Unit 1 – Introduction to Forensic Science
Forensic Science involves the application of scientific methods to the collection of evidence in the
pursuit of criminal justice.
Use these statements to guide your learning and studying in this unit:
1. Define all vocabulary words. (DOK 1)
2. Explain how the application of science changed the way criminal court cases were handed from
the Middle Ages to the present day. (DOK 1, 2)
3. Distinguish between criminalistics and criminology. (DOK 4)
4. Identify key advancements in forensics and name the scientists who developed them. (DOK 1)
5. Explain, apply and evaluate the usefulness of the Bertillon System of Anthropometry. (DOK 1, 3,
5)
6. State and explain Locard’s Exchange Principal, and understand the important of this principal to
forensics. (DOK 1, 2)
7. Identify the first forensics laboratory in the United States, and describe the modern organization
of crime labs in the US. (DOK 1)
8.
List and describe the functions of the various units found in a modern all-purpose crime lab.
(DOK 1)
Unit 1 Vocabulary
1. Forensics
15. Firearms unit
2. Criminalistics
16. Document examination unit
3. Criminology
17. Photography unit
4. Toxicology
18. Toxicology unit
5. Polarized light microscope
19. Latent fingerprint unit
6. Anthropometry
20. Voice analysis unit
7. Questioned documents
21. Crime scene investigation unit
8. ABO blood typing
22. Odontology
9. Fingerprints
23. Entomology
10. Locard’s Exchange Principal
24. Anthropology
11. DNA profiling
25. Pathology
12. Crime Lab
26. Psychiatry
13. Physical science unit
27. Polygraph
14. Biology unit