Blood, Bullets, and Bones by Bridget Heos
Reviewed by Yarely Lepe, Mandy Little, Tyler Hildebrand, Audrey Lee, and Sharon Lin
Review:
Within popular TV shows like CSI: Crime Scene
Investigation and Law and Order, we see forensic science practiced in a modern
setting, but in reality, the tools date back as far as 270 CE. Bridget Heos’
Blood, Bullets, and Bone: The Story of Forensic Science from Sherlock Holmes
to DNA, uses real crime cases to showcase the evolution of forensic science
over the years. Heos highlights well-known criminal cases like that of the
infamous London serial killer, Jack the Ripper, to discuss tools like criminal
profiling and crime scene photo analysis. These tools like criminal profiling
are then examined at different periods in time until the timeline hits modern
day, which is when the FBI founded the Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) whose
focus is criminal profiling through a psychological lens.
Each chapter walks the reader through a
different topic found within forensic science such as DNA evidence, bite
mark analysis, blood splatter analysis, autopsies, fingerprinting, etc.
Accompanying these chapters are images ranging from black and white photos
of convicted criminals like George Joseph Smith to photos of forensic
evidence like Marilyn Sheppard’s bloodstained pillowcases. The photos are
well selected in that they don’t sensationalize the crime but rather build
upon the events in a way that conveys how horrendous the crime was while
also showing how important the role of forensic science is in achieving
justice for the victims. Throughout the book, Heos presents forensic science
as something that is ever-changing as new technology emerges and this is
evident through her examples of bite mark analysis and its unreliable
history. Many convictions were made using this type of analysis and with the
emergence of DNA testing, individuals convicted based on their bite mark
were exonerated. This is just one of many examples throughout the work that
demonstrate how critical forensic science is to the judicial system and how
the continued improvement will result in more accurate convictions and
future exonerations of innocent individuals.
References to pop culture like the crime
drama, Dexter, and horror film Silence of the Lambs, makes forensic science
more interesting to young people. These forms of entertainment draw
connections to real-life cases, serving an educational purpose. Anyone who
is a fan of true crime and wants to learn more about the progression of
forensic science would find this book very interesting. While there are many
references to popular true crime cases, one does not need any prior
knowledge as Heos crafts descriptions that newbies and avid armchair
detectives will enjoy. For someone who is just getting into true crime or
exploring forensic science, there is a helpful glossary in the back of the
book that covers a range of scientific terms. Blood, Bullets, and Bone: The
Story of Forensic Science from Sherlock Holmes to DNA paints a linear
timeline of criminology and how it was utilized throughout history, whether
it worked or resulted in wrongful convictions. From the fun pop culture
references to the fascinating and mysterious elements of true crime, this
book is a fast-paced read that is hard to put down!
Biography:
Bridget Heos is an American children’s book author. She was born and
raised in Kansas where she grew up writing plays to put on for her family
in her backyard. This is where she found her passion for writing. Her
family was extremely supportive and her grandmother would even edit her
writing for her She is a mother and usually draws inspiration from her
four kids and her own experiences as a mother. As a result, she mainly
writes children’s picture books so “Blood, Bullets, and Bones” is
different from what she currently has published. Heos has written over 100
children’s picture books, making 95% of her work to be fictional. In 2021,
she has released four different children’s books. Her goal seems to be to
combine entertainment with teaching young children about animals. Her most
popular series is “Animals: Just Like Us” where she dedicates a book to
breaking down an animal and explaining how they’re similar to people.
Another popular series of hers is “Mustache Baby” which follows the life
of a baby that was born with a mustache. The story originated in an
attempt to calm her first-grade son and his group of friends down in the
library and it led to her going home and writing out the entire first
book. Her nonfiction book, “Blood, Bullets, and Bones” stands out against
her other books since it covers more adult topics. She covers real-life
crimes and analyzes them with the goal of showing how important forensic
sciences are to modern-day life.
References:
Author Bridget Heos, http://www.authorbridgetheos.com/.
Heos, Bridget. “Author Bridget Heos.” Facebook,
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorBridgetHeos/about/?ref=page_internal
Instructional Resources:
DNA: The Building Blocks of Human Identity
A history and diagram of DNA. Relevant to understanding how that can lead to identifying a suspect in a crime.
Forensic Science
Website that lays out a timeline of the history of forensic science beginning from the ancient period, in a factual and easy to read way.
Forensic science lessons for students with links to different disciplines.
Criminal justice and forensic science.
Lays out in more detail how ballistics is used in forensics through gunpowder, and bullet trajectory, and fingerprinting.
Studying Murder Scenes
An exhibit that shows more pictures of Frances Glessner Lee's tiny houses and how they are arranged into murder scenes that need to be investigated.
