Museum of Science
Fingerprints
Capture your unique print. Individuals ink a finger and create a print on a deflated balloon. By blowing up the balloon, pupils get a magnified view of their unique print. They see if they can identify any loops, whorls, and arches in...
Curated OER
Fingerprinting
For this fingerprinting worksheet, students write short answers to 16 questions about the principles of fingerprinting. They explain how this method is used to identify criminals.
Curated OER
The Game is Afoot - A Study of Sherlock Holmes
Mystery is an exciting genre for young readers to investigate. The plots are so intriguing! Here is a series of lessons featuring Sherlock Holmes stories that invite learners to enter the world of the mystery genre. Based on what...
Curated OER
Fingerprinting
Learners list and describe the three types of fingerprint patterns. They list and describe three layers of fingerprints that can be made. They explain why we leave fingerprints.
American Museum of Natural History
DNA Detective
Match up the DNA code. Pupils read the website from the American Museum of Natural History about how DNA can determine whether a skin is from a particular type of reptile. Using the same technique, learners match up products with the...
Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning
Forensic Sciences: A Crime Scene Investigation Unit
Mr. Bergman has been murdered and we need you to solve the crime! The cross-curricular unit covers 11 different types of forensic science and includes 17 activities. Scholars perform blood type analysis, blood spatter analysis,...
Curated OER
Who Done It?
Pick and choose which activities to include in this crime scene investigation. Junior detectives can examine fingerprints, DNA, blood samples, or bone structure. The plan suggests you have teams solve a mystery, but it does not...
Teach Engineering
DNA Forensics and Color Pigments
Use food coloring in electrophoresis. The last segment in a four-part series mimics DNA fingerprinting by using chromatography. Teams conduct chromatography on food coloring to find colors that use similar pigmentation in their makeup.
New York City Department of Education
Grade 9-10 Literacy in Science: Using DNA to Solve a Crime
Scholars become detectives and use science to solve a crime! A complete unit introduces DNA and includes hands-on activities that have learners model DNA and extract it from different food types. A culminating activity challenges...
Curated OER
Human Fingerprints: No Two the Same
Sixth graders explore scientific observations by analyzing a group of data. In this fingerprint identification lesson plan, 6th graders identify the reasoning behind fingerprinting and create their own ink fingerprints. Students discuss...
Curated OER
"Who Done It?" Analysis of Molecular Fingerprints Left At the Scene of the Crime
Students examine different types of DNA fragments. They record and analyze their results. They determine who is the criminal in the story.
Curated OER
Fingerprinting Lab
Students recover latent prints by iodine fuming, cyanoacrylate fuming, and dusting with powder, after a lecture/discussion on fingerprinting techniques. They each provide a fingerprint for identification by another student. A database of...
Chymist
Ink Analysis: An Experiment in Paper Chromatography
Test differences in writing instruments with this hands-on activity to demonstrate paper chromatography in action. The class performs an experiment on multiple writing instruments and determines the area of separation to discover an...
Curated OER
Fabulous Forensic Fingerprints
Students observe their fingerprints and notice how all human bodies are different. In this fingerprints lesson plan, students see the loops, whorls, and arches that make everyone's fingerprints different, and make a class graph for which...
Curated OER
DNA Fingerprinting: You Be the Judge!
Students explore DNA fingerprinting. Students discover how DNA fingerprinting is done and judge the validity. They evaluate the use of certain prints in courts and address the ethics of establishing a national database of fingerprpints.
Mr. E. Science
Stars, Galaxies and the Universe
It takes 225 million years for our sun to travel around the galaxy. The presentation covers astronomical units, light years, telescopes, types of stars, the life cycle of a star, and types of galaxies. This is the last lesson in a...
Curated OER
Understanding Eyeglasses
Kids wonder about eyeglasses, and why people have to wear eyeglasses. This should shed some light on the subject. Learners develop an understanding about eyelgasses, and also other visual aids, such as magnifying glasses. In fact, they...
Curated OER
Classroom Identity
Students explore fingerprints. In this finger prints lesson, students investigate how to classify fingerprints. Students study large pictures of fingerprints and circle the patterns they know how to identify. Students then take their own...
Curated OER
DNA Fingerprinting: You Be the Judge!
Pupils use their knowledge of DNA fingerprinting to evaluate the use fingerprints in courts, and will address the ethics of establishing a national database of fingerprints.
Curated OER
Is Your Spot Hot?
Eighth graders explore global warming. In this Earth Science lesson plan, 8th graders will look for Harbingers and fingerprints for different areas. The students will identify an area at risk and they will then create a...
Curated OER
Fingerprint Card
Students create their own identification card to be used in case of emergencies. In this art lesson, students print important information about themselves on a notecard and make a print of one of their fingers by coloring the...
Cornell University
Plant Cell Crime Scene
Use science to solve the mystery of the Poplar murder. Pupils use forensic botany to determine if a suspect could be the killer. By analyzing images from a Transmission Electron Microscope, learners determine if the material found on the...
Curated OER
The Science of Forensics
Middle schoolers examine the importance of details in evidence gathering, as well as the relationship between chemistry, physics and biology. In this forensics lesson plan students divide into groups and look at fingerprints and...
ConnectED
Crime Scene Investigation
How exactly does a crime scene investigation work? The resource, a unit on criminology, covers everything from the deductive reasoning skills needed for detectives to DNA fingerprinting, all the way to how to gather evidence and bring...