Forensic Science
The first thing that we learned during the project was that Forensic Science has made it so that the right people are put in jail for their crimes, and there is not nearly as many wrongful convictions as there were before Forensics was being used. Forensics can also be used to exonerate people form their crimes who were wrongfully convicted before there was DNA testing. Next we were assigned a crime scene that Colleen set up and went through a series of Forensic tests to determine how and when the crime was committed and threw DNA testing we determined who committed the crime.
I was assigned to crime scene one and I was partner two, which was a suicide, or at least that was what it was made to look like. The first thing that we did was took notes on the crime scene and took pictures. Then we were told to write a report on the trajectory of a bullet, we had to give a brief description of the history of how this was used in Forensic science, how it was used to solve crimes, what the techniques were for doing it, some advancements or new technology that is being used in it, and finally we had to apply the techniques to our crime scenes. We found from studying the trajectory that the bullet was shot into Aaron Lee, that it was almost impossible that it was suicide, the angle that he would have had to do it at to kill himself made it very unlikely anyways. Then we had to write another report on bullet wound analysis with the same requirements, by studying the bullet wound we concluded that the gun was not pressed to his head but was shot at close range because although there was a ring of soot around the wound from the gunpowder, there was no tattooing from the muzzle. Our third report was on toxicology, after writing my report it was concluded that the amount of drugs in Aarons blood were enough to kill him even if he was not shot. My final report was on analysis of nucleic DNA, which is how two very small samples of DNA can be compared to one another to determine if they match. For our Crime scene, we were comparing Aaron Lees blood with the blood found at Scott Henderson's house who was one of the suspects. The blood matched Aaron lees which led us to the conclusion that it was Scott Henderson who murdered Aaron Lee especially after he confessed to it.
I really liked learning about the analysis of nucleic DNA this was very interesting, mostly because of the labs that we did with it. It was really cool to actually see the DNA separate and break free from the nucleus when we did the DNA extraction lab with the strawberries. It was also very cool to do the gel electrophoresis as a lab. I think that I did very well staying on top of my work and getting everything done for the project, there was a lot of work, but because I used my class time wisely and worked on it at home I was able to get it all done. The one thing that I wish that I had done better on would be refining my reports, I think that I could have spent a little more time correcting them and making them better before I turned them in, but other than that, I think that I did very well throughout the project.
I was assigned to crime scene one and I was partner two, which was a suicide, or at least that was what it was made to look like. The first thing that we did was took notes on the crime scene and took pictures. Then we were told to write a report on the trajectory of a bullet, we had to give a brief description of the history of how this was used in Forensic science, how it was used to solve crimes, what the techniques were for doing it, some advancements or new technology that is being used in it, and finally we had to apply the techniques to our crime scenes. We found from studying the trajectory that the bullet was shot into Aaron Lee, that it was almost impossible that it was suicide, the angle that he would have had to do it at to kill himself made it very unlikely anyways. Then we had to write another report on bullet wound analysis with the same requirements, by studying the bullet wound we concluded that the gun was not pressed to his head but was shot at close range because although there was a ring of soot around the wound from the gunpowder, there was no tattooing from the muzzle. Our third report was on toxicology, after writing my report it was concluded that the amount of drugs in Aarons blood were enough to kill him even if he was not shot. My final report was on analysis of nucleic DNA, which is how two very small samples of DNA can be compared to one another to determine if they match. For our Crime scene, we were comparing Aaron Lees blood with the blood found at Scott Henderson's house who was one of the suspects. The blood matched Aaron lees which led us to the conclusion that it was Scott Henderson who murdered Aaron Lee especially after he confessed to it.
I really liked learning about the analysis of nucleic DNA this was very interesting, mostly because of the labs that we did with it. It was really cool to actually see the DNA separate and break free from the nucleus when we did the DNA extraction lab with the strawberries. It was also very cool to do the gel electrophoresis as a lab. I think that I did very well staying on top of my work and getting everything done for the project, there was a lot of work, but because I used my class time wisely and worked on it at home I was able to get it all done. The one thing that I wish that I had done better on would be refining my reports, I think that I could have spent a little more time correcting them and making them better before I turned them in, but other than that, I think that I did very well throughout the project.
Bullet Wound Anallysis
The history of analyzing gunshot wounds parallels with the history of the development of guns. Gunpowder has been around since the 9th century in China, but guns have only become accurate and practical in the last two centuries. With accuracy also came speed, guns have gone from being able to fire two to three bullets per minute, back when guns were muzzle loaded, to modern day machine guns that shoot hundreds of rounds a minute. One of the biggest improvements for propelling ammunition is changing from using black powder to smokeless powder in the 19th century.
