Senior Project Reflection

PART I: Two-Hour Presentation
(1) Two-Hour Presentation Student Assessment

AP

Why?

I felt like I spoke too fast and didn't explain the other jobs in CSI in a little more detail. I didn't make enough eye contact either and I think I was not loud enough. I did like my powerpoint though, I worked on it for 7 hours.


(2) What are you most proud of in your 2 hour presentation and why?

I liked my sponge activity because everyone was interacting with one another and I felt that everyone had fun doing it.



PART II: Overall Senior Project Experience

(3) What do you think you did well on in the project? What could you have done better? Please explain.


I think I did well on my Creative Expression. I could have done my I- Search better because I had some weird sentence structures and I word things that are sometimes not understandable.

(4) What is your EQ and what is the best answer to your EQ? 

My EQ is "What is the most important facet of a crime scene investigation?" My best answer is Forensic Anthropology.

(5) How has the last month of culminating events (e.g I-Search, Two-Hour, Exit etc) affected your answer to your EQ? Has it changed? Why or why not? 


It has affected my answer by searching about it even more because I wanted to be as detailed as possible for the Exit interview and my presentation. My answer didn't change because I still feel that anthropology my other 2 answers in a way.

(6) What suggestions do you have in order to improve the senior project?

A lot of the projects were mushed together and it made it harder to focus on them all. Try to separate them a little more. Creative Expression was a good component but should probably be done a little earlier.

(7) Overall Senior Project Assessment

P

Why? 

I worked hard on my projects and I completed the components. I didn't go for the E but I didn't not try my best during the 9 months we had for the Senior Project. Even if I didn't get the best of grades for all the components, I did work hard to try to get P's, even if I didn't get them.

Service Learning

LIA Response:

Literal
• Log of specific hours with a total and a description of your duties:

• Mon. Dec. 20- 5 hrs.
• Wed. Jan. 05- 3 hrs.
• Mon. Jan. 10- 3 hrs.
• Tues. Jan. 18- 3 hrs.
• Mon. Jan. 24- 3 hrs.
• Mon. Jan. 31- 3 hrs.
• Mon. Feb. 07- 3 hrs.
• Mon. Feb. 14- 3 hrs.
• Mon. Feb. 21- 3 hrs.
• Mon. Feb. 28- 3 hrs.
• Mon. Mar. 07- 3 hrs.
• Mon. Mar. 14- 3 hrs.
• Mon. Mar. 21- 3 hrs.
• Mon. Mar. 28- 3 hrs.
• Mon. Aprl. 04- 3 hrs
• Wed. Aprl. 06- 3 hrs.
• Mon. Aprl. 11- 3 hrs.
• Mon. Aprl. 18- 3 hrs.
• Mon. Aprl. 25- 3 hrs.
• Mon. May 2- 3 hrs.
• Mon. May 11- 3 hrs.

Total: 65 hrs.

Duties:
Sheri showed me how to analyze fingerprints and went to the lab to help find fingerprints on evidence. I could not go on crime scenes though. Tony Nguyen, who works with Sheri taught me about crime scene photographs and taught me about the different types of shots to take.

• Contact Name: Sheri Orellana

   Number: (909) 620- 3726

Interpretive:
What I gained from this experience is how to be able to process something, like evidence carefully because Sheri taught me how to handle evidence to make sure the fingerprints are not smeared and that the package is sealed correctly. I always had to wear gloves when I handled a piece of evidence so my fingerprints would not get on them. This helped me understand how important it is to handle items because even if they are not important, it is still a process that must be done in order to do a job correctly.

Applied:
This helped me answer my EQ because I learned how important the jobs in CSI are. A photographer has to be attentive in a crime scene to make sure they don't miss anything, as taught by Sheri Orellana, Tony Nguyen, and Adam MacDonald. The sketcher has to be able to take measurements of the crime scene as accurately draw it to be able to make it digital when they arrive at their office. I went with Sheri to after- crime scene to take measurements because no one took measurements of it. A person has to be able to do their job because it is essential to CSI, the court and anyone else who needs their help.

