E X T R AC T Y S T R AW B E R R DNA
Craft a climbing cat burglar
soTlhe science ofes ving mysteri Crack the case of the missing cookies!
Make a fake treasure map
ISSN 2399 -2840
THE AWESOME SCIENCE MAGAZINE FOR KIDS!
Take yo famil ur y´s finge rprin ts
Whose shoes made these? WHIZZPOPBANG.COM ISSUE 92
EXPERIMENTS PUZZLES AMAZING FACTS SCIENCE NEWS
TRACKING THE TRACES
Forensic scientists, who find and study clues to help solve crimes, have a saying: every contact leaves a trace! That means that whoever took the cookies will have left traces behind – such as fingerprints, footprints or hair. All our detectives have to do is find the clues and use forensic science to solve the crime!
na An By
STE P 1: CRI ME SCENE HQ
C
la yb ou rne
Oh no! Emmi and Riley wanted a snack from the cookie jar. Riley baked a fresh batch this morning, so there were plenty in there, BUT…
WHAT????
First, let’s set up an evidence wall of photos, maps and everything we know about the case all in one place. Doing this helps detectives to make connections and figure things out. © Shutterstock.com
It’s EMPT Y!!!
ene
The crime sc
Location m
ap
SUSPECTS:
Someone’s snaffled the lot!
This is a case for science detective Emmi!
NCE:
KEY EVIDE
ts
Fingerprin
e
Fabric fibr No hairs
You sometimes
And forensic officer Riley!
And Atom the sniffer dog! Woof !
Footprints
see these in cartoons and TV shows, but real-life detectives use them too! Forensic scientists wear special outfits and gloves to make sure they don’t mix in any evidence from their own clothes and bodies!
l e
es!
STEP 2: CLUE-COLLECTING WKhono’sckthkneroce?k!
DUSTING FOR FINGERPRINTS
What kinds of clues do forensic scientists collect – and can we find any of them here?
Courtney Courtney who? Courtney criminals re cently?
F ingerprints
When we touch smooth surfaces, our fingers leave faint oil or sweat prints. To lift (collect) them, you dust them with powder, press tape over them, then peel it off and stick it to a card. Each person has their own unique fingerprints, so they can identify a suspect.
I've found three prints on the cookie jar!
Lift your own fingerp
Yo u will need Cocoa powder Clear sticky tape White paper
Each finger has its own unique fingerprint pattern.
What you do 1. First, press your finger onto a smooth, hard, pale surface, such as a white plate. If your hands are very clean or dry, use some hand lotion first.
Everyone has fingerprints
2. Sprinkle a little cocoa powder over the print. 3. Gently blow the excess powder away, leaving just the powder stuck to the print.
Answer on page 34
Clothing fibres
ade Clothes are mostly m , of tiny fabric fibres which can break off. ime Fibres found at a cr at scene could match wh ing. a suspect was wear
Hairs
Most of us shed several hairs every day – so criminals often leave a hair or two at a crime scene.
Footprints
Footprints can be very useful – they might match a suspect’s shoes or contain mud that shows where the culprit (the person who committed the crime) has been. They sometimes leave a trail too.
rints!
4. Carefully press a piece of tape over it, then peel it off.
Ooh! A light blue fibre!
5. Press the tape onto some paper.
The evidence!
Hmmm, no hairs here at all! Is our cookie culprit bald??? Or were they wearing a hat?
Now try collecting other fingerprints left on everyday objects. You could see if they match Whatever you can find! the ID cards from the Anything left at the crime scene pullout (page 17)! could turn out to be a useful clue.
A dropped crumb!
How many fingerprints can you find in this scene? Check your answer on page 34.
whizzpopbang.com 7
es straight to a Footprints can lead detectiv ole trail to follow! culprit even if there isn’t a wh tists can tell a lot That’s because forensic scien shoe print. about a person from a single
Whose shoes?
• They can tell what type of shoe it is by the pattern on • They can look at how soft the ground is and how the sole (its tread).
deep the print is to work out what the person weighs.