Often the first thing that forensic scientists do when doing bullet wound analysis is analyze the entrance wound. If the wound is very close range, the skin will have soot around the wound from the gun powder. If it is a contact wound, the gasses will leave behind laceration or an imprint called tattooing. Longer range gunshot wounds have no soot around them or tattooing, and are usually the size of the caliber that shot the bullet. There are many factors that can change the amount of gunpowder residue left on someone's skin and clothes like, firing distance, size of the gun barrel, type of gunpowder, the angle the victim was shot at, and the environment. Scanning a gunshot wound with an electron microscope can help show gunpowder residue that can not be seen by the naked eye, this computerized analysis helps gather more evidence. Then looking at the bullets path, scientists can look at patterns of fractures can help determine the direction of fire.
Forensic scientists also look at the exit wounds on the victim. Sometimes there are no exit wounds though, but if the gun is too powerful for the range or what is being shot, there will be an exit wound. The exit wound is usually a lot bigger than the entrance wound because the bullet goes off its axes and tumbles which creates a larger whole. Fragmentation from the bullet can tear more paths and create more exit wounds.
Recently, CT and MRI scans have been used in forensics to create 3d images so that they can see the bullets path and where the bullet ended up if there is no exit wound. Before using this MRI and CT scanners, film radiography was used. With that method there had to be multiple slides and the imaging was not very high quality. But with CT scans now, it uses radiation to capture the images, and since there is no worry of giving too much radiation and hurting the patient since they are already dead the scientists can use much higher levels of radiation which makes for very clear images.
The evidence from Lee Aarons gunshot wound shows, that the shot was from close range but was not pressed to his skin. the wound had soot around it from the gunpowder, which means it was close range. But there was no tattooing of the barrel on the skin, which would have happened if the gun was pressed directly on the skin. Which means that the gun was fired probably from only a few feet away.
Sources
http://library.med.utah.edu/WebPath/TUTORIAL/GUNS/GUNINJ.html
Toxicology
Toxicology is the study of the effects of chemicals on the body and is used to detect drugs, poisons and venom in the body. Shamans have been studying poisonous plant extracts for thousands of years. In 1814 a Spanish scientist wrote a book called Trait Des Poisons, which classified poisons favored by criminals, this was the first record of toxicology being used in forensics. In 1836 James Marsh discovered a way to detect arsenic in someone's body by taking a sample of body fluid or tissue, putting it in a glass container with zinc and acid. If arsenic is present then it will produce gas but the gas will be created regardless of if it is or is not present , then a torch is held to the glass, and ignites the gas mixture if there is arsenic in the mixture then the glass will be stained silvery black with arsenic. Today, Olaf H. Drummer is the leading forensic toxicologist and is President of The International Association of Forensic toxicologists. He has dedicated his whole life to the study of toxicology.
There are three main ways that people are tested for drugs in their system, those are in their blood, urine and vitreous fluid, each fluid collected and tested provides different insights into the level of chemicals in the body at the time of death. Different biologicals provide different information to toxicologists. Some advantages of testing blood include being able to determine how much of a substance is in a persons blood and how that could have impaired them or lead to their death, by testing the blood scientists can determine if the level of drugs in the persons system were therapeutic, critical or toxic among other things. Usually when blood is drawn from a victim, the forensic toxicologist will draw blood from the heart and the femoral vein because the concentration will be different depending on how long it has been since the victim took the drug and how much they took. Some advantages to testing someone's urine are that it can be detected for much longer than in blood, drugs are easier to detect because the concentration is higher and can determine how much the person used the drug. Some disadvantages of using urine are that you can’t tell how much of the drug was taken at once based on the concentration, the concentration can change a lot depending on how hydrated the person is and once the drug is in urine, it is not Pharmacologically active. The big advantage in testing vitreous fluid is that it is resistant to decomposition so it can be found and tested for a lot longer than blood or urine. Some disadvantages are that the amount of fluid is limited with children, and there is no correlation between concentration.
After testing the blood from Aaron Lee’s heart, he tested positive for two different drugs. Aaron tested positive for Oxycodone, the therapeutic range for Oxycodone is 10-100 and he tested 1150ng/mL so that is a possible cause of death. He also tested 0.5 for alcohol in his blood which is extremely high and is another possible cause of death. When Oxycodone is mixed with alcohol death is possible and since Aaron lee had lethal levels of both these things are likely the cause of death or would have killed him even if he was not shot.
