Mrs Smith's Science Classes

During our coronavirus shut down, we will start our studies with forensic anthropology.  A forensic anthropologist can assist in the identification of deceased individuals whose remains are decomposed, burned, mutilated or unrecognizable.  They are also instrumental in the investigation and documentation of genocide and mass graves. Forensic Anthroplogists also work with forensic pathologists, forensic dentists, and homicide investigators and testify in court as expert witnesses (wikipedia) . 

Written in Bone: Smithsonian Education

We will begin with learning the "bone-basics."  Watch both videos below and use "What Role do Anthroplogists Play in Solving Crimes" to answer questions on your worksheet, along with the pdf copy of the powerpoint "Bone Basics."

Video: Bone Readers: Introduction to Forensic Anthroplogy by Field Notes

Video: What Role do Anthropologist Play in Solving Crimes?

 Materials needed for this lesson:

• Instructions
  
• PowerPoint in pdf form
  
• Worksheet
  
• Diagram
  

You will recieve a hard copy of each in your packet on March 31st and you can also get copies on your google classroom. Complete the questions in the pdf powerpoint lesson, and on the worksheets.  Pass your completed work back to the school in two weeks.  You will recieve a message for drop off and pick up.  Stay safe and don't forget to stay in touch using gmail:)

Written In Bone

Kari Bruwelheide is a forensic anthropologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

Like the forensic anthropologists at the fictional "Jeffersonian Institute" on the series Bones, Kari helps law-enforcement agencies identify human skeletal remains and determine cause of death. The similarities end there, she says, but she finds her work more exciting than anything on TV, even the very cold cases—some as old as 10,000 years! She and her colleagues are currently solving mysteries from the days of the earliest English settlements in America. They continue to discover new ways to interpret evidence from bones and burials.

Kari received an M.A. in physical anthropology from the University of Nebraska in 1992 and began her career at the Smithsonian that year. She is co-curator of the popular exhibition Written in Bone: Forensic Files of the 17th-Century Chesapeake (http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/scientist/bruwelheide.html).

Written in Bone was a popular exhibit in the Museum for almost five years (February 7, 2009 to January 6, 2014),  We will be using this website to complete the next lesson on forensic anthropology.  Written In Bone is a webcomic that depicts 17th-century bone biographies, including those of colonists teetering on the edge of survival at Jamestown, Virginia,

Maryland colonists living in the wealthy and well-established settlement of St. Mary’s City, farmers located in Leavy Neck in Anne Arundel County, and African slaves and European immigrants living in other locations in the Chesapeake Bay area. Scientists affiliated with these projects worked with Smithsonian anthropologists in the development of the original exhibit and this website.

Instructions:

1. Open this link:  Written In Bone - The Secret in the Cellar

*Instructions continued below



 naturalhistory.si.edu

 2. There are three parts (37 pages) to the webcomic.  Take your time.  Read the comic pages and click on the links provided on the page (almost every page has at least one added link).

 3. Use these pages to answer the worksheet questions.  The questions go in order of the comic pages.

Webcomic Worksheet - The Secret in the Cellar - Part One

Click here for a text version of this webcomic if you need it.

Webcomic Worksheet - The Secret in the Cellar- Part Two

Short cut to: The Secret in the Cellar - Part Two

Webomic Worksheet - The Sceret in the Cellar - Part Three

Short cut to: The Secret in the Cellar - Part Three