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The techniques of forensic anthropology and pathology can provide new information to increase student interest in studying the structural details of the human skeleton. We present a simplified methodology for assessing skeletal ethnicity, sex, age, and stature. An inexpensive method has been devised for constructing an osteometric board to allow students to measure long bones accurately. The effects of aging and the influence of lifestyle alterations on skeletal elements arc presented along with the prediction of their effects on the living individual. This laboratory is intended to acquaint students with the process of collecting and analyzing data, interpreting scientific results, and assessing the accuracy of their conclusions. Gathering and analyzing their own data sets gives students a better understanding of the scientific method and an increased ability to translate this understanding to other scientific disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes activities that use insects commonly found outdoors to illustrate basic ecological principles as they relate to forensic science. Activity involving insects that prey on chicken gizzard; Exercise comparing insects from dead meat and fresh meat sample; Observations on insects that prey on dead or road-kill animal; Information on how entomologists determine the time of death of a specimen.