Forensics Introduction Notes

Instructor: Mark Fontenot mfontenot@hbsd.net

I can be found for extra help before school from about 8:00-8:25 am, after school until about 4:00 pm, during my prep period, and other times by appointment. Or drop me an email and I will soon reply. Don’t even look for me on Facebook, don’t tweet at me unless you are asking for birdseed. I encourage you to seek one-on-one help whenever you feel a little lost. It is something that most successful students do frequently. If you participate in class, and do the work and hand it in, you WILL PASS THIS CLASS.

Course overview Forensics is the study of crime scene evidence. It entails gathering evidence at the crime scene itself, and also analyzing this evidence in a laboratory environment. The evidence will then be used by the criminal justice system. Forensic scientists use chemistry, physics, geology and biology in the pursuit of justice, and you can expect to encounter topics from many scientific fields in this course.

Grading

The approximate breakdown of your grade in this course will be as follows: • Activities/Participation- 25% of overall grade • Homework and in-class participation and paperwork-25% of overall grade. • Tests and quizzes-50% of overall grade.

There will be a final exam given at the end of the semester that makes up a significant part of the test part of your grade. You can expect homework three nights a week. Small quizzes can be expected weekly. Larger unit tests will happen about twice a month, or whenever we finish the units outlined on the syllabus.

Materials: You will need the following materials with you when the bell rings to start class EVERY DAY:

• Notebook dedicated to this course alone, so that it can be handed-in (not containing stuff you need for other classes). Laptop ok too. • Pocket folder dedicated to this course alone, so you always know where your in-progress work is, and have a place to keep handed-back work for later reference. • Textbook (even though there will be days we won’t use it, you won’t know when those will be, so just bring it.) • A writing utensil of your very own.

Rules

The school rules are spelled-out in detail in your student handbook. My classroom rules are much simpler, but I do want to emphasize that it takes a constant effort on everyone’s part to maintain an environment where learning is possible for us all, and where much valuable time is not wasted.

• Be on time and prepared for this class. • Be respectful. • Messing around off-task in lab can be extremely dangerous, besides being a waste of time. IT WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. On the first instance of unsafe behavior in a chemistry lab environment, you will leave the lab and will not be given the opportunity to make-up for your missed experience. No second chances.

Late Work Policy: Simple. To receive full credit you must hand your work in when it is due. Work is accepted one day late, but will receive at most half credit. Later than one day, work will not be accepted unless you have had an excused absence. Basically, if you want credit for your work, then do it and hand it in on time.