Sources:
http://biologywithcolleen.weebly.com/uploads/2/7/7/8/27784135/atforensiclab2009.pdf
http://toxicologyproject.weebly.com/history.html
There are three main ways that people are tested for drugs in their system, those are in their blood, urine and vitreous fluid, each fluid collected and tested provides different insights into the level of chemicals in the body at the time of death. Different biologicals provide different information to toxicologists. Some advantages of testing blood include being able to determine how much of a substance is in a persons blood and how that could have impaired them or lead to their death, by testing the blood scientists can determine if the level of drugs in the persons system were therapeutic, critical or toxic among other things. Usually when blood is drawn from a victim, the forensic toxicologist will draw blood from the heart and the femoral vein because the concentration will be different depending on how long it has been since the victim took the drug and how much they took. Some advantages to testing someone's urine are that it can be detected for much longer than in blood, drugs are easier to detect because the concentration is higher and can determine how much the person used the drug. Some disadvantages of using urine are that you can’t tell how much of the drug was taken at once based on the concentration, the concentration can change a lot depending on how hydrated the person is and once the drug is in urine, it is not Pharmacologically active. The big advantage in testing vitreous fluid is that it is resistant to decomposition so it can be found and tested for a lot longer than blood or urine. Some disadvantages are that the amount of fluid is limited with children, and there is no correlation between concentration.
After testing the blood from Aaron Lee’s heart, he tested positive for two different drugs. Aaron tested positive for Oxycodone, the therapeutic range for Oxycodone is 10-100 and he tested 1150ng/mL so that is a possible cause of death. He also tested 0.5 for alcohol in his blood which is extremely high and is another possible cause of death. When Oxycodone is mixed with alcohol death is possible and since Aaron lee had lethal levels of both these things are likely the cause of death or would have killed him even if he was not shot.
Sources:
http://biologywithcolleen.weebly.com/uploads/2/7/7/8/27784135/atforensiclab2009.pdf
http://toxicologyproject.weebly.com/history.html
Dissection
For my direction, I chose to do a pig. I chose the pig because it is the closest to a human, and I am interested in going into the medical field when I am older. I learned through the direction that the internal organs of a pig which are the same as a humans (accept the Appendix) are fairly simple. This to me was surprising, I thought going into the project that I would never be able to memorize all the organs and their functions, but it turned out to be easier than it looked. I learned that I definitely would like to at least intern with a doctor next year and possibly pursue that as my career, I also learned that I am good at memorizing things like that.
Honey Bees
Honey bees have been around over 100 million years. Most people know them for the delicious honey they produce, that is used by most people every day to sweeten various foods and drinks. But the most important job of the bee is often overlooked, they help pollinate 30 percent of the worlds crops. Without this cross pollination by bees, many of the species of crops would die as well as most of all wild plants. Over the past 15 years, bees have been dying or leaving their hives at an alarming rate, sometimes hundreds of colony die at once, almost one third of all commercial bees leave their hives or died annually. Scientists do not know the exact cause of the CCD, but they have some theories. They believe that although, each pesticide individually may not kill bees, when they are combined they can become much more deadly. That is only one of the factors though, other contributing factors are large monocultures, mites and the absence of cover crops when the monocultures are not in season. Some people say that if something is not done and the bees die, we would be next to go. This may be a little out there, but one thing if for sure. If bees disappear, life as we know it would change especially the food, prices would shoot up, we would have to spend millions on artificially pollinating and some foods that depend mostly on bees for pollination may disappear.
I chose to focus on what plants do bees like best. This seems easy enough, but the plants also had to do well at high altitude, require minimal water and they had to do well in the shade. After much research, I decided to plant blue salvia and goldfinger cinquefoil because they both hardy and attract lots of bees. I learned mostly from this project and my research that bees like flowers that are not all clustered together, but rather spread out so that is how I planted my flowers. During this project however, I did not learn the most during independent research. I learned the most from watching the videos and reading in class. For exhibition, I created a slide show that had a background on bees, why they are important, why they are declining, what I did for my project and finally I had pictures of the garden that I planted. The piece that I was most proud of was definitely the garden itself, which was exhibited or opened to the public, however I was not actually at the garden when presenting. If I were to change something, I think that for exhibition instead of a slide show I would have gone out and stood by the plants and showed people when they came out.
