This class runs in two periods and they do not do the same lesson on the same day. You are reading the Period 6A-7B calendar, the one with John Carroll bioethics on Mondays.
Documentation and custody
Do now
Explain forensic documentation steps and chain of custody, then complete the PLTW scene task online.
- Hand in
- Exit ticket: write the four documentation steps in correct sequence and list three required fields in a chain-of-custody record.
- Where
- Submit this on the class form named on this page. The form requires the student's district Microsoft sign-in. The thank-you page is the submission receipt. A physical handoff counts only when the day page names that route. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not count as submitted.
You get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
If the form offers you a saved draft, choose New draft. If the Assignment box comes up empty, type it exactly: Documentation and custody
You have a case with strong physical evidence, but the transfer log has one unsigned line. Why can that single blank line be enough for a judge to throw the whole thing out?
Explain documentation steps and , then complete the PLTW scene task online.
- • I can sequence the steps of documenting a scene.
- • I can describe what a valid chain-of-custody record contains.
- Put these scene steps in the correct order: sketch, collect, photograph, log.
- Name one piece of information a chain-of-custody record must capture at every transfer.
- 1Take notes on the order of scene documentation: photograph, sketch, log, collect.
- 2Define and list what each transfer record must capture.
- 3Review what makes an evidence log admissible vs. compromised.
- 4Complete the PLTW investigating-the-scene online task and evidence-log entry.
- 5Identify the and controls in a controlled collection method.
What did this day actually feel like?
Documentation and custody
The four documentation steps in order: photograph, sketch, log, collect. Photograph first, because the moment you sketch you have already spent time in the room, and the moment you collect you have changed it.
Then chain of custody, which is the record of every person who has touched a piece of evidence from the scene to the courtroom. Every transfer has to capture who, when, and why. If there is a gap, the evidence is compromised, even if nothing actually went wrong. He said the line to remember is that in forensic science the documentation is the evidence.
Turned in: exit ticket → Exit Tickets folder
Fiction. There is no such student. The lessons, labs and dates are the real planned course; the student, the classmates and the conversations are invented.
The same day, drawn.
Photograph, sketch, log, collect. In that order, because every step after the first one changes the room.
MR. MENDOZA
In forensic science, the documentation is the evidence.
Fiction. There is no such student. The lessons, labs and dates are the real planned course; the student, the classmates and the conversations are invented.
🛠 Get unstuck · pick your level
🔑 Today's words · 5
Tap a word in the lesson for a plain meaning and one example. Recycled into next week's Do-Now.
PBS Unit 1 is one case, not twenty topics. A woman was found dead at home, and you are the team that has to work out how she died. You get the evidence in pieces, in the order a real investigation would get it, and you are not told the answer at any point.
The chain of custody. Every transfer of an item gets written down, because an item nobody can account for stops being evidence. The two handouts below go further than this activity does and cover reading a physiological chart, which is what Activity 1.1.2 Reliable Witnesses is about. That activity is not on the calendar this term, so treat the handouts as extra unless Mr. Mendoza says otherwise.
- Activity 1.1.1 A Sketchy Scene
Look this up in myPLTW to check you are in the right place.
What you cannot claim in this case, on any day
- A physiological chart records breathing and heart rate. It does not measure lying, and nothing in this unit produces a deception call.
- Microscopic hair comparison can support consistency or support exclusion. It cannot identify a person.
- A fingerprint pattern class can narrow a field or exclude a person. By itself it cannot name a source, and it never says when or why a finger touched something.
- A scheduled event is not proof that a person was there. Time of death is not established by the early evidence.
- Repeating a measurement reduces random error. It does not remove a calibration offset, a shared bias, contamination, or a weak method.
Where the case record itself lives: the case file, the source packet and the timeline are PLTW materials and are handed out on paper in class. They are not posted here.
Do the work · 80-minute blockfirst 5 min = hook▸
💡 Big idea: In science documentation is the evidence, because a record that is unsigned, undated, or out of sequence cannot be verified, so no documentation means no case.
- 0:00Review Monday CERs; connect chain-of-custody principle to today's content
- 0:10Teacher-led notes: four-step documentation sequence with examples; what makes a log admissible
- 0:28Practice: fill out a sample evidence-log entry from a scenario card
- 0:42myPLTW: open investigating-the-scene task; complete evidence-log entry online
- 1:02Identify and controls in a described collection method
- 1:10Exit ticket: list the four documentation steps in order from memory
- • If Monday was about the ethics of touching a scene, today is about how to touch it correctly. The order of steps is not arbitrary; it is the difference between evidence that holds up in court and evidence that gets thrown out.
