Introduction

In the previous unit, you were introduced to the components of blood and how blood types are distinguished through genetics. You learned which blood types are compatible for blood donations, and what happens if someone receives the wrong blood type during a transfusion. You also explored presumptive and confirmatory tests that can tell you if a stain at a crime scene is blood or not.

In this lesson, you will be introduced to more information about bloodstains and their patterns left behind at a crime scene. You will learn how these patterns can help you develop a crime scene reconstruction theory of what happened before, during, and after a crime.

 

Lesson Objectives

Following successful completion of this lesson, students will be able to...

  • Use laws of physics to explain forensic evidence.
  • Analyze blood spatter patterns to determine speed, height, and direction of blood spatter.

Enduring Understandings

  • Blood spatter analysis can help determine what occurred during a crime.
  • Scientific inquiry utilizes the scientific method and inductive reasoning.

The above objectives correspond with the Alabama Course of Study: Forensic and Criminal Investigations standards: 14, 14.1

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