I chose to focus on what plants do bees like best. This seems easy enough, but the plants also had to do well at high altitude, require minimal water and they had to do well in the shade. After much research, I decided to plant blue salvia and goldfinger cinquefoil because they both hardy and attract lots of bees. I learned mostly from this project and my research that bees like flowers that are not all clustered together, but rather spread out so that is how I planted my flowers. During this project however, I did not learn the most during independent research. I learned the most from watching the videos and reading in class. For exhibition, I created a slide show that had a background on bees, why they are important, why they are declining, what I did for my project and finally I had pictures of the garden that I planted. The piece that I was most proud of was definitely the garden itself, which was exhibited or opened to the public, however I was not actually at the garden when presenting. If I were to change something, I think that for exhibition instead of a slide show I would have gone out and stood by the plants and showed people when they came out.
Research Notes
Reese. "Bees." Gardening Tips and KnowHow. High Country Gardens, 23 July 2010.
Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.highcountrygardens.com/gardening/category/blog/bees-2/>.
This source gives information on colony collapse disorder and how its effect on the high country eco system and plants. It also has a lot of information about bumble bees and their habitats. The majority of this article is telling what plants you can put in your garden to attract both types of bees. Some of the perennial flowers that were suggested for honey bees are Asters, Bee Balm, Ironweed and Ornamental Oregano. All of these flowers will require relatively low maintenance and will come back year after year.
This source will help me decide what plants will be best in my garden. I am looking for perennial plants that are not high maintenance, that are attractive to honey bees. I learned from this article that it is important to plant flowers that bloom at different times during the year from spring to fall so that the bees always have flowers that they can pollinate. This gives me new insight into how I should plant the garden because I will next research plants that bloom at different times so that the bees will be able to pollinate throughout the summer.
Salman, David. "Planting Nectar Rich Salvia to Attract Pollinators to the Garden." High
Country Gardens. Beautiful Plants for the Water Wise Garden, 14 Feb. 2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2015. <http://www.waterwisegardening.com>.
For the majority of the article, it talks about different types of Salvia (sage), which are native to the high country and require minimal maintenance. Salvia is also a good plant to put in your garden so that the deer do not eat the plants because deer dislike it. Later in the article it gets into different types Tomāto, more commonly referred to as hummingbird mint or hyssop. This plant is very hardy and would be great in a garden for bees to pollinate. They come in two different types, the blue ones which are more water resistance and then the orange pink and red ones which require more maintenance. The article then talks about plants that are resistant to deer. Throughout the rest of the article, it lists more plants that are good for high country gardens, they include lavender, echinacea and Zinnia grandiflora.
This website provided different information than my last, it is similar because they are both websites that have gardening tips. The last website listed a vast number of plants that would be good to plant in a high country garden and will attract bees, whereas this website does not have as many plants listed but it goes into detail about each plant. After looking at the different plants on this website, I am certain that we should have one or more types of salvia in our garden because they are native, dont require much maintenance, bees like them and deer will not eat them.
Spivak, Marla. "Why Bees Are Disappearing." TED. N.p., June 2013. Web. 23 Apr.
2015. <http://www.ted.com/talks/marla_spivak_why_bees_are_disappearing?language=en#t-829757>.
This TED talk was on the disappearance of bees, why they are disappearing, What would happen if bees disappeared and some symbol solutions to bee decline. Marla Spivak starts off by talking about the different types of bees and how crucial they are to life as we know it, Then she goes into statistics about how bees numbers in the US have been cut in half since WWII. She had four main reasons for bee decline, the first was not using cover crops to help the soil on big farms, which the bees got a lot of their pollen from. The second reason is Varroa Mites that suck the blood of the bees. Monocultures are another big contributor to CCD, because the bees need variety in their food, and a lot of times the crops only bloom during one part of the year, so there is no food for the bees most of the year. The final big contributing factor is pesticides, pesticides which may not be in high enough concentration to kill the bees, but they can become disoriented and not be able to find their way back to the hive. The pesticides can also be brought back to the hive in pollen and fed to the larva, causing defects.
This source was by far the best one that I have found, It not only gives advice on what flowers to plant and how to stop CCD, it gives information on why it is happening in detail and gives a brief history on the disappearance of bees. I thought that it was very interesting that cover crops are such a big part of the bees diet, I had never heard of them before but it makes sense that if those were taken away there would be a rapid decline in bees.
Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.highcountrygardens.com/gardening/category/blog/bees-2/>.
This source gives information on colony collapse disorder and how its effect on the high country eco system and plants. It also has a lot of information about bumble bees and their habitats. The majority of this article is telling what plants you can put in your garden to attract both types of bees. Some of the perennial flowers that were suggested for honey bees are Asters, Bee Balm, Ironweed and Ornamental Oregano. All of these flowers will require relatively low maintenance and will come back year after year.