- • Photograph everything before you move it. Sketch the scene with a scale and orientation marker. Log every item with a number and description. Only then do you collect.
- • means every person who touches a piece of evidence signs for it. If a sample goes from the scene to the lab to the analyst, every one of those handoffs needs a dated, signed record.
- • Today you will practice filling out a real evidence log and learn what a judge looks for when deciding whether to admit evidence.
- • The order of scene documentation is photograph first, then sketch with measurements, then log each item, then collect.
- • A chain-of-custody record must capture: who collected the item, date and time, case number, item description, and signatures at every transfer.
- • An evidence log is compromised if any link in the chain is unsigned, undated, or out of sequence.
Unit 1.1 Investigating the Scene: Forensic scene documentation, evidence log, crime-scene sketch, trace evidence, biometric data. · Documentation and custody
Day 2 of this lesson. Open this exact section in myPLTW (find it in Clever, Microsoft sign-in), then do the work below.
Do this: In myPLTW, open Lesson 1.1 Investigating the Scene and go to Activity 1.1.1 A Sketchy Scene. Fill in its evidence-log section as you work through today's custody practice.
Save your evidence-log entries inside Activity 1.1.1 A Sketchy Scene in myPLTW.
You read the overview Monday. By the end of today the myPLTW evidence-log entry for Lesson 1.1 should be finished.
Screenshot of your evidence log inside Activity 1.1.1 A Sketchy Scene.
The official PLTW activity stays inside myPLTW. If myPLTW will not open, use F1 and E1-E3 on this page to complete today's local evidence decision, then make up the official activity when access returns. Submit this on the class form named on this page. The form requires the student's district Microsoft sign-in. The thank-you page is the submission receipt. A physical handoff counts only when the day page names that route. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not count as submitted.
Check things off as you work, then submit. This tells Mr. Mendoza how you're doing so he can help the class. It does not replace turning in your producible through the submission route shown below.
Use the code Mr. Mendoza gave you, not your name. Saved on this device.
Unit 1.1 Investigating the Scene: Forensic scene documentation, evidence log, crime-scene sketch, trace evidence, biometric data. · Documentation and custody
In myPLTW, open Lesson 1.1 Investigating the Scene and go to Activity 1.1.1 A Sketchy Scene. Fill in its evidence-log section as you work through today's custody practice.
You read the overview Monday. By the end of today the myPLTW evidence-log entry for Lesson 1.1 should be finished.
This is how Mr. Mendoza sees the class keeping pace with PLTW. Be honest, it only helps if it is accurate.
🎯 Explain documentation steps and , then complete the PLTW scene task online.
- Take notes on the order of scene documentation: photograph, sketch, log, collect.
- Define and list what each transfer record must capture.
- Review what makes an evidence log admissible vs. compromised.
- Complete the PLTW investigating-the-scene online task and evidence-log entry.
- Identify the and controls in a controlled collection method.
Exit ticket: Exit ticket: write the four documentation steps in correct sequence and list three required fields in a chain-of-custody record.
Submit this on the class form named on this page. The form requires the student's district Microsoft sign-in. The thank-you page is the submission receipt. A physical handoff counts only when the day page names that route. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not count as submitted. Use the checklist just below and upload by 11:29 PM for full credit. Absent with an excused absence? You get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
| Task | Who |
|---|---|
| Take notes on the order of scene documentation: photograph, sketch, log, collect. | _______ |
| Define and list what each transfer record must capture. | _______ |
| Review what makes an evidence log admissible vs. compromised. | _______ |
| Complete the PLTW investigating-the-scene online task and evidence-log entry. | _______ |
| Identify the and controls in a controlled collection method. | _______ |
Working solo? Put your own name in "Who" for every row.
- I can sequence the steps of documenting a scene.
- I can describe what a valid chain-of-custody record contains.
- 1Do thisExplain forensic documentation steps and chain of custody, then complete the PLTW scene task online.
- 2Use this resource
- 3Submit thisExit ticket: Exit ticket: write the four documentation steps in correct sequence and list three required fields in a chain-of-custody record.
- 4Submit it here
- 1Open the form. It must say For students at the top: if it says For parents and guardians, press Back and pick I am the student.
- 2If it offers you a saved draft, choose New draft: an old draft brings back the old assignment.
- 3Sign in with your district Microsoft account, not a personal one.