Accompanying worksheet to the Mythbuster episode on forensic science.
Lesson plan to use Doyle's Sherlock Holmes' stories to think about solving puzzles and clues.
The Science of Wrongful Conviction Cases
Just a pop list of people that have been exonerated of a crime through DNA evidence
A more scientific paper on how someone's conviction is overturned through DNA forensic science.
Instructional Activity:
Preview:
The following activity is intended for a 9th or
10th grade English classroom and would be completed over 2 weeks. Students would begin this
unit of forensic science by completing a KWL chart as an entry level
assignment, and then would use what they have learned from their reading
of Blood, Bullets, and Bones by Bridget Heos to
complete the corresponding group projects.
Here are the goals for this assignment:
· Students will become forensic scientists and detectives and will
reconstruct the timeline of events of a specific case that was solved
using state-of-the-art forensic science techniques.
· Students will collaborate with others to complete the timeline in a comprehensive manner, allowing all students to participate and creating a group-work environment that is conducive to the completion of the assignment.
· Students will use creative processes to create a virtual poster board that represents a potential newspaper cover that is reporting on their specific crime. Students should be imaginative and original, drawing on inspiration from what they have personally seen on the news and using factors of what life was like during the time of the crime.
California Common Core Standards:
-
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.3 Analyze how the author unfolds an
analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the
points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the
connections that are drawn between them.
-
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.1.C Use words, phrases, and clauses to
link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the
relationships between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and
evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.
-
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.1.D Establish and maintain a formal
style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of
the discipline in which they are writing.
-
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.2.B Develop the topic with well-chosen,
relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details,
quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the
audience's knowledge of the topic.
-
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.5 Make strategic use of digital media
(e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in
presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and
evidence and to add interest.
-
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.4 Present information, findings, and
supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that
listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization,
development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience,
and task.
Resources and Preparation:
For this activity to be completed, students will need to read the
assigned book by Bridget Heos.
For resources, students will need to complete a KWL chart and a Timeline of the events
of their case study (each of these is provided).
The KWL chart is a handout that students can complete either on the
computer or by printing and hand-writing it. The KWL chart is meant to
be an individual activity, not a group one.
Students will be provided with Chromebooks for the digital portions of the lesson.
The timeline is to be completed through PowerPoint, which the teacher
will provide. There is a link to the timeline template as a PowerPoint,
and a PDF form of the PowerPoint slide. The PowerPoint timeline is where
students will begin to work as a group, and they will continue to do so
in order to complete the slides and the virtual poster-board.
The virtual poster-board can be made through any online poster-board
making resource or by using Google Docs or Microsoft word. If students
find a new online resource to complete the poster-board portion of the
assignment, they should receive approval from the teacher to utilize
that tool.
Link to PPT (Make sure to allow the site to re-direct you so that you
can download the template) :
https://binaries.templates.cdn.office.net/support/templates/en-us/tf00866710_win32.potx
Instructional Plan:
Day 1: Introduce the book to students and give a brief overview of the
contents. Educators should make clear that this is a nonfiction book and
that it will touch on some sensitive and violent true crime. Before students
begin reading, hand each student a KWL worksheet to assess what they already
know about forensic science and what they want to know. Have students leave
the "learned" portion blank to be filled out later. This should take about
10 minutes for students to individually fill out the worksheet. Once
students are finished have them store the worksheet in a safe space to be
revisited later. Afterward, assign the book to be read over the course of a
week and a half.
Day 2: Once students have finished reading the book, give them 10 minutes to
fill out the remainder of their KWL chart at the beginning of class. After
the students finish, collect these worksheets. Next, split the students up
into groups of 3-4, and have them scour the book for one case they found
particularly interesting. Once they have a case their group agrees on, they
will be instructed to reconstruct the timeline of the case in a group Google
Slides. Chromebooks will be passed out for students to use during this section of the lesson. The template will be provided for and students just have to fill it
out. This group work will allow students to discuss the cases covered in the
book and become familiar with the particular case they are working with.
This should take the remainder of the class period. Any work that is
unfinished must be completed as homework and submitted that same
night.
Day 3: After the timeline assignment, students should be more familiar with
the case they chose. On this day, in the same groups, students will be asked
to be more creative and create a virtual poster board of a news article
reporting on the crime they chose. Chromebooks will again be passed out for students to work collaboratively online. They are free to use the information
found in their case to add to the details of their newspaper article. They
are also free to use pictures online (nothing graphic) and any online poster
board resource, should they not want to use Google Docs or Microsoft Word.
This should take two class periods to finish. Any unfinished work must be
completed as homework and submitted the same night it is due.
Bibliography
“Bridget Heos Bio.” Author Bridget Heos, www.authorbridgetheos.com/bio.php.
