Introduction

The pictures below most likely look like a mess to you, but what if you could better understand what happened at a crime by analyzing these messy bloodstains?

Two bloodstains. One has small, dispersed droplets. The other is a thicker pool of blood.

In this lesson, you will learn about different types of bloodstains and begin to better understand how they are analyzed.

Lesson Objectives

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

  • Categorize blood stains and suggest a possible source.
  • Measure blood spatters to determine the angle of impact.
  • Form a conclusion based on blood spatter evidence.

Essential Questions

  • How can information be inferred from blood spatter patterns?

Enduring Understandings

  • Crime scene evidence can be compared to previously established models or recreations to enhance to one's understanding of the crime scene (i.e. trajectories, decay processes, bone length/height).

The above objectives correspond with the Alabama Course of Study: Forensic Science and Crime Scene Investigation standards: 14.