- 4Check the Assignment box says today's assignment from this page, then pick your period and type your student ID, all nine digits.
- 5Attach your file and press Submit. The thank-you page is your receipt.
Submit this on the class form named on this page. The form requires the student's district Microsoft sign-in. The thank-you page is the submission receipt. A physical handoff counts only when the day page names that route. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not count as submitted. Principles of Biomedical Technology (Principles of Biomedical Science) › Unit 1.1 Investigating the Scene: Forensic scene documentation, evidence log, crime-scene sketch, trace evidence, biometric data. › Exit ticketTurn it in
Learn it · deck, reading, and vocabulary▸
The deck carries the prior idea forward, lets you inspect an analogy, maps the rule to biology, and ends with the same evidence decision and exit ticket used on this page.
Generated from this lesson's canonical data with a red-team citation check.
How you handle a scene determines whether its evidence can be trusted, because or a broken record makes even genuine evidence inadmissible.
In science documentation is the evidence, because a record that is unsigned, undated, or out of sequence cannot be verified, so no documentation means no case.
A library keeps a master plan protected while working copies guide production at different stations.
- Why protect the master copy?
- What information moves?
- Where can an error change the final product?
Stored information can be copied, read, and converted into a functional product.
Genes are regulated biological sequences, not conscious instructions, and one gene rarely determines a whole trait alone.
- • Master plan maps to DNA.
- • Working copy maps to RNA.
- • Production output maps to or a regulated cell function.
Driving question: You have a case with strong physical evidence, but the transfer log has one unsigned line. Why can that single blank line be enough for a judge to throw the whole thing out?
What you already know: How you handle a scene determines whether its evidence can be trusted, because or a broken record makes even genuine evidence inadmissible.
New idea: In science documentation is the evidence, because a record that is unsigned, undated, or out of sequence cannot be verified, so no documentation means no case.
Visual or model: F1. F1. A lesson illustration or teaching diagram for Documentation and custody. Use it with E1-E3; it is a model or context image, not experimental or patient data. What to notice: Use the labels and arrows in F1 to identify the relationship that supports Documentation and custody.
- Observe or measure the relevant feature in today's lesson.
- Organize the observation with a stable evidence ID.
- Apply this rule: Stored information can be copied, read, and converted into a functional product.
- Choose the option the evidence supports and state the limit of the conclusion.
Real biomedical example: You have a case with strong physical evidence, but the transfer log has one unsigned line. Why can that single blank line be enough for a judge to throw the whole thing out?
What the evidence supports: E1-E3 and F1 support the daily take-home when the response meets the stated success criteria.
What it cannot prove: The package does not support claims beyond this lesson's or any real patient diagnosis.
- • : Relating to the use of science to examine evidence and answer questions in legal investigations, such as identifying a person or cause of harm.
- • : Tiny physical materials, such as hair, fibers, or soil, transferred during contact at a scene, used to link people, places, and objects in an investigation.
- • biometric: A measurable physical or behavioral trait, such as a fingerprint, iris pattern, or heart rate, used to identify a person or track health.
- • observation: Information gathered directly through the senses or instruments, recording what actually happens without yet interpreting it.
- • inference: A conclusion drawn by reasoning from evidence and observations rather than from direct, firsthand measurement.
- • : The documented record of who handled a piece of evidence, when, and where, proving it was never lost, swapped, or tampered with.
- • : A reference sample treated like the others but without the variable being tested, giving a baseline to compare experimental results against.
Use it now: Choose one decision option. Cite E1 and E3, then explain how the rule connects the evidence to your choice.
Go further, optional: The source links below are optional enrichment. Every fact required for today's local evidence decision appears in this lesson package.
Biomedical evidence supports a conclusion only to the level allowed by the measurement, comparison, controls, source quality, and uncertainty in the investigation.
Limit: The classroom evidence supports the stated learning decision, not a real clinical diagnosis, causal conclusion, or treatment recommendation.
Stored information can be copied, read, and converted into a functional product.
Limit: Genes are regulated biological sequences, not conscious instructions, and one gene rarely determines a whole trait alone.
You can sequence the steps of documenting a scene.
Limit: E3 defines the classroom product or success criterion. It is not independent scientific evidence and cannot justify a clinical or causal claim.
PLTW-PBT@P67-2026-09-10 · Simulated classroom evidence scenario
Your role: biomedical team member
Decision: Your team must decide what the evidence from today's lesson supports before submitting the exit response named on the lesson page.