2 hour Presentation Rough Draft

(1) What is your sponge activity?

1. mock crime scene.

2. Break students up into 7 teams and give them different jobs to work in the crime scene with. Give a camera to a group to take pictures of the evidence and crime scene to see if they know what to take pictures of and if it’s at a good angle. Give notebooks to people to sketch out the crime scene. Have people retrieve the evidence found. Make them work together to see what comes first: photography and sketching, and then picking up the evidence after I confirm it. 

3. It relates to my topic because I will be teaching the students the different positions within CSI and how important they are.

(2) What do you plan to do and say in the introduction?

Introduce my topic, CSI and myself, tell students my EQ: what is the most important facet of a crime crime scene investigation?, and tell them what it means, give students my plan: definition of CSI, what they do, the jobs that are within CSI, answer1, activity1, answer 2, activity 2, answer 3, activity 3, best answer, three meaningful sources, product, and conclusion.

(3) What do you plan to say in your foundation?

I will talk about what CSI stands for and tell the students some of the different jobs incorporated with CSI. I will also tell them why they are important to CSI and how some of them work with each other.

(4) What will your 2 or 3 answers be for your 2 hour?

my three answers are anthropology, psychology, and photography

(5) What activities will you do for each answer and why?

anthropology:  I will have buckets filled with dirt and inside there will be different kinds of “evidence”. I will break people into groups and they will have to dig through the buckets to find and ID the evidence. I will have a screen for the students to put the evidence in. it gives the students a “ hands- on” experience of what an anthropologist does to find the necessary evidence at a crime scene.

psychology:  I will give a scenario to the students of someone who is a suspect of a crime. The students will have to read it and come up with possible reasons the person might have committed the crime presented on the profile by looking at their background and relationships. the students will have an idea of what psychologists look at to be able to find possible reasons of a suspect’s actions.  

photography:

I will give the groups photos containing a crime scene and I will have them examine the photo. They will have to tell me whether the photo is at a good angle, if all the evidence appears on the photo, and whether the lighting is good. If a photo isn’t good, they will give suggestions of what could be improved. the students learn the importance of a photographer and how difficult it may be to get everything in a photo from a crime scene and if it possible at all to get a good photograph.

(6) How do you plan to conclude your 2 hour?

I plan to tell the students:

1. my best answer: anthropology because it requires figuring out whose body was found and possibly, their age, race and time of death/ decomposition time. It helps other jobs and other jobs help it in return.

2. my 3 meaningful sources and justifications: 1) My service learning person Sheri Orellana because while I was with her, she taught me the processes of doing her job, CSI, and she showed me real cases she worked with her reports which helped me understand what she has to do every time she's working on a case, 2) the book Forensics by Edward R. Ricciuti because it introduces me to different jobs and also gave me detailed information on them and what other jobs are incorporated within the bigger, more well- known jobs, and 3) my 1st independent component, which was watching shows about criminals and taking notes because they showed a criminal's life and how people came up with the conclusions of a murder by doing their jobs: psychology, anthropology, pathology. etc.

3. my product: learning to do my normal activities in life and when i get one, my job more carefully and thoroughly because if I miss something or ruin what i am working on, I could disrupt the entire process of my work, or disrupt other people's work.

4. my conclusion: restate my EQ: what is the most important facet of a crime scene investigation?, my 3 answers and activities and why I had them do them, and my best answer. I will thank them for being in my presentation and taking part in it.
(7) How do you plan to decorate the room?

I plan to make the room look like a crime scene with yellow tape around the room and objects out of place as if a robbery and murder took place.

(8) What supplies/resources will you need to make your 2 hour possible?

 for my activities, I will need:

Activity 1: bucket, chicken bones, inanimate objects like small rubber balls, wooden shapes, small animal toys, gloves, screen 

Activity 2: sheets of papers with a scenario of a person’s profile.

