Product Description

On April 25, 2003, The Federal Bureau of Investigation officially opened it’s new Laboratory Division Facility. This state-of-the-art facility is the most sophisticated forensic laboratory in the world. It is where the art and science of criminology join forces to solve some of the nation’s most perplexing crimes, from local homicides to terrorist attacks such as those which occurred on September 11, 2001. This edition of Modern Marvels takes you inside these new facilities to demonstrate some of the advanced technologies and techniques scientists, criminologists and agents perform here. It provides insight to the history of the Bureau’s forensic activities as well as a fascinating look at modern forensics. FBI’s Crime Lab would be useful for classes on American History, Criminal Justice, Law and Justice and Science. It is appropriate for middle school and high school.

OBJECTIVES

Students will explore the FBI’s forensic facilities to understand the role of science and technology in criminal investigations as well as criminology. They will learn about the Bureau’s history of forensics as well as its modern application in a post 9/11 nation.

NATIONAL HISTORY STANDARDS

FBI’s Crime Lab fulfills the following National Standards for History for grades 5-12: chronological thinking and historical comprehension for United States History eras 8, 9 and 10.

Vocabulary

• absentia
• contaminate
• espionage
• inhibit
• misnomer
• sabotage
• striation
• tenacity
• vanguard

Discussion Questions

1. At the FBI’s Crime Lab, forensic scientists help the Bureau to solve crimes. What is a forensic scientist? Are there different types? What do they do?

2. Workers at the Crime Lab refer to it as “Battle Star Gallactica.” Why?

3. The Crime Lab building is designed to preserve the “integrity of evidence.” What does this mean? How does the design of the building accomplish this?

4. Forensic science is more than a science and more than art. Discuss how it is both an art and a science.

5. What are some of the types or forms of analysis performed at the Crime Lab?

6. What makes this lab unique?

7. The Crime Lab is the most sophisticated crime laboratory in the world. What are the origins of this lab?

8. Discuss the role of Agent Charles Appel in developing FBI forensic science.

9. The FBI Crime Lab uses serology to solve some crime cases. What is serology? How is it used to solve crimes?

10. How do scientists of the firearms unit determine if a bullet came from a particular firearm?

11. Agents consider homemade bombs especially dangerous. Why?

12. What are latent fingerprints?

13. Discuss how DNA is the fingerprint of the 21st century.

14. There are two different types of DNA, nuclear and mitochondrial. What is the difference between these two types?

15. How did the events of September 11, 2001 change the mission and methods of the FBI?

Extended Activities

1. Design your own crime lab. Research forensics on the Internet and use your information to design your own lab.

2. Create a poster illustrating the different methods forensic scientists use.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27382 in DVD
• Brand: A&E
• Released on: 2006-03-28
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 50 minutes

Features

• Its beginnings can be traced to a disused lounge in 1932. But as forensic science took on an increasingly important role in crimefighting, the FBI devoted more and more resources to it. Today, the FBI CRIME LAB is housed in a brand-new, $150 million facility on their Quantico campus. From the humble origins to the top floor of the new building, MODERN MARVELS® traces the history of the FBI

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Customer Reviews

Boring
"The FBI Crime Lab" provided little specifics on how its equipment worked, and was slow-moving and boring.

The DVD began describing its new facility (4X the size of former space) in Quantico, VA., costing $150 million, using nearly 700 employees, and taking in about 600 pieces of evidence/day. The FBI started forensics services in 1932.

Viewers then receive a brief overview of the lab's various units: Firearms and Tool Marks, Explosives Unit, Latent Print Unit (utilizes 80 different processes for finding and examining prints), DNA Unit (both nuclear (2 copies/cell) and mitochondrial (many more copies/cell), Chemistry and Trace Evidence Unit (eg. hairs, fibers, etc.), and its Hazardous Scene Response Units (protective suits, robots).

Interesting history, not good for school
I really liked this DVD. I thought it was very interesting to learn about the history of the FBI crime lab. The DVD goes though several different units within the FBI crime lab, including ballistics, trace, and DNA. I bought it to show in my forensics classroom, but the students were not impressed with it. I guess it's for an older age group.

History Channel
History Channel brings very informative subjects to our livingrooms.We need more of this and less T.V. We sat with rapt attention looking at this movie.I felt it was very worthwhile in money and time !