This phenomenon is caused by the exaggerated portrayal of how crime scene investigation works, especially the type of information that can be gathered from evidence.
What is the CSI Effect?
100
As opposed to paint chips, which are an example of class evidence, fingerprints are considered to be an example of this type of characteristic.
What is an "individual" or "unique" characteristic?
100
This is a chemical compound, often sprayed onto an area where blood has been spilled, to make it glow and be more visible.
What is Luminol?
100
This is the protein that hair is made of, and it's the same stuff that your fingernails and toenails consist of.
What is keratin?
100
This is the time that has elapsed from death to discovery.
What is the Post-Mortem Interval, or PMI?
200
The French scientist Edmund Locard devised his ________ _________, which states that "with contact between two items, there will be a transfer of materials."
What is the Exchange Principle?
200
These are the three main types of fingerprint patterns.
What are arches, loops, and whorls?
200
If blood spatter is caused by a gunshot, and a bullet is recovered from the scene, this branch of the CSI team would test the bullet fragment and determine the type of gun fired at the scene.
What is the "ballistics" unit?
200
The physical appearance of your hair can be affected by these two factors.
What is intentional alteration (perms, highlights, etc.) or nutritional status/diet?
200
These insects are often the first to arrive at a fresh corpse, and their life cycles help determine how long the victim has been dead.
What is a blow fly?
300
Name three roles played by various members of a crime scene investigative unit. (Hint: we divided up your CSI teams into these separate duties on Day 2)
What is a photographer, sketch artist, witness interviewer, note taker, or evidence gatherer.
300
This type of fingerprint looks like a figure 8 pattern.
What is a double loop whorl?
300
These types of bloodstains are easily identified because they are thick, round drops with no tails.
What are passive bloodstains?
300
In order to test for DNA, the hair _____ must be present.
What is the root or base?
300
This word literally means "change," but it also refers to the life cycle of an organism that evolves from an egg, to a larva and then a pupa, before emerging as an adult fly.
What is "metamorphosis"?
400
Complete the following sentence: Police originally thought that Joe Smith did not act alone in the murder of Dr. Parker, but the man they thought was his ___________ was cleared of all charges because he proved that he was elsewhere when the crime happened, and thus he had a solid ________.
What is "Accomplice" and "alibi."
400
Cyanoacrylate is a method of revealing latent fingerprints, and is more commonly referred to as this.
What is the super glue fuming method?
400
This happens when a wet, bloody object touches another surface, leaving behind traces or streaks of blood.
What is a transfer or contact bloodstain?
400
Polyester and nylon are examples of this kind of fiber.
What is "synthetic" or man-made fibers?
400
Name three types of impression evidence.
What are shoe prints, tire tracks, tool marks, groove patterns on a fired bullet, or bite marks?
500
True or False? Identical twins do not share the same DNA, but their fingerprints are exactly the same.
False: they actually share the same DNA, but have different fingerprints.
500
This is the most rare kind of fingerprint you can have, which appears on only 5% of the population.
What is a tented arch?
500
These are tiny flecks of blood that surround a larger pool of blood; they often result when blood drips onto the same spot.
What are satellite spatters?
500
This layer of your hair is the most crucial in determining similarities between hair samples.
What is the cortex? Other layers include the outer shell, or cuticle, and the inner core, or medulla.
500
When examining shoe print evidence, these are some of the features that a good CSI Investigator would analyze.
What is the shoe brand, tread, wear patterns, defects or damage, and/or trace materials like soil, tar, rocks, or paint?