Resources

Teacher Resources

Disclaimer:

This page consists of a variety of suggested resources. These lists are not exhaustive; they are merely resources that we have had some degree of success with in the past. The Next Generation Forensic Science Initiative does not endorse any particular vendor, product, or author.

Professional Forensic Science Organizations

• American Academy of Forensic Science
  *AAFS has workshops for high school teachers each year.  If you go to the Meetings tab and then click on Forensic Science Education Conference, it will take you to a page that provides information about past and present conferences.
• International Association for Identification

General Forensic Science Equipment Vendors

• Evident
• Doje’s Forensics
• Lynn Peavey
• Tritech Forensics
• Arrowhead Forensics
• Sirchie

Specialized Forensic Science Equipment Vendors

Precision Forensic Testing is a company that sells educational and crime laboratory products that deal exclusively with the Firearm and Toolmark Identification discipline.

Edvotek and Bio-Rad are both companies that sell Forensic DNA laboratory equipment and laboratory experiments.

Recommended Textbooks and Laboratory Manuals

Forensic Science: The Basics is geared toward a high school audience. One of the co-authors is a high school teacher. This book has a corresponding laboratory manual, The Basics of Investigating Forensic Science: A Laboratory Manual , that can be purchased separately.

Forensic Science: An Introduction to Scientific and Investigative Techniques, Fourth Edition is more of a college level textbook, but it is an excellent resource for the teacher that would like more in-depth knowledge about forensic science. This book has a corresponding laboratory workbook that can be purchased separately.

Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science (12th Edition) is one of the first dedicated forensic science textbooks that has gone through numerous evolutions. This is book is suitable for a introductory high school class. This book has a corresponding laboratory manual that can be purchased separately.

Free Curricula

These are a series of introductory forensic science lesson plans that were developed for Exploring™ which is a Scout based initiative designed to teach life and career skills to youth. The topics include forensic DNA, bloodstain pattern analysis, crime scene investigation, fingerprints, and trace evidence. Each lesson plan contains multiple activities as well as supporting information, materials, and links. These lesson plans are appropriate for middle school and high school.

Free Publications

These publications contain timely and useful articles that can be reprinted and used to supplement instruction:

• The Forensic Teacher Magazine
  
• Forensic Magazine
• Evidence Technology Magazine

Useful Websites

Firearms ID is a website dedicated to all things related to Forensic Firearm Identification. It contains tutorials, quizzes, and a virtual classroom where you can monitor student progress. It’s most valuable feature is the VMC (virtual comparison microscope) that allows students to conduct fired bullet and cartridge case comparisons. As with other portions of this website, student performance on the VCM exercises can be monitored in the virtual classroom.