Criminal Evidence (2 Parts)

Dr. Kathy Reichs has an unusual job—she's a forensic anthropologist. What's even more unusual is that she moonlights as a successful author. The heroine of Dr. Reich's novels is also a forensic pathologist. Dr. Reich's work in helping police and authorities around the world identify bodies informs her alter ego's cases and plot lines. As one of the world's leading forensic pathologists. Dr. Reich travels the world and solves cases as diverse as the gangland slaying of a nightclub bouncer to identifying the remains of genocide victims buries in mass graves. This episode of INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS examines the unusual life and careers of Kathy Reich. Criminal Evidence would be useful for classes on Law and Justice, Science and Technology and Literature. It is appropriate for middle school, high school and college.

OBJECTIVES:
Students will learn and explore the ways in which forensic science is used to identify bodies and to solve criminal investigations. They will analyze the role of scientific inquiry as well as the "human" factor of experience and intuition in the process of forensic identification.

• adipose
• apropos
• atrocity
• cadaver
• centrifuge
• closure
• complicity
• equilibrium
• eradicate
• exhume
• expertise
• genocide
• inter
• jargon
• orensic
• sanitize

1. Dr. Kathy Reichs is a forensic anthropologist. What is a forensic anthropologist? What does her job entail?

2. Temperance Brennan is Kathy Reich's alter ego. What is an alter ego?

3. "Dead men tell no tales." How does the work of Kathy Reichs disprove this old saying?

4. Discuss the differences between fiction writing and scientific writing. How are they aimed at different audiences?

5. Kathy Reichs is a "bone detective." Explain

6. How did Kathy Reichs become a forensic anthropologist?

7. The first steps in identifying a body is to determine the age and sex of the person. How is this done?

8. Discuss the process used to recreate faces from skull remains.

9. Kathy Reichs uses her expertise to help identify the victims of mass graves. What special challenges do mass graves pose?

10. What skills are necessary to successfully identify the victims of mass graves?

11. Bones are storytellers. How do bones tell the story of how a person died?

12. Discuss the role of forensic anthropology in military identifications. How do forensic anthropologists help return lost soldiers to their families?

13. Discuss the importance of teeth and dental records in identifying bodies.

14. What is a forensic entomologist?

15. How do criminal labs identify bullets? How does bullet identification assist in solving crimes?

16. The body farm helps forensic anthropologists with the scientific study of body decomposition. What is the body farm. Why and when was it created?

17. How do forensic anthropologists determine the time of a person's death?

1. Create a poster illustrating the process of identifying a body.

2. Imagine that you are an author and a forensic anthropologist like Dr. Kathy Reichs. Write a short story with a forensic anthropologist as its main character.

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Air Dates

• August 12, 2004
• August 13, 2004