Forensic Science - CSI Providence

Course Description

What makes an expert witness an expert? What would the perfect crime look like? These are but a couple of the many questions we will explore during this course. Forensic science is an exciting field that combines scientific principles from many different science disciplines with technology and math resulting in new, sometimes surprising outcomes!

This integrated course will focus on critical thinking and lab skills, as well as problem-solving techniques, to learn more about the fascinating field of forensics. We will learn how investigators gather crucial evidence at the scene of a crime and how forensic scientists carefully analyze it. Evidence such as fingerprints, hair, fiber, impressions, and blood can all be used to help reconstruct events leading up to a crime. We will investigate how skulls and bones can also provide clues to the forensic anthropologist and medical artist in their attempt to create a biological profile for identification purposes. The forensic science field includes a wide range of specialized occupations, and we will familiarize ourselves with the many opportunities that exist throughout the course. Our final project will be a complicated crime scene in which students will need to apply all of the skills they have learned during the course in order to solve.

By the end of the course, students will be able to follow the proper protocol for assessing, documenting, collecting, and analyzing various types of evidence at a crime scene. Students will become proficient in microscopy and chromatography titration techniques. Students will work in teams during labs and at the crime scene to facilitate their communication and collaboration skills.

Prerequisites: Students should be proficient in math and have had some biology/chemistry experience.

*For 1 week course sections scheduled for June 29 - July 2, 2020: Classes will not meet on Friday, July 3rd due to the observed Independence Day holiday. Due to the brevity of the course, meeting times have been adjusted accordingly Monday - Thursday to preserve in-class hours. We encourage students to remain on campus through Friday as our Campus Life team will be fully engaged with our students, offering a variety of activities.