Secondary School Resources

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'Indelible Evidence'

'Silent Witness - Forensic Science'

'Genetic Fingerprinting'

'Forensic Science' out of production

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Hiotis, H and Rome, A

Solve It

Investigations into analytical chemistry and forensic science

ICI Australia, 1997

Cost: $10.00 Orica Educational Resources

James, T H

Forensic Science (Extended Science 10)

Stanley Thornes (Publishers) Ltd, 1987

ISDN 0 85950 673 8

Jolley, J and Powrie J

Forensic Science for High Schools 1

Emerald City Books, 2000

ISBN 1876133767 Cost: $39.00 Dymocks 

Jolley, J and Powrie J

Forensic Science for High Schools 2

Emerald City Books, 2000

ISBN 1876133775 Cost: $42.90 Dymocks

McAllister, Bob

Senior Science, Book 2

Melb, Macmillan Education, 1994

ISBN 0 7239 1872 3

(Module 8 is on Forensic Science. It has case studies and practical areas).

Muskett, K

Science at Work - Forensic Science

Longman Group Ltd, 1989

ISBN 0582028671

Muskett, K

Science at Work - Forensic Science (Teacher's Guide)

Longman Group Ltd, 1989

ISBN 0582028493

Savage, P (Managing Editor)

Simpson, Gary

Heinemann Science Links 3

(Chapter 9 covers Forensic Science)

Heinemann, 2000

ISBN 0 86462 602 9 Cost: $39.60 Heinemann

Student Pack including eScience CD

ISBN 0 86462 892 7 Cost: $47.30 Heinemann

Broad, John

Science and Criminal Detection

The book is an attempt at outlining the procedures that provide some of the facts presented as evidence at a court of law. The target reading group is the 16-18 year old, who may need information about the world `out there' and is based on talks given by the author to various groups in schools and colleges.

Macmillan Education, 1988, ISBN: 0-333-48325-1

Brown and Llewellyn

Traces of Guilt: Science Fights Crime in New Zealand

NZ, Crown, 1991

Evans, C

The Casebook of Forensic Detection: How Science Solved 100 of the World's Most Baffling Crimes.

A true-crime treasury of 100 of the most fascinating cases of all time. More than two centuries in the development of modern forensic procedures come to vivid life as everything from handwriting analysis and voiceprints to ballistics, DNA testing, and psychological profiled reveal whodunit (and, in some startling cases, who didn't do it).

John Wiley and Sons, 1996, ISBN 0 4712 8369 X Cost: $29.95 Dymocks

James, T.H.

Forensic Science - Selected Topics

Although the book only represents the tip of the iceberg, giving readers a flavour of the subject, it does cover most of the material required for the majority of GCSE (UK) courses.

Stanley Thornes Ltd, 1987, ISBN: 0-85950-673-8 (OUT OF PRINT)

Lane, Brian

Encyclopaedia of Forensic Science

Comprehensive file on scientific investigation of crime including crime scene investigation, DNA and ballistics.

ISBN: 0 7472 3904 5 Cost: $27.40 Dymocks

Lewis, R

The Chamberlain Case: Was Justice Done?

Collingwood, HTAV, 1990

Miller, H

Traces of Guilt: Forensic Science and the Fight Against Crime

TV Books, 1997, ISBN 1 575 00006 7 

Miller, Hugh

Forensic Fingerprints

16 True life crimes solved by forensic science

ISBN 0747257981  Cost: Dymocks $21.91

Miller, Hugh

Indelible Evidence

14 cases from the Quantum series.

ABC Books, 1991

Miller, Hugh

Proclaimed in Blood. True Crimes Solved by Forensic Scientists

The book covers the forensic aspect of 17 real-life murder cases from around the world. The author shows that forensic scientists, working in partnership with the investigating officer, can often deliver the goods when other forms of investigation are thwarted.

Headline Book Publishing, 1995, ISBN: 0-7472-4645-9

Miller, Hugh

What the corpse revealed.

16 cases showing how technology and forensic science combine to answer questions about crimes that seemed unsolvable.

ISBN 0312205465  Cost: Dymocks $48.86

Miller, Hugh

Traces of Guilt - Forensic Science and the Fight Against Crime

This book accompanied a BBC TV series, first broadcast in 1995, of the same name. It gives an examination of forensic science, which ranges from the origins of blood and fingerprint detection to today's reliance on `expert witnesses', DNA tests and the misuse and misunderstanding of forensic evidence. A few key cases, covering such crimes as serial murders, financial fraud and the international drug trade from around the world are interwoven with historical research.

