DNA Fingerprinting Worksheet

Student Name:
Time Estimate: 45 minutes

Investigative Phenomenon: How do you use evidence and reasoning to make a reliable claim during an investigation?
Examination and Data Collection:
DNA fingerprint (Qualitative Results)
After the electrophoresis gel is dyed and rinsed in the simulation, take a screenshot of the gel showing all DNA
fingerprint patterns and place it here.
Example:

Or you can sketch out the DNA fragments in the chart below, as seen in the sample 1 example.
Delete this chart if you have already included a screenshot.

Distance Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample 4 Sample 5

(mm) (Blood on floor) (Blood on window) (Lipstick stain) (Blood on sponge) (Tissue)

10

20

30

40

Electrophoresis (Quantitative Results):

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A large graph called a standard curve, is at the end of the virtual simulation. A standard curve is a tool that allows forensic
scientists to estimate the size of DNA fragments of unknown samples by comparing them to standards with known DNA
fragment sizes. In the second chart of your worksheet, determine the base pair length for each DNA fragment using the
distance it traveled in the gel. The distances are provided below.
Here's an example of using the standard curve on the graph to determine the base pair length of a fragment.

Base-pair curve with arrows showing a point on the curve that indicates 20 mm traveled and 4,000 base pair lengths.

Distance Traveled (mm) BP Length

20 4000

Now, using the distances provided and the standard curve in the simulation (or the one above), find the base-pair lengths
of each fragment and place these values in the chart below. Sample 1 has been completed for you,

Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample 4 Sample 5

(Blood on floor) (Blood on window) (Lipstick stain) (Blood on sponge) (Tissue)
Distance BP Distance BP Distance BP Distance BP Distance BP
Traveled length Traveled length Traveled length Traveled length Traveled length
(mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm)
2 >100000 3 >100000 5 >100000 3 >100000 3 >100000

3 >100000 8 10000 10 10000 5 >100000 5 >100000

11 10000 19 15 13 13

14 8000 29 17 26 26

25 5000 30 24 27 27
39 1000 35 27 38 38
41 39 39
42 44 44

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Evidence Analysis:

1. What is the benefit of sketching or providing a screenshot of the DNA fingerprints for qualitative data?
What is the benefit of gathering quantitative data on the base-pair lengths?

2. Do you think the DNA evidence of this case is strong enough to identify a suspect? Why or why not?

3. Describe one struggle a forensic scientist might have when looking at DNA evidence.

Reporting Results:

Make a claim about the electrophoresis results and a possible match to a suspect. Then, provide evidence and
reasoning to support your claim. (Hint: Think about how the results support other evidence collected from the
crime scene.)

Claim:

Evidence from the scene:

Reasoning:

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