Name
Forensic Science
Date
Mrs. R. Daniel
Blood Typing: Forensics Mystery
The study of science is an attempt to make sense of our natural world. Science includes both the process of
scientific inquiry through which knowledge is attained and the knowledge, which results from the inquiry. The most
effective vehicle by which the process of inquiry can be learned is in the laboratory or field settings where students
gain firsthand experience of the inquiry process. Laboratory study has also been shown to be an effective means of
acquiring scientific knowledge, particularly for understanding and applying this knowledge. Thus, study in a
laboratory setting is an integral and essential part of a science course.
In addition to your lab activities, it is important that you learn how to write a proper scientific lab summary.
It is not similar to writing an essay. Your reports will be organized and written in the form of a classic scientific
science paper consisting of the following sections in this order:
Title Page
Introduction/ Background
“Discussion”
Works Cited
Layout:
-One inch margins, 12pt font, Times New Roman, Double Spaced, Page Numbers (upper right corner)
-MLA formatted works cited section
Content:
1. Title Page: This should be on a separate page from the rest of the lab report. Be descriptive and don’t worry if
the title seems a little lengthy. One-word titles, often appropriate for essays, are seldom adequate for lab reports.
Place the title at the top middle of the first page. The title should also include your name and the names of those in
your lab group, your class period, your teacher’s names, and the date of the lab. Footnote containing information
to who all correspondences should be addressed.
2. Introduction/ Background: Begin with broad statements, including enough background information (with
reference to outside sources) to set the stage for your experiment. Then narrow down to your particular study,
explaining why it is of interest. Specify the objectives of the experiment, and make your hypotheses clear if
appropriate. One to three paragraphs are usually sufficient. Do not regurgitate the lab handout; write your own
introduction. Use at least 2 references for this section.
3. Discussion: See questions below. Answer in full, well-structured and well-explained sentences.
4. Works Cited: References used for writing the lab report in MLA format.
Discussion Questions:
1) Does a positive phenolphthalein (Kastle-Meyer) test prove that a stain is caused by human
blood?
2) Does a positive phenolphthalein (Kastle-Meyer) test prove that a stain is caused by blood?
3) Given the antigen(s) found on the red blood cells, give the corresponding blood antibody and
ABO blood type.
4) A thief breaks a window of a car parked in a shopping center and steals a purse that was left on
the car’s front seat. You are a forensic detective called to the crime scene. You discover that the
thief cut himself or herself on the broken window glass. You test a sample o blood left behind
by the thief. It is O+. A suspect with a cut forearm is arrested behind a restaurant just 3 blocks
from the car. You take a sample of the suspect’s blood and mix it with Anti-A. You immediately
know that the suspect is not the person who cut himself on the broken car window. How do
you know this?
5) You are called to take a statement from an elderly man who has advanced long cancer. He
claims that as a young man he was one of a gang of 3 bank robbers in another state. Their final
bank robbery ended in a shoot-out with police. His 2 accomplices were shot and killed. He
claims to have shot his way out o the bank, killing a police officer. He escaped with part of the
bank’s money, and led to another state where he began a new life. He wants to clear things
before he dies. He gives you the names of his accomplices and the name and location o the
bank. He claims the robbery took place about 40 years ago. You find that there was an
attempted robbery of the specified bank by 3 men 42 years earlier. 4 officers stopped the
robbery. One of the robbers fired, killing an officer. The other officers returned fire, killing the
shooter and wounding the other 2 robbers. One of the wounded robbers was captured; the
other escaped in a car, which was quickly recovered. Blood collected from the car was typed
and found to be B-. None of the bank’s money was missing. You obtain your suspect’s medical
records and find that he is A+. Give a brief statement of your conclusions.