Activity 3: different photographed angles of a crime scene

Independent Study 2

Content:

I watched 22 hours and 20 minutes of television shows on the Investigation Discovery Channel, watched two videos, and went to part of a trial.

1. Log:

4-25-11

·      6PM- Disappeared: Into the Woods

·      7PM- Disappeared: Game Over

·      8PM- Stalked: Someone’s Watching: Dangerous Games

·      9PM- Stalked: Someone’s Watching: Teenage Obsession

4-26-11

·      6PM- Cuff Me if You Can: Hooker on the Run

·      7PM- I (Almost Got Away With It): Got a Bad Temper

·      8-11:20PM- The New Detectives

4-27-11

·      1-4 PM- Trial (started at 8:30AM)

·      5PM- Dateline on ID: Mystery in Rock Hill Pt. 1

·      6PM- Dateline on ID: Mystery in Rock Hill Pt. 2

·      7PM- Cold Blood: Rotten to the Core

·      11PM- 48 Hours on ID: Killer Next Door

4-28-11

·      1PM- Dateline on ID: Death of a Heartsong

·      2PM- 48 Hours on ID: End of a Dream

·      3PM- 48 Hours on ID: Ghosts of Mississippi

·      5PM- 48 Hours on ID: Justice in the Heartland

·      6PM- 48 Hours on ID: Who Killed the Beauty Queen?

·      7PM- True Crime With Aphrodite Jones: Twist of Faith

2. Posted Evidence:

Trial (April 27 @ 1-4 PM):

I wasn’t there for the beginning because the trial started at 8:30 AM and it had been going on for a week.

·      Murder

·      Man shot with 9mm bullet

·      7 bullets were fired

·      Bullet and bullet fragments found in a car

·      Man found under street light

 Website with the shows' schedule: http://investigation.discovery.com/tv-schedules/daily.html?date=20110425.115

Notes from Cuff Me if You Can: Hooker on the Run (April 26 @ 6PM)-

·      Desiree assisted in a kidnapping

·      Boy got killed

·      Ran away to Mexico for 2 years and learned the language

·      Made money by sleeping with men

·      Men recognized her but not as Desiree but as Esperanza

·      2 men called the police and they recognized her because of her tattoo on her right leg.

Notes from Dateline on ID- Death of a Heartsong (April 28 @ 1PM)-

·      A man was charged for killing his wife

·      In 2006, blood and DNA evidence was found under the wife’s thumbnail that belonged to Bob, the man.

·      A knife was also found, it was Bob’s favorite Tofu knife

·      Before the murder, Bob wanted a divorce

·      Later, evidence was found that Bob didn’t kill his wife and it’s still unknown

Some of the notes I took while watching ID Channel shows

3. LIA:

Literal:

a)    “I, Daisy Barrera, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”

b)   I completed 30 hours of taking notes on television shows about people who had committed different types of crimes and the process it took to come to a conclusion as to whether a person had committed the crime or not. Some of the cases ended with the suspect not being guilty.

Interpretive:

These shows helped me because they were all different: 48 Hours, Cuff Me if you Can, and Dateline on ID. They showed different points of view: of the criminal, which was on Cuff Me if You Can, and of the victims, witnesses, and attorney, 48 Hours and Dateline on ID. They gave information of who was at the crime scene and what evidence was there. They talked about the DNA and blood found and who it was linked to, but whether any mistakes were made in the process. This helped me because it shows that if something is missed at a crime scene, like in Mystery in Rock Hill Part 1, where a purse found at the crime scene was never tested for evidence and no fingerprints were tested either. It helps me understand that sometimes professionals make mistakes that hurt the case and the people, that’s why the jobs need to be careful and what is evidence and what isn’t. It also helped me because they gave reasons as to why whoever committed a crime did it. For example, in Mystery in Rock Hill Part 1, it explained that Billy, the suspect, had a bad family life because he was once accused for not taking care of his daughters, his house was a mess that his daughters were taken away, and when he did buy a better house, the neighborhood was bad.