• The size of the shoe helps them to work out the likely • The sole of the shoe might have scratches or scuffs height of the person. on it, or one side might be more worn down.
shoes to their prints to These shoes have left footprints in the snow. Match the check them on page 34. finish the message. Write your answers in the spaces and
The _ _ _ _ _ _ are in the _5 _3 _7 _1 ! 4
1
6
1
5
2
s
2 1
j
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14 whizzpopbang.com
3
a Investigators will take photos of a footprint and sometimes make a cast by pouring liquid plaster or resin into it. Once it has set, the cast can be picked up and taken away to be studied. They also take away soil samples to look at under a microscope. They can check any suspects’ shoes for traces of soil that match the crime scene.
Hmmm, this soil looks like clay and I can see some plant seeds in it.
f
6
4
5
e
7 1 ice found a There’s been a bank robbery! Pol the scene at footprint and some other clues ence to evid of the crime. Can you match the wer ans r any of these suspects? Check you on page 34.
SUS PEC T 1
2
SUS PEC T 2
3
SUS PEC T 3
Interview with a SCIENCE HERO
In my job I get to... info@thepetdetectives.com
© Colin Bu
tcher The
Pet Detect
ives Ltd
find missing pets
Colin and his detective dog use their skills (and some science) to solve animal crimes. If you have any questions of your own for Colin, you can contact him on:
“
Colin Butcher, S enior Investiga The Pet Detect ting Officer, ives
“
As a child, I lived in a Malaysian rainforest!
When I was young, I wanted to be a spy.
”
My grandmother worked at GCHQ (the UK government’s intelligence agency). I was interested in mysteries and books about crime investigations (like the Sherlock Holmes series). I challenged myself to solve complicated puzzles as quickly as I could.
“
”
The animals would come into our garden and at night, I could hear tigers roaring in the distance. My family always had pets: cats, hamsters and dogs. They were all rescued or given to us. We never turned an unwanted animal away. I currently have Molly (the pet detective dog), Teal (a dog I rescued from a puppy farm), and soon Blue will join us (a Labrador puppy who needs a new home).
To be a good detective, you need to be determined, thorough, patient and be a good listener.
© Colin Butcher The
Pet Detecti ves Ltd
”
I used to fly Sea King helicopters in the Royal Navy and sometimes we had to recover dogs that had fallen down cliff faces. It was very rewarding reuniting them with their owners, which is probably where I got the idea of becoming a pet detective.
22 whizzpopbang.com
dogs Teal and Molly, Colin’s
© Colin Butch
er The Pet De
tectives Ltd
Interview with a SCIENCE HERO
“
Molly is the only cat detection dog in the world!
”
We rescued her after three owners had given her up as she was so energetic and disobedient. She is a working cocker spaniel, so already had most of the skills needed to complete very difficult searches. To become a cat detection dog, she needed security, a good home, plenty of attention and 18 months of training. Now, we give her a sample of a missing cat’s scent from its bedding or a toy, and Molly uses it to find the missing cat.
In 2022 I found 80% of the cats I looked for!
d stolen Colin with a recovere
Shih Tzu dog
“
If you are patient and kind, you can teach a dog to do anything.
”
© Colin Butcher The Pet Detec
Molly, the cat detective dog
Colinʼs detective agency seek out all sorts of missing animals – even tortoises!
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DNA samples can be used to solve animal crimes.
© Shutters tock
Read about some amazing cases solved by Colin and his team here! bit.ly/3HeSpcQ
tives Ltd
well-defined All dogs are born with incredibly train a dog to senses. However, if you want to the unique do something amazing (like find st first develop an scent of a missing pet), you mu dogs see, smell in-depth understanding of how e mastered and hear the world. Once you hav d and your bon this, you can form a very special you ask. dog will do just about anything
”
Mouth swabs are taken from animals and their DNA is kept on a database. Then, when an animal crime (like dog fighting, sheep ted, worrying or dog theft) is commit s bite or s lick l anything the anima se. aba dat can be traced back to the Find out more about Molly the Detective Dog by Colin Butcher is published by Penguin.