BBC Books, 1991, ISBN: 0-563-36964-7

Marriner, B

On Death's Bloody Trail: Murder and the Art of Forensic Science

St Martins, 1994, ISBN 0 312 95170 1

Ebury Press, London, 2001, ISBN: 0-09187410-6

Rainis, K G

Crime-Solving Science Projects

Start to learn about forensic science in this 128 pages book by doing experiments in fingerprint analysis, document counterfeiting and forgery, and evaluating trace evidence, 

Enslow Publishers, 2000, ISBN: 0766012891 
Cost $60.50 Southern Biological Services (03) 9877-4597

Silverstein, H

Threads of Evidence: Using Forensic Science to Solve Crimes

Twenty First Century Books, 1996, ISBN 0 805 04370 5 

Wambaugh, Joseph

The Blooding: The True Story of the Narborough Village Murders

On 21st November 1983 fifteen-year-old Lynda Mann was raped and murdered near her home in the Leicestershire village of Narborough. Nearly three years later, the police had still not found her murderer when Dawn Ashworth, also fifteen, was similarly raped and killed near that same village. In the massive murder hunt that followed, Leicestershire police arrested a young kitchen porter who had been sighted several times near the murder location. In custody, the kitchen porter, who had a history of molesting children, confessed to the murder of Dawn Ashworth. Convinced that they had found the killer of both Dawn and Lynda, the police enlisted the aid of a scientific discovery that had only just been announced: the technique was known as 'genetic fingerprinting'. The lab report that came back was devastating: the kitchen porter was innocent of both and first and the second murders. But the tests did prove conclusively that both crimes had been committed by the same man. Wambaugh has turned his attention to a fascinating British murder investigation, one that will certainly go down in history as the first to use a technique that may transform forensic science as much as fingerprinting did in the 1890s.

UK Bantam Books, 1989, ISBN: 0-553-28-281-6

Ward, Dr Jenny

Crime Busting: Breakthroughs in Forensic Science

This book examines twenty famous cases in forensic science, each one a significant signpost on the route to the scientific solution of crime. Ranging from the bodysnatching case of Burke and Hare in 1828 to the extensive use of scientific data today, her case studies show the fragile interdependence of forensic science, the criminal justice system and human nature.

Blandford Press, 1998, ISBN: 0-7137-2639-3

Wiese, J

Detective Science: 40 Crime-Solving, Case-breaking, Crook Catching Activities

A elementary book for schoolchildren giving a first-hand look at how detectives and forensic scientists use science to solve crimes. It covers making a plaster cast of a shoe; identification of lip prints on glass; hair and fibre examination; the identification of unknown chemical substances and the analysis of handwriting. Some of the projects are covered very well others, like handwriting, are out of step with reality.

John Wiley and Sons, 1996, ISBN 0 4711 1980 6 
Cost: $29.34 Angus & Robertson (Also available through Southern Biological Services 03 9877-4597)

A kit with clues (letters, fingerprints etc) equipment (fingerprint powder and brushes, indicator strips etc) and a scenario for students to follow. Designed for one student to use. Available from the CSIRO Double Helix Club (02) 6276-6291 or  www.csiro.au/helix/science_kits.html $20 per kit

A 24 page unit for use for 5-10 weeks for Years 7-10 with practical exercises, Southern Biological Services (03) 9877-4597 $13.20 per kit

Topics ranging from osmosis to PCR are presented in the context of a crime for students to solve. Investigative teams are required to find background information in their lab guide, design their experimental set up, interpret data and present their results as a forensic scientist, Southern Biological Services (03) 9877-4597

Teachers Manuel Cat No BK70.60 -  $107.80, Student Lab Guide Cat No BK70.65 - $61.60

Simulate actual blood typing using artificial blood and sera. Materials for 15 lab groups of two students each (re-usable). Cat No Lak 1-S, Southern Biological Services (03) 9877-4597 $96.80 per kit

Students construct  a model of part of a chromosome with colour coded genes from suspects, and learn about DNA mapping and DNA profiling. Five activities and materials for 15 lab groups of two students each (re-usable). Cat No Lak 1271, Southern Biological Services (03) 9877-4597 $370.70 per kit

Simple experiment which simulates the use of DNA in forensic investigations. Students cast gels, load DNA and perform electrophoresis. The bonding patterns of DNA are used to compare the "DNA fingerprints" of two suspects with evidence DNA. Classroom kit contains 5 sets of apparatus and material for 10 experiments. Cat No G 3.00CK. Replacement kits available for 10 experiments Cat No G 3.00CK-RK, Southern Biological Services (03) 9877-4597

$514.80 per classroom kit, $123.20 for replacement kit.

