The ‘Getting Ready’ list below gives you resources and activities you can do to get ready for when your course starts at College in September. We have picked resources and activities you can access online and we have some suggestions of other resources in the ‘Going Further’ section too.
To be a successful Forensic Scientist, you really need to have a good underpinning knowledge of Biology, Chemistry and Physics!
In Biology, it is very important to know all about the workings of the Cell, and how we use for example microscopes to observe the different organelles contained in them each carrying out unique roles in order to bring about sustainable life. Have a go at these cell exploration activities, all about animal and plant cells!
Chemistry plays an important and central role to all of our lives and in so many ways. Chemistry underpins the other sciences as it concerns itself with atoms from which everything is composed, and the almost infinite and diverse number of reactions different elements and molecules can undergo. Try watching The Magic of Chemistry video and visit this interactive periodic table! Also you can try this at home, ice cream in a bag in five minutes – an ideal activity when the weather is hot!
In Physics, it is important to know about the electromagnetic spectrum and waves so we can learn how to use them in say communication systems, and the probing and curing of certain disease states like cancer. Have a look at this website – there are links to lots of the topics that you will be studying in September, including videos. As revision, have a go at the questions on this website and then check your answers by ‘reveal answer’.
Anatomy (structure) and physiology (function) is another common area of study, to help prepare you for this topic you need to understand the structure and function of the human body. Have a look at this website, pick two body systems and have a go at the quizzes!
You could also try some chemistry-based quizzes!
To prepare for the academic requirements of the courses, review and read about academic referencing, as it is important to acknowledge the people that originally did the work! We use the Cite Them Right (CTR) Harvard referencing style.
For some fun practical-based activities that are related to topics that we study in second year (human decomposition and mummification and forensic archaeology), have a look at the links and have a go at them!
