TRACE EVIDENCE

Show Explorers the following video: “How to Collect Hair & Fiber Evidence at a Crime Scene” (National Forensic Academy)—www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfWsgS0ID-s. Then have Explorers follow this procedure:

• Using an 8½-by-11-inch piece of white paper, make a druggist fold.
• Using a pair of forceps, collect and package hairs or fibers.
• Properly seal the druggist fold with evidence tape or any other type of tape available.

Have each Explorer do the following:

• Take the shirt he or she has worn but not laundered out of the bag and lay the shirt front side up on a clean table.
• Cut a 6-inch piece of clear packing tape, and repeatedly press it onto the front and back of the right sleeve until the entire surface of the sleeve has been in contact with the adhesive side of the tape.
• Lay the tape, adhesive side down, onto the piece of acetate and label it “right sleeve.”
• Repeat the procedure separately for the left sleeve, for the front of the shirt, and for the back of the shirt, laying each piece of packing tape onto the acetate and labeling accordingly.

Have each Explorer do the following:

• Take the piece of acetate made in Activity 2 and cut it into strips along the edges of tape lifts so that there are four strips (right sleeve, left sleeve, front, and back).
• Using a stereoscope or hand lens, carefully examine the material adhering to the tape lift. DO NOT SEPARATE THE TAPE FROM THE ACETATE.
• Circle and number each piece or cluster of trace evidence as you discover it.
• Document your findings on the Trace Evidence activity sheet.

Show one or more of the Forensic Files episodes listed under “Videos” to the Explorers and discuss how collection and examination of trace evidence helped in the investigation.

• If possible, arrange for a visit to a local, county, or state crime laboratory with an emphasis on the trace evidence section.
• Have Explorers research the Wayne Williams case.