Technician Notes
Equipment
For the class:
 a skeleton (bones separated and buried)
 Bones need to set in home made rock prior to the excavation.
 Lays singular bones out in trays/containers
 Mix together sand and salt solution (enough to cover bones)
 Cover the bones completely, to bury them, in the mixture
 Leave the mixture to harden to rock around the bones, ready for excavation
For each pair:
Excavation tools (brushes, spatulas, chisels and hammer)
½m rulers
Samples of the following
Stomach contents – Mixture of mushroom and vegetable soup
Brain tissue - florets of cauliflower, soaked over night in soda crystals
Blood samples – mixture of vegetable oil and white wine vinegar, coloured red
Pasteur pipettes
Safety goggles
Spotting tiles
Test tube
Biuret solution
Benedict’s solution
Iodine solution
Universal indicator slution
Litmus solution
For your information
Expected outcomes
Pupils make measurement from bones excavated and carry out forensic techniques to use to
consider the cause of death of the victim
Safety notes
Care should be taken with excavation tools.
Iodine, benedict’s and biuret are harmful. Universal and litmus solution are flammable