Communication Lab

I did the communication lab with Natalie. It was easily my favorite lab so far. It was fun using the four different types of communication. We took turns being the person who was trying to figure out the problem and the one trying to explain it with whatever limitations were set on us. Personally, I liked being the one trying to figure it out because I could look at every one of the different clues that I was given by Natalie's body language, her hand signs, etc.
Natalie has a picture on her blog of Activity 3 and the Kennex (however you spell that) structure that I built along with the one she made through my written instructions. That was the hardest one. Somehow, the instructions I gave lead her astray and her final piece was very different from mine.
Below are the guiding questions and the post-lab questions:

1. Which type of communication was your strongest?

I think the one from Activity 1 was the strongest because we had the most methods of communication. It was the one that worked the best, her drawing was almost identical to mine.


2. Which type of communication was the most difficult for each of you?

For me, Activity 3 was the most difficult because it was hard to know how my written instructions would be interpreted. I thought I was giving clear instructions that would have Natalie make the exact same structure as mine, but it turns out that she interpreted them different from mine.


3. Which type of communication types do you think will be the most important for your mission to the space station? Why do you think so?

I think gestures without sound (like Activity 2) and purely written instructions (like Activity 3) will be the most important for our mission. I think that because although I don't know what exactly we will be doing on our mission, it could be a possibility that we find ourselves in a situation where we have to be silent and the only method of communication we can use is gestures so we don't make any noise. I also think that it could be just as likely that we get separated or find ourselves in a different situation where we have to resort to leaving written instructions/advice for each other and don't get to see or talk to the people that we are leaving them for.

Powder Lab

1. Describe one positive test from Data Table 1.

Powder B (Brogaine) became very hot after the addition of acetic acid, water, and the hot plate. The tiny balls stayed separated and did not dissolve.

2. Was the powder you examined in part B one of the illegal drugs or table salt?

We examined Unknown Sample 1 and we believed that it was Sample C (Rotaran) for a multitude of reasons. For one, it looked like it from the hand lens observation. When we added the vinegar it looked very similar to Sample C, if not exactly the same. One the hot plate nothing happened to it just like Sample C. The other results were also similar.

3. Explain why accuracy is important.

Because in order to get proper results and identify unknown samples you have to have to correct results so your comparisons can be as close to correct as possible. Accuracy is very important especially in working with new samples in forensic science.

4. Explain why Part A was important.

Because Part A lets you find the results for the already known powders for yourself. If we had a data table like that already written out, then it would be hard to make the proper comparisons because they weren't made by us. Part A was even more important to me than the second data table.

Guiding Questions:

What are the methods used by forensic scientists to determine the nature of an unknown substance like white powder?

They perform tests on the unknown substance and compare them to tests on known substances so they can identify which substance or mix of substances it is.

How might this lab be helpful in preparing you for the mission?

Because it not only helps us with identifying powders but with identifying other substances because now we have the necessary knowledge to perform tests in order to determine the identity of other things.

Fiber Lab

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Guiding Questions:

Can you use fiber evidence to identify its source?

Yes, if you can identify what the fiber is. After you know that you can compare it to other fibers that possible suspects may have had on them when they committed the crime and that information can lead to catching the person who committed the crime. In our particular crime the information led us to the murderer easily because there was only one person who had a red polyester sweater.

How might this lab be helpful in preparing you for the mission?

Because if we find victims or we need to figure out how someone or something was killed, identifying any fibers on them would be immensely helpful. It could make or break the investigation. It helps narrow down suspects.

Postlab Questions:

1. Are there any noticeable differences between natural fibers (wool, cotton, silk) or man made fibers (polyester, rayon, nylon, acrylic, spandex)?

The natural fibers smelled worse than the manmade ones. Also, the natural fibers burned slower than the manmade ones once they were in the flame. The fibers were different after they were removed from the flame. The manmade ones turned more squishy and more remained of them, as opposed to the natural ones where there was little left after they were burned.

2. Microscope-which fiber is the most like the unknown fiber from the victim? What evidence do you have?

We thought that the polyester was most like the unknown fiber. They looked very similar if not identical on all three functions of the microscope (low, medium, and high). The individual fibers were similar as well as the way they were made up and shaped.

3. Burn-which fiber is the most like the unknown fiber from the victim? What evidence do you have?

Polyester and the unknown fibers burned extremely similarly as well. They both got little black burnt ball-shaped things on the edge of the fibers. They both smelled the same and had the same after-effects.

4. Which suspect do you believe committed the crime?

Casey because he owned polyester and he wore it every day.

Trajectory Lab

*See Jessica's post for our trajectory lab (we made a video together)

Below are the guiding questions:
1. How can the angle of impact of a bullet in a wall be used to determine other critical information about the scene of the crime?

It helps us to know what angle the bullet hit the object at, which helps forensic anthropologists figure out the height of the shooter as well as other important details like where they shot the bullet from.


2. How might the lab be helpful in preparing you for the mission?

Because we might come across some bullet holes on the mission and we can use what we learned in this lab to figure out the height of the shooter and where they shot the bullet from. It also helps us learn about trigonometry in case we have to do a variation of the lab involving some other type of hole.