B Barber
Science Coordinator
Partner Primary & Secondary Schools
John Paul, Nazareth, Padua, St John's Reg. Colleges & Partner Primary

Science
Middle Years Science Program - Science Show

Middle Years Science Program

 

Forensic Science Show
Return to Curriculum

Senior School (St Jude's)

Equipment:

  • 4 types of blue pen or better still 4 different brands of blue, brown or green texta; 4 beakers or containers; acetone/methylated spirits mixture.

Demonstrations:

Task
Method
Equipment
Concepts
Forensic Science Practical Activities

Look at the following links:

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Look at procedures scientists go to to discover the identity of suspects.

Identifying suspect's pens

Draw a thick line along the bottom edge of the chromatography paper and place it over the lip of the beaker with the 50/50 mixture of acetone and methylated spirits. The line should be above the liquid surface. Leave for 20 minutes.

4 types of blue pen or better still 4 different brands of blue, brown or green texta; 4 beakers or containers; acetone & methylated spirits mixture.All inks are made up of a combination of different colours in different proportions. By doing this experiment you can identify the same type and make of pen or texta used in a written note.

Forensic Science

Scenario: "A Robbery!"

A robbery took place in your classroom of your class lolly jar! The following ransom note was discovered at the scene...

One of the teachers is a suspect and must have done it. Ink has been taken from the ransom note and analysed for it chromatography patterns. A profile of the suspects can be set up by you and your staff. Provide each with a pen that can be identified to be owned by that teacher. Place chromatography paper into the mixture with the pen marks on each