report that integrates CDR location data, application usage logs, and social media timestamps into a coherent investigative timeline with full chain-of-custody documentation.
Design a facial recognition admissibility argument — including error rate analysis, demographic bias assessment, and examiner qualification criteria — suitable for expert testimony under the Daubert Standard.
Develop a social media evidence package — including preserved screenshots, hash verification records, legal process documentation, and an OSINT activity log — that meets court submission standards.
Design an open-source intelligence collection plan for a missing-persons investigation that balances investigative thoroughness with Fourth Amendment constraints and platform Terms of Service boundaries.