The Mystery of the Bones - A Forensice Lesson

Objectives

• Understand what a forensic anthropologist does
• Reconstruct four skeletons
• Determine the age, sex, and height of the skeletons
• Determine the identities of each skeleton

The Scene

~ Author's Note: These are ficticious characters in a ficticious crime scene

In a quiet camping area known as Crystal Lake, four complete human skeletons were found in the mud when the lake began to dry during a drought. Detectives checked the missing person's reports for people in the area and found that four people had disappeared from that area over the last 10 years.

Oddly, the skeletons were almost completely intact due to being preserved in the clay at the bottom of the lake

Objectives

• Reconstruct the remains found at the site
• Determine sex of the skeleton based on the pelvis and skull
• Determine the race of the skeleton based on the shape of the skull
• Calculate the height of the person based on the length of the femur
• Explore how the skull can be used to determine age
• Gain an appreciation for field work in forensic science

You can choose from the paper version or the digital version to complete the task.

Paper Version of Mystery of the Bones : This version requires printing of multiple pages, scissors to cut out bones and tape to glue them to paper as a reconstruction

Remote Version of Mystery of the Bones : This version uses Google slides with color coded portions for each member to complete a different section and then compile the results on the last page. The document can be shared to groups so that each can be working together on it, while on different devices.

Other Resources on Forensics

eSkeletons - comparative anatomy of many primate skeletons

Calculating Time of Death (ToD) - use a mathematical equation and body temperature to determine ToD

Article on the Body Farm - Read about a research facility in Tennessee that examines how bodies decompose