Friendship Forensics Clues

The students in Mrs. Sortore’s Forensics class at Friendship Central School have been busy searching for clues!  Two different crime scenes were created in the school area, and two teams were chosen to investigate each crime. The class consists of 21 students that are a mixture of seniors and sophomores this year. Each group included a Facilitator, Lab Technicians, Crime Scene Investigators, Photo Analysts, Crime Scene Sketch Artist, Blood and Fingerprint Analysts. The teams used their prior knowledge of Forensic Science to gather and analyze the clues. One of the critical tools to analyze hair collected from the scenes was the Amscope Digital Microscope from CABOCES.  This scope allowed the students to measure the medulla to compare hair from the scene and hair collected from suspects. Without this technology our student’s ability to narrow down the suspects would have been severely hampered leading to a possible incorrect assumption.  The ability to measure and view the hair at this level was a key component to solving the crime.  It was inspiring to watch this group of students work together to piece together the clues.  The students worked tirelessly gathering clues, piecing together evidence, and solving critical pieces between the separate scenes.  ​

By: Mark Carls, CA BOCES Professional Development