Use the science to investigate a real source, explain the evidence, and communicate a defensible conclusion. The guide supplies the actual reading, data, task, and chosen level before the unit begins.
| Strand | Required evidence |
|---|---|
| History, Reading, Writing | Use an approved source in context and a student-authored response. Separate the original evidence from later explanations; do not force a single-hero story. |
| Geography and ethics | Include location, social context, or ethical trade-offs where they genuinely support the scientific question. |
| Elective extensions | Choose additional depth in data, technology, economics, or art. Extensions do not replace the core work. |
| Quantitative science | Use the unit's mathematical lane at the agreed level. Supply units, denominators, and model conditions; required science is assessed as science. |
Integration is reported separately and cannot lower the science grade or block a science demonstration pass. Science and practical criteria determine that pass.
Use the same approved task in both formats. The web guide explains the source, data, assumptions, student work, and evidence checklist; this packet is its portable summary, not a different assignment.
Use the web guide's approved unit assignment.
| Unit | Forensic Science big idea | Integration anchor |
|---|---|---|
| 01 Crime Scene & Evidence Basics | Custody, preservation, and truth are separate. | NIST Evidence Management and its 2009 review quotation: explain the fictional 20-minute gap without inventing a repair. |
| 02 Fingerprints & Impression Evidence | Blind comparison and trial errors do not yield identity odds from minutiae. | NIST human factors and NIJ Black Box Testing: compare all-trial and decisive-only denominators in the synthetic table. |
| 03 Trace Evidence | Class consistency is not unique source or direct-contact proof. | NIJ trace overview and NIST secondary-transfer discussion: compare repeats, compatible sources, and transfer alternatives. |
| 04 Chromatography & Chemical Analysis | Separation and calibrated measurement need controls and specificity. | NIJ toxicology research: use two paper chromatographic conditions and QC recovery to separate detection, concentration, and effect. |
| 05 Blood & Bodily Fluids | Mock screens/typing and ideal angles have different limits. | NIJ bloodstain error study and 2009 review: revise certainty claims; invented screen counts and ellipses are not empirical validation. |
| 06 DNA & Biological Evidence | RMP requires population and independence assumptions, not guilt. | NIST’s 2021 Butler interview and OpenStax PCR/gel sections: explain mixtures, missing alleles, and duplicate-locus dependence. |
| 07 Ballistics, Toolmarks & Physics of the Scene | Paper similarity and blind review do not guarantee independent errors. | NIST objective-measurement goals: compare observed joint errors with the assumed product; bound a 2D drawing, not projectile flight. |
| 08 The Case & the Courtroom | Report all outcomes; leave admissibility and guilt to the court. | NIJ Daubert discussion and NIST source/activity and hash readings: explain dependent evidence, digital integrity, and independent review. |
Use Butler’s 2021 NIST interview and the assigned OpenStax sections. The fictional independent-locus product is 0.000768; a separate two-locus model remains 0.0048 when a third assay repeats L1. Explain C/M inconclusives and X’s failed control, without a guilt claim.
Math never drives a unit, but forensic science uses it constantly — always anchored to the evidence or measurement at the bench. Here is the quantitative skill each unit actually uses, done inside the lab context rather than as a parallel curriculum.
| Unit | Applied math at the agreed level |
|---|---|
| 01 Crime Scene & Evidence Basics | 1:20 scale, coordinate separation and reading bounds; custody-gap duration and signed-record coverage, not evidence-validity probability. |
| 02 Fingerprints & Impression Evidence | False-positive/negative rates with explicit denominators and inconclusives; no identity percentages from minutiae. Numerical identity inference needs a validated probability model and applicable reference data. |
| 03 Trace Evidence | Repeated-reading means/ranges, RI/density intervals, soil fractions, and detection ratios conditioned on direct/secondary/background alternatives. |
| 04 Chromatography & Chemical Analysis | Per-run Rf, two-condition comparisons, standard-curve slope/intercept, blank correction, QC recovery, and calibration limits. |
| 05 Blood & Bodily Fluids | Screen sensitivity/specificity, error rates, base rates and PPV. For an ideal paper ellipse, angle = arcsin(width / length), with valid ratios and reading bounds. |
| 06 DNA & Biological Evidence | Toy 2pq/p² genotype frequencies, independent-locus product, expected matches, relatedness and duplicate-locus limits; RMP is not guilt. |
| 07 Ballistics, Toolmarks & Physics of the Scene | Observed joint vs. marginal reader errors; conditional dependence; slope and arctan angle with bounds on a 2D paper line only. |
| 08 The Case & the Courtroom | Joint/conditional likelihood ratios, contrary evidence and source-only prior odds; digest equality and UTC-normalized timestamps with provenance limits. |
Students do the Rf calculation inside the chromatography lab, the impact-angle trigonometry inside the bloodstain analysis, the product-rule arithmetic inside the DNA unit. The number always means something because it is attached to a result they produced — never a worksheet detached from the forensic science.
Integration is its own strand. Track each unit’s integration level across the year — Developing, Proficient, or Mastery — separate from the science-mastery rubric. Record the evidence reference and date in the final column.
| Unit | Developing | Proficient | Mastery | Evidence / date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Crime Scene & Evidence | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 02 Fingerprints & Impressions | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 03 Trace Evidence | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 04 Chromatography & Analysis | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 05 Blood & Bodily Fluids | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 06 DNA & Biological Evidence | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 07 Ballistics & Toolmarks | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 08 The Case & the Courtroom | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
A student who walks through all eight anchors finishes understanding that forensic science is how we learned to read the traces people leave behind, and that every technique on the page was once a discovery someone fought for — the version of the subject a student keeps.