Guilty or Innocent
Guilty or Innocent
Guilty or Innocent
Goals:
1. To simulate how DNA profiling can be used to
Universal Product Label
provide evidence related to a crime.
2. To draw conclusions about which suspect was present at the crime scene
based on the comparison of the patterns of bands on bar codes.
Procedure:
1. What I Know: Write two sentences about what you already know about
DNA profiling.
On the night of May 14th, Bob Smith of 1253 Park Avenue was found unconscious
behind a large boulder in New York’s Central Park. Police believe that the badly wounded
Smith was the victim of an assault and robbery.
According to Mr. Smith, a champion bodybuilder and personal trainer, he was attacked
by a tall man as he took a shortcut to his home through Central Park. His attacker pulled a
knife and demanded that Smith turn over his jewelry and wallet. Mr. Smith responded by
punching the man in the nose, which bled heavily as a result.
A brawl ensued in which Smith was badly wounded by his knife-wielding assailant.
Several suspects are now in police custody, but because the attack took place in a dimly lit
area of the park Mr. Smith has been unable to identify his attacker.
Police at the crime scene collected blood samples from the walkway, the grass nearby,
and from Mr. Smith’s clothes. The police hope that DNA testing of the blood will reveal the
perpetrator’s identity and lead to an arrest.
3. Examine the 21 suspects’ DNA patterns (Universal Product Code “UPC”
labels on the SUSPECT CARD (handout).
4. Cut out the DNA Evidence pattern (on the last page of this packet) along
the dotted lines. It is the “DNA” fingerprint of the strands of hair found on
the windowsill at the scene of the crime.
5. Compare the DNA Evidence pattern with the 21 suspects’ DNA patterns
found on the SUSPECT CARD to find a possible match.
6. What I Observed: For this section write down the letter of the suspect that
matches with the DNA evidence pattern. If available, glue the matching
suspect DNA in the space provided.
Letter _________
9. What I Wonder: Pose a question that you may have concerning DNA
fingerprinting
10. Claim and Evidence Writing Prompts: Use the following prompts to help
you construct your lab conclusion, What I Learned.
Goal: State the goal of this lesson.
The goal of this lesson is…
Claim: What did you learn from the activity that satisfies the goal of
this lesson? This is an I Learned statement.
I learned that…
Evidence: How can you prove from your observations that you
learned what you claim? This can be a general statement that you
will explain in detail in your explanation.
I know this because….
Explanation: Use specific data from your observations to support
your claim and describe the evidence. Use details to support
your claim.
Concluding Statement: Reword the goal and either add
information you learned about the topic from your text book, class
discussions, and/ or personal research OR you can extend the
statement by adding a relevant question.
11. What I Learned: Write at least a one paragraph summary of what you
learned from completing this activity. Use the Claims and Evidence Writing
Prompts to help you compose your summary.