This source will help me decide what plants will be best in my garden. I am looking for perennial plants that are not high maintenance, that are attractive to honey bees. I learned from this article that it is important to plant flowers that bloom at different times during the year from spring to fall so that the bees always have flowers that they can pollinate. This gives me new insight into how I should plant the garden because I will next research plants that bloom at different times so that the bees will be able to pollinate throughout the summer.
- “By planting a succession of flowers to bloom from early spring to fall in our yards and near the vegetable garden, we help to build the honeybee population and keep them around for the whole growing season.”
- Without bees, many of the planet's important web-of-life food plants that feed animals and humans would not exist. Much needed attention has been focused on the plight of the honeybee and Colony Collapse Disorder. But there is also an urgent need to protect our bumble bees. Providing habitat-friendly gardens and landscapes are the most important thing gardeners can do to make a meaningful difference in helping to conserve and protect our native bumble bees and wild bee populations. By understanding their needs and planting to support them with food, we can help to undo what mankind has been inflicting on our wonderful insect friends.
- As a landscaper, I make perennials the focus of my plantings. Perennials come back from their roots year after year and often reseed themselves, thus minimizing the amount of replanting that needs to be done each year.
Salman, David. "Planting Nectar Rich Salvia to Attract Pollinators to the Garden." High
Country Gardens. Beautiful Plants for the Water Wise Garden, 14 Feb. 2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2015. <http://www.waterwisegardening.com>.
For the majority of the article, it talks about different types of Salvia (sage), which are native to the high country and require minimal maintenance. Salvia is also a good plant to put in your garden so that the deer do not eat the plants because deer dislike it. Later in the article it gets into different types Tomāto, more commonly referred to as hummingbird mint or hyssop. This plant is very hardy and would be great in a garden for bees to pollinate. They come in two different types, the blue ones which are more water resistance and then the orange pink and red ones which require more maintenance. The article then talks about plants that are resistant to deer. Throughout the rest of the article, it lists more plants that are good for high country gardens, they include lavender, echinacea and Zinnia grandiflora.
This website provided different information than my last, it is similar because they are both websites that have gardening tips. The last website listed a vast number of plants that would be good to plant in a high country garden and will attract bees, whereas this website does not have as many plants listed but it goes into detail about each plant. After looking at the different plants on this website, I am certain that we should have one or more types of salvia in our garden because they are native, dont require much maintenance, bees like them and deer will not eat them.
- “Salvia Raspberry Delight – a High Country Gardens Introduction that has proven to be one of the most cold hardy once established. Blooms all summer long with fabulous raspberry-red flowers. Fabulously aromatic foliage too.”
- “Martagon Lily Russian Morning is a cold hardy spring planted bulb that will work as a perennial.”
Spivak, Marla. "Why Bees Are Disappearing." TED. N.p., June 2013. Web. 23 Apr.
2015. <http://www.ted.com/talks/marla_spivak_why_bees_are_disappearing?language=en#t-829757>.
This TED talk was on the disappearance of bees, why they are disappearing, What would happen if bees disappeared and some symbol solutions to bee decline. Marla Spivak starts off by talking about the different types of bees and how crucial they are to life as we know it, Then she goes into statistics about how bees numbers in the US have been cut in half since WWII. She had four main reasons for bee decline, the first was not using cover crops to help the soil on big farms, which the bees got a lot of their pollen from. The second reason is Varroa Mites that suck the blood of the bees. Monocultures are another big contributor to CCD, because the bees need variety in their food, and a lot of times the crops only bloom during one part of the year, so there is no food for the bees most of the year. The final big contributing factor is pesticides, pesticides which may not be in high enough concentration to kill the bees, but they can become disoriented and not be able to find their way back to the hive. The pesticides can also be brought back to the hive in pollen and fed to the larva, causing defects.
This source was by far the best one that I have found, It not only gives advice on what flowers to plant and how to stop CCD, it gives information on why it is happening in detail and gives a brief history on the disappearance of bees. I thought that it was very interesting that cover crops are such a big part of the bees diet, I had never heard of them before but it makes sense that if those were taken away there would be a rapid decline in bees.
- “Bees fly to the same plants, and they scrape these very sticky resigns off the leaves, take them back to the nest, where they cement them into the nest architecture where. Where we call it propolis- Propolis is a natural disinfectant.”
- “Since WWII, we have been systematically eliminated many of the flowers and plants that bees need for their survival.”