Applied:

This helped me answer my EQ because it helped me get an idea of what could be going on in a person’s minds if they committed a murder. Also, it helps me be careful when paying attention to items that could be important evidence, but sometimes is not paid attention to. The people who testified in the trial I went to had every piece of evidence marked with placards and had photographs taken. I heard from the detective who was testifying say that the body found at the crime scene was moved after a coroner approved it and that after it was moved, another piece of evidence was found. A photograph was taken of the evidence, another 9mm bullet. Every piece of evidence was photographed because it was used in court.

Creative Expression Idea

Daisy Barrera
Crime Scene Investigation
What is the CSI position most important to prosecuting a criminal?


I was thinking of taking a panorama photo of a "crime scene" and getting people to act out different job positions. I will have them positioned to make it seem like they are in a real crime scene doing their jobs. I want to have about 5-8 people in the photograph because it would show a good amount of jobs available in CSI that can be shown in a crime scene, unlike the people working in a lab, which would be difficult to show in the same photo.

This would relate to my essential question because in the panorama I will show the CSI with different expressions in their faces to show how serious and important these different jobs are. Their expression might be strong, determined (criminalists) or thoughful (photographer) and cautious (toxicologist). this shows how dedicated each person is at their work and how important their roles play to prosecuting someone.

Fourth Interview Question Approval

1.  in your opinion, what is most important to successfully prosecute a criminal?

2. do you think that there is one particular method to get someone prosecuted? if no, what other ways do you think it could be done?

3. when working in cases, how long does it take to get enough evidence for a person to be arrested? why?

4. have there been cases where someone is innocent of a crime but are found guilty? is so,  why is that?

5. if a person is found guilty but they are actually not, what do you, as CSI, do? (try to find evidence to prove them guilty or nothing?)

6. what are some of the things CSI does when they are in a crime scene?

7. what do you you think could be the reason it takes so long to solve a case?

8. what are some of the step taken when prosecuting a criminal?

9. in you opinion, what is the most important step in beginning a case?

10. what do you think could be a faster way to prosecute someone?

11. how long does it take to prosecute a criminal? why?

12. because there are so many crimes, are prosecutions rushed? if so, is it an advantage or disadvantage to you CSI?

13. what do you do if a case takes too long to solve? do you continue and look for more evidence or drop it?

14. how do you, CSI, prepare when entering/ starting a case?

15. what are the common reasons, if any, that a prosecution goes wrong? (i.e. bad evidence, too little evidence)

16.  how is it determined if a person is to be prosecuted or not?

17. can a prosecution ever be canceled? how does it affect you, CSI?

18. what are some of the risks you take to make sure a person gets prosecuted?

19. what are some good ways to ensure that a prosecution will run correctly?

20. what does CSI do during prosecution? (keep working on the case or move on to the next one?)

Independent Study 2 Approval

1) I plan on going to trial since my service learning person told me she sometimes attends them because she needs to be there.  She could maybe help me set up dates when I can go. I would take notes on the purpose of the trials, and the process the criminal goes though and what kinds of things are done at the trial.
2) this relates to my essential question because there will probably be evidence shown from the crime scenes and the people there will help bring a criminal to justice by doing their job.

Independent Study 1

Content:

1. Log:
I watched T.V shows on the Investigation Channel. I watched the shows: 48 Hours in ID, Deadly Women, and Nightmare Next Door.
From February 1st to February 10th I watched a total of 38 hours.
Feb. 1: 48 Hours on ID- from 2-4PM
Feb. 2: 48 Hours on ID- from 2-8PM
Feb. 3: 48 Hours on ID- from 2-4PM, Deadly Women- from 5-7PM, Nightmare Next Door- 7PM

Feb. 4: 48 Hours on ID- from 2-4PM
Feb. 5: 48 Hours on ID- from 9-11AM, Nightmare Next Door- 2PM
Feb. 6: Deadly Women- from 10AM-5PM &7PM
Feb. 7: 48 Hours on ID- from 2-4PM
Feb.8 : 48 Hours on ID- from 2-4PM
Feb. 9: 48 Hours Hard Evidence- from 2-5PM
Feb. 10: 48 Hours on ID- from 2-4PM, Deadly Women-from 5-6PM, Nightmare Next Door- 7PM

