Well, Joe and I collected soil then we use forensic techniques with soap and water in order to get the soil we found separated into sand, silt and clay. After a comparison of the soil that the police had given us, we found the criminal who stole the bike.
The purpose of this investigation is to show how soil can be used in forensics investigations and catch dangerous criminals. Last week Joe and I went to the front of the school and collected 2 soil samples, 1 next to the building itself and the other across in this patch of sandy near the parking lot. We used both soils and compared them to the soil that the police found and determine where the bike was.
Soil is important to forensics investigations because certain soil can be found in specific areas linking things and people to crime scenes. The 4 major soil categories are sand, clay, silt and loam. You can determine the type or texture of soil using the texture triangle. Chemical tests can tell you the percentages of how much sand, clay and/or silt is in the type of soil.
Our soil we collected is labeled “My soil” and the crime scene soil is labeled “C.S.” Visually the soils are different in color and in the amount of rocks. Our soil felt more sand like and the crime scene soil felt more like dirt.
This is a soil texture triangle. It shows how much of what soil is in it and what type of texture it is. The blue dot is the crime scene while the red dot is the soil we collected. These textures are not similar. Therefore the soil samples are not the same.
This is our chemical comparison table that compares the pH level and the texture of the 2 soils. In the sense of the pH the soils do match, both being at an 8 level. However the texture of the soils are not a match.
In conclusion, our soil did not match with the soil found at the crime scene. However we did find the same soil on the shoes of a student by the name of Jacob Limon. I learned that soil actually plays a big part of forensics investigations due to the fact that it can link people to a crime scene. I also learned that Jacob is a criminal. The only question that i have about the soil analysis is why the pH levels matched. The next step of the investigation should be to hunt down Jacob Limon, arrest him and prosecute him to the fullest extent of the Law!
shazaamm 
Michael, thank you for determining the suspect in this case. Your paper shows good understanding of how soil is used in forensic investigations. Some of your pictures are sideways, and I think you could add more details about the differences between the soil types (sand silt clay and loam), and the method by which you determined soil texture. Overall this is a strong paper that could use some finishing touches.
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