The Mystery of the Bones: Case Report
Names of Group Members (ONE PAPER PER GROUP):
________________________________________________________________
DAY ONE
Go to my webpage – click on Unit 5B:Skeletal System – Go to related links at bottom of page-Click on Mystery
of the Bones
Click on each link, read through the information, and answer the questions that go with it. Each group
member is responsible for knowing all the information. Write your answers on notebook paper.
Let Evidence Reveal the Truth
Click on Forensic Anthropology
1. List the 1st and 2nd step of an anthropologist?
2. What is used to determine if a skeleton is over or under the age of 18?
3. What is the best guide to determining the age of a child’s skeleton?
4. List the two bones used to determine the gender and briefly describe how this is done.
5. What bone is commonly used to determine height?
Go back and click on Facial Reconstruction
6. What do sculptors need to know complete a facial reconstructions?
7. What materials do they use to do this?
8. Read through “Facial Features” and “The Face” and summarize this information in a few sentences.
Close that link and click on:
Investigative Techniques of Forensic Anthropology
9. Summarize how the skull be used to determine an age range.
10. What can the teeth tell you about the deceased?
11. The hand/wrist bones can help you determine what about the deceased?
Close that link and click on:
Explore Forensics and click on Analyzing the Body – use the various topic links to answer the
following questions
12. Where is the most accurate place to take the body temperature?
a. Suppose a body is found and its temperature is recorded at 34 degrees Celsius, how long has the
body been dead?
13. What type of scientist studies insects?
a. What insect is used to determine time of death?
b. How would you determine that a body had been outdoors less than 10 days?
14. What is rigor mortis & what is the cause of it?
a. At what time frame and what location does rigor first appear?
b. Rigor leaves the body after approx.. _______ hours.
15. What is lividity caused by?
a. Lividity can be altered by moving the body only within the first ____ hours, after that it remains
fixed.
16. What are the four categories of death?
Close that link and click on:
Written in Bone and go to Skeleton Keys and click on Bone Basics
17. List the 4 facts about determining a child’s age under “Young or Old.
18. Describe the skull differences between European, Native American, & African ethnicities.
DAY TWO
 Review your answers, show me your paper and come get your Quiz.
 After taking the Quiz – come grade the Quiz to see if you have attained your
License to continue operating as a Forensic Anthropologist
 Skip the Forensic Case Files for now. Each individual may do a writeup on the
case of your choice describing the case and the evidence used to describe it (be
specific and use details). You may turn this in by the end of the week for HWEC.
After receiving your License, Go to “The Mystery of the Bones” link on the webpage
again, scroll to the bottom and proceed to the Crime Scene!
1. Follow all the instructions as you work your way through the evidence.
2. Use the white paper provided to reconstruct your skeletons. (One skeleton per person – put
your name on your skeleton’s paper.)
3. Read instructions carefully - Include all required info on each skeleton sheet.
a. Skeleton reconstruction
b. Label all bones
c. List gender: Discuss specific evidence you used to determine this.
d. List approx. height: Show calculation used to determine this.
e. List approx. age: Discuss specific evidence used to determine this.
f. Identify who your skeleton is: List their name.
4. When finished, staple your “Case Report” together in this order:
a. Case Report (this page with your answers on notebook paper) – names of all group
members should be on this page.
b. Quiz
c. Reconstructed Skeletons (#1-4) in order: Each person in the group should have their
name on the skeleton they identified.