This month's newsletter topic is Forensics Technology. Forensics is about utilizing science to determine what happened in a particular event. This is usually in the case of crimes or other legal matters as popularized by the CSI: Crime Science Investigators series of television shows. This months Engineering Pathway activity provides a case study in using a murder investigation as a means of teaching scientific concepts. A number of activities like this may be found when searching the web and another is described in the engineering education research article, "Making engineering education fun," also found on the Engineering Pathway.

In this month's case study, "A Classic Case of Serial Murder: Forensics Meets Photonics," a newly appointed medical examiner uncovers an unusual trend in drowning cases, which she suspects may be the work of a serial murderer. To prove she's right, she needs to build a case based on spectroscopic evidence, relying on instrumentation designed and tested by a team of students from the local university. The evidence gathered and analyzed by the students leads to the arrest of a local man, and the students are called to present evidence at his trial. The case is designed for undergraduate courses but would also be useful for advanced high school students

This activity comes to you from the Engineering Pathway and the National Science Digital Library. The Engineering Pathway portal provides a means of searching high-quality teaching and learning resources in applied science and math, engineering, computer science/information technology and engineering technology — for use by K-12 and university educators. The Engineering Pathway brings together quality engineering education materials from all over the internet.