Lab Experiments/Activities

Poison:

What is poison?

-Poison is a substance that can cause death or injury to a living organism once it is introduced or absorbed by it.

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Common Poison Sources:

- Drinks

- Medication

- Plants

- Chemicals

- Venom
- Allergies

How do crime labs handle poison cases?  What are some signs of poisoning?

-In crime labs, scientists can use different chemicals to see if something is poison.

-Some signs of poisoning are: Drooling, drowsiness, rashes, hallucinations; etc.

Poison Identification Experiment:
In this lab experiment, we tested different common poison sources  to see if it had a poison in it.

1. Metals:

	.5 M KSCN	KI	Acid
1	Negative	Positive for Lead	Negative
2	Positive for Iron	Negative	Negative
3	Negative	Negative	Negative

2. Sugar:

	1	2	3
Benedict Solution	Negative	Negative	Negative

3. Ammonia:

	Odor	pH less > 7	PHTH is purple/pink
1	Positive	Positive(11)	Positive
2	Negative	Positive (8.5)	Negative
3	Negative	Positive (8.5)	Negative

4. Aspirin:
 

	pH <7	BTB is yellow
1	Positive (5)	Negative
2	Positive (6)	Negative
3	Positive (2)	Positive

5. Cyanide:

	Turns red w/ FE+3
1	Negative
2	Negative
3	Positive

6. Iodine:

	Blue w/ Starch
1	Negative
2	Negative
3	Positive

Lipstick:
In class, we did a lipstick print activity where we had to put on lipstick and then create a print on a blank note card.  Observing the print, we had to write distinct characteristics of the print.

If you observe my lip print above, the top is bigger than the bottom of my lips.  Also, there are small dips on the corners and a small dip on the top of my lip.  Inbetween my lip print, there is a small gap.

Footprint:

For our footprint analysis activity, we had to step in a bin filled with dirt as if we were walking normally.  We were given a worksheet to fill out which included the time, date, and other information that we had to record about the footprint.  Then we had to observe the footprint for distinct characteristics.

When making my footprint above, I was wearing boots.  You can see a pattern at the top, and the heel at the bottom of the boot print.

Drug Analysis:

Background information of Cocaine and LSD.
Cocaine:

Chemical Name: benzoylmethylecgonine

Chemical Formula: C17H21NO4

pH: 8

LSD:

Chemical Name: Lysergic acid diethylamide

Chemical Formula: C₂₀H₂₅N₃O

pH: 4

In class, we did a drug analysis activity where we tested for LSD and cocaine.  As a replacement of using actual drugs, we used substances which had the same effects when tested.  There were six different stations, each with a different substance mixed with some water in a beaker.  Using a pipette, we were to drop a couple of drops of the mixture onto a plate and then to test the pH. 

Drug	pH	Cocaine reagent(blue)	LSD Reagent(yellow)
1	6	Positive	Negative
2	9	Positive	Negative
3	3	Negative	Positive
4	7	Positive	Negative
5	6	Negative	Negative
6	5	Negative	Positive

Creating A Profile:

For this activity, we were given five clues and had to come up with a conclusion of what happened.  This activity was like a mini Crime Scene Investigation.

Clue 1: Fingerprints

Thumb: Plain Whorl

Index: Central Pocket Whorls

Middle: Central Pocket Whorls

Ring Finger: Radial Loop

Pinky: N/A

Clue 2: Hair: Asian

Clue 3: A torn up note: "You will never find her!"

Clue 4: Hair: Caucasion

Clue 5: Red/Pink mark: It was just a splotch, so we were unable to determine what it was.

Photo credits to Vicki Dyches


After analyzing these clues, I realize that I would need to do further steps to identify the criminal.  For example, I would have needed to analyze the red/pink sample in a lab.  Also to conclude who the criminal would be, I would also need to scan the fingerprints to find a match.  I could also run a few tests on the hair samples.

Witness Experiment:

For the witness experiment, we cut out pictures of faces from magazines and then cut out the facial features seperately.  We had to mix them up and switch with a partner's to see how well our memory was by matching the facial features.