2. Posted Evidence: Website with schedule: http://investigation.discovery.com/tv-schedules/daily.html?date=20110201.032
Notes from Wednesday, February 9: The Secret:
-Theresa Parker
- Went missing on a Thursday, March 2007
-Suspect: her ex-husband
weapon used-?
-There was no crime scene
-Found blood stains in the back of her car and had it analyzed; it was Theresa's and also found her husband's DNA.
-body found 3 years later
           -skeletal remains

3. Complete the LIA:
Literal

(a) I, Daisy Barrera, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
(b) I completed 30 hours of taking notes on the processes of finding evidence of murders at crime scenes by detectives, forensic scientists, psychologists, pathologists.

Interpretive
These different shows helped me because it showed me different jobs working together to accomplish in finding people that have committed crime. It demostrates 30 hours of work because I Took notes in what the detectives did in order to figure out who committed the crime, how psychologists pieced together the reasons why the crimes were committed, and how the forensics team found specific pieces of evidence that helped detectives determine who the criminals were. These shows gave me Knowledge on what these jobs do and how they work in putting criminals to justice in their own way.

Applied

It is helping me answer my essential question, "What crime scene investigation position is most important to prosecuting a criminal?"  because the shows gave me a variety of jobs associated with crime scenes and it helps me see what they do to help in a case and which jobs, in my opinion, is the most helpful. For example, in "Deadly Women," psychologists give specific reason for these womens' intent to kill.

20 Minute Presentation Rough Draft

1. I will start by presenting my senior project and my essential question: what crime scene invstigation position is most important to prosecuting a criminal? I will explain some of the jobs that are obvious to working with CSI. like forensic science, photographers, and the works of a detective. I will also explain what kind of people are present in at a crime scene and what they do. (5-7 minutes)

2. I will do an activity. I need help figuring out what I could do. probably figuring out if a stain is a blood stain (forensic science). and maybe another activity that could be trying to identify a fingerprint. (5-7 minutes)

3. I will close up with a conclusion of the jobs that I explained earlier and a summary of what I taught. (3 minutes)

ESLR Check

1. Summary of how you've been an effective learner this year.

I have been an effective learner by trying to complete my assignments, and if I can't I at least turn them in late if I stall can. I also help others when they need help. Also, I try to give off creative ideas to group members when working in groups like in Purther's projects.


2. Cite evidence from the senior project (be specific and use examples)

 I show up to my SL when I say I will be there, I am already thinking on the different activities I will do for my senior project and what I'm going to talk about, and make sure I have more than enough to talk about in case I need more time.





3. What are specific ways that you can improve in this ESLR during second semester?

during second semester, I want to be able to not procrastinate anymore and to ask for help when I need it so i can get good grades.

Ten Hour SL Check

• I am doing my service learning at the Pomona Police Department with someone who works in the CSI department.
• I have completed 11 hours of service learning
• I have been examining how to identify fingerprints, different kinds of weapons, and different things done at crime scenes. I have learned how to identify fingerprints by the loops, whirls and pores found on the prints. I have also learned that someone in a crime scene needs to draw the crime scene and take pictures from different angles without disrupting the evidence.

Interview 3 Question Approval

EQ: what crime scene invstigation position is most important to prosecuting a criminal?

1. out of the various CSI positions, which do you think is the most important and why?

2. why do you think that when people think CSI, they associate it with a detective most of the time?

3. how do you distinguish between your job and a detective's job?

4. how has technology affected your job either negatively or positively?

5. which position, in your opinion, is more challenging and why?

6. can crime scene investigators be in trials? For what reasons?

7. in which position do you think most people choose to be in? why?

8. what are some of the less known jobs in CSI?

9. what is the average work schedule you (CSI) have?

10. how many people, and who, are required to be in a crime scene.