Physical Evidence Analysis Lab

What can a fingerprint actually prove in court? Does a fiber that doesn't match hurt the investigation — or help it? How do forensic scientists communicate conclusions without saying "definitely"? In this lab, students work through six stations of physical evidence collected from a simulated crime scene. Rather than following a prescribed procedure, students make real analytical decisions at each stop: classifying ridge patterns, evaluating fiber properties, reconstructing how a window broke and in what sequence, interpreting a near-match in soil data, and identifying anomalies in a handwritten document. The final synthesis stage asks students to weigh all five evidence types together — confronting the messiness of real casework, where not everything points the same direction. Throughout, students grapple with the questions forensic scientists actually face: When is a match good enough? What does uncertainty look like, and how do you say it precisely?in