New crime-solving class draws 131 registrants
David Zucchino/Los Angeles Times/MCT
Air Force Lt. Col. Laura Regan, the military’s only active duty forensic anthropologist, examines a donated skeleton in the morgue at the Armed Forces Medical Examiner headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. Regan, 38, is an expert on “fragmented remains,” cases involving U.S. military members killed by roadside bombs or air crashes in Afghanistan and Iraq.
April 20, 2015
Forensic Science, a new elective, attracted 131 students for the 2015-2016 school year, according to Mrs. Jessica Dillon, science teacher.
Forensic science is the scientific method of gathering and examining information about the past, which is then used in a court of law or to solve questions about the past.
“It was decided that Forensics would be very popular among students due to the popularity of several crime solving shows such as, CSI, NCIS, Bones, and law and order.” said Dillon.
“We will be purchasing many new materials and will hopefully use some gel electrophoresis to analyze DNA,” said Dillon. New tools are always exciting for students to use; furthermore, this class could influence some students who are struggling with a career choice. In fact the job opportunities one can go into after receiving a forensic science degree include, analytical chemist, biomedical scientist, scientific laboratory technician,teaching laboratory technician, and a toxicologist.
The military uses forensic science for a number of reasons, including autopsy of skeletons to identify cause of death.
This course provides hands on learning, “There is no book for the students. All activities were developed by other teachers in the county. I will be using forensic science textbooks from National Geographic with biological and chemical focuses as a reference for labs, we will be looking at fingerprints, blood splatters and more,” said Dillon.
The grading in this class is slightly different. “There will be no CRES test or finals like a traditional science course offered at Linganore. Grading will be based on projects and laboratory notebooks: some tests will be included,” said Dillon.
Sophomore Grace Weaver said, “I am really excited to take this because I want to be a lawyer, so I think this will help me a lot with my career.”
At Howard County schools this class has been running for many years. Science teacher at Marriotts Ridge High School, Linda J. Davis said, “ It is more about the topic and we then examine case studies that relate to the topic. We examine the technology that has been developed to solve cases that may relate to murder, theft and arson, etc. I think your science department will enjoy teaching forensics and the students will enjoy it as well. It brings in a mix of students and forensics; it is very popular in Howard County.”