Fingerprinting - A Forensic Puzzle

Using fingerprints lifted from a "crime" scene students become forensic scientists and learn the techniques to make, analyse and classify fingerprints. Includes everything needed to solve the crime including "inkless" fingerprint cards. Suitable for up to 40 students. Cat No FS (FP). Replacement cards available Cat No FS (FP-RC), Southern Biological Services (03) 9877-4597

$214.50 per class kit, $77.00 for pack 20 replacement cards.

Detective's Casebook

A series of practical activities based around a "crime" scenario. Covers analysis techniques used in toxicology, chromatography, fingerprinting, document analysis and blood typing. Students use findings from each activity to support their final conclusion as to what occurred and "whodunit". Suitable for a class of up to 40 students. Cat No LAK 3, Southern Biological Services (03) 9877-4597

 $154.00 per class kit.

Newspapers in Education department of the Adelaide Advertiser has prepared a forensic science teaching package to help introduce students to forensic science. The package includes:

A 20-lesson teaching booklet. The teaching booklet will be linked to the SACSA framework.
A class set (15 or 30 papers) of The Advertiser for April 30 and May 7, 2002 which included special section on forensic science.

Available from Newspapers in Education (08) 8206 2393 or www.advertiser.com.au/nie/

15/30 copies of The Advertiser  plus teaching kit for $20.00/$30.00

CD ROMs

Forensic Science

Explore the rapid advances in forensic science. Introduces you to the major aspects of forensic science including fingerprinting, DNA analysis, ballistics, material analysis, forgery and serology. Techniques in each of these fields are presented via an on screen format accompanied by complementary activities and links. Windows 95+/Power Mac 7.5+, 16MB RAM.

Cat No CD1.10, Southern Biological Services (03) 9877-4597. Single CD $242.00 - lab packs available

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CSIRO offer secondary science programs. In 2001 the programs are:

Forensic Frenzy (Yrs 7-10) - Solve a crime by analysing the evidence left at the scene of the crime. Available at the Science Education Centre or at your school.

Gene Technology (Yrs 9-10) - Introduce your students to current techniques used. Available at the Science Education Centre or at your school

Also at the Science Education Centre

For details, contact CSIRO Science Education Centre, Graham Road, Highett, Vic 3190 or phone (03) 9252-6387 or visit their website;

http://www.csiro.au/melbcsirosec/programs/index.html

Some useful sites on the 'Web' apart from our site, were you currently are!

1. Zeno's forensic page http://forensic.to/forensic.html

A personal web site that contains information on forensic science, forensic medicine and forensic psychiatry. It provides, perhaps the most extensive world wide list of links to other forensic related sites.

2. Reddy's forensic page http://www.forensicpage.com

The personal home page of a New York City Police Department forensic scientist. This page also provides numerous links to other relevant sites. The emphasis is on American based material.

3. Cybersleuth http://www.kilvington.vic.edu.au/cyber/index.htm

An on-line crime scene for students to solve using interactive pages. Involves collection and examination of evidence, interviews with witnesses and discussions with experts.

4. Who Stole the Minister's Malibu? http://www.abc.net.au/science/forensic/

A dastardly crime has been committed and we need YOU to help solve it! 'Who Stole the Minister's Malibu?' is a massive nationwide forensic science project organised by Griffith University along with triple j and The Lab - ABC Science Online. First gone nationwide in 2002.

5. Crime Inc. http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/gc/manhat/index.htm

A body has been found on Manhattan Island in the USA. It has been dismembered and is frozen. You are the assigned detective to the case and your mission is to identify the body and find the murderer. A series of worksheets and teachers notes.

6. The Interactive Investigator  http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Myst/en/

A site developed for anyone with an interest in the different scientific methods used to solve crimes. You will be able to obtain general information and an introduction to the main aspects of forensic science from a database on the subject as well as solve a crime with an interactive game.

More specific and general forensic links may be found on the NIFS links page.