- • Select the option best supported by E1-E3.
- • Select a reasonable alternative and name the evidence it would require.
- • Delay the claim because the evidence does not distinguish the options.
Response: State one choice, cite at least two evidence IDs, explain the rule that connects them, and add one limitation. Submit it as the exit response.
Claim ceiling: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about today's lesson. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.
Reason for review: Your team must decide what the evidence from today's lesson supports before submitting the exit response named on the lesson page.
Context: In work the documentation is the evidence, because an object with no signed, dated, ordered record cannot be defended and the case built on it can void.
- • T1: Take notes on the order of scene documentation: photograph, sketch, log, collect.
- • T2: Define and list what each transfer record must capture.
- • T3: Review what makes an evidence log admissible vs. compromised.
- • T4: Complete the PLTW investigating-the-scene online task and evidence-log entry.
- • T5: Identify the and controls in a controlled collection method.
- • E1: Biomedical evidence supports a conclusion only to the level allowed by the measurement, comparison, controls, source quality, and uncertainty in the investigation.
- • E2: Stored information can be copied, read, and converted into a functional product.
- • E3: You can sequence the steps of documenting a scene.
Measurements: No patient measurement is supplied unless it appears explicitly in E1-E3 or F1. Do not invent a value.
Figure finding: Teaching diagram for Documentation and custody. Use the labels and arrows to identify the decision-relevant relationship. This is a teaching model, not patient or experimental data.
Uncertainty: This is a composite classroom scenario. Missing history, measurements, or confirmation tests remain unknown and limit the conclusion.
- • The solution must address the stated need in today's lesson.
- • The decision must be supported by E1-E3.
- • The final product must make the success criteria visible.
- • Complete the work inside the 80-minute block.
- • Use only supplied or teacher-approved materials and evidence.
- • Do not trade , accessibility, or privacy for speed.
- • and evidence quality: must pass before scoring other criteria.
- • User need and effectiveness: highest scored criterion.
- • Time, cost, and ease of use: compare only after and effectiveness pass.
Test evidence: For each option, record the E1-E3 result that supports or fails each criterion. Do not assign a score without a named observation.
- Version or option tested
- Criterion met or missed
- Evidence ID and result
- Revision made
- Reason for the revision
- Need and user
- Criteria and constraints
- Chosen option and evidence
- Test result
- Revision and reason
Students often think Students think you photograph and collect first because that is the real work, and the sketch and log are cleanup you do afterward.. The trap: The order is fixed: photograph, then sketch with measurements, then log each item, then collect, because collecting first moves objects and destroys the untouched record you were supposed to capture. Documentation happens before you disturb anything.
Four documentation steps in order:
1. Photograph the scene
2. Sketch the scene with measurements
3. Log each item
4. Collect each item
Three required chain-of-custody fields:
- Who collected the item
- Date and time of collection
- A signature at every transfer
Why the order matters: photographing and sketching first captures the scene before anything is disturbed, so collection never destroys the record of how the scene looked.
| Order | Documentation step |
|---|---|
| 1 | Photograph |
| 2 | Sketch with measurements |
| 3 | Log each item |
| 4 | Collect |
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: An exit ticket that has the student sequence the scene-documentation steps and list required chain-of-custody record fields, checking recall of the scene task.
- Name the prompt or task.
- Answer it directly with the key evidence.
- Check that the response matches the requested format.
Keep the structure. Replace the question, facts, measurements, and evidence. Then recheck units, vocabulary, and whether the conclusion goes beyond the evidence.
Also due today: Hand in your exit ticket before leaving class. Also complete the online investigating-the-scene task.
- CER:
- Claim, Evidence, Reasoning: make a claim, back it with evidence, explain your reasoning.
- SOP:
- Standard Operating Procedure, the exact steps to follow (especially in a lab).
- Tracker:
- Your PLTW progress log where you record completed evidence.
- myPLTW:
- The PLTW course site where you do the online activities. Find it in Clever with your Microsoft sign-in, right next to Schoology.
Tap the speaker to hear a term. Add two of these to your notebook glossary with a definition and an example in your own words.
Pick just 2 or 3 words from today and make them yours: write what each one means in your own words, name the context clue or evidence that helped, then give one example from what you actually did in Documentation and custody. Try your own words first; the glossary is there if you get stuck. This is voluntary and counts as extra credit, so keep it short.
Saved on this device. Show Mr. Mendoza or add these to your notebook glossary to claim the extra credit.
Hand-picked readings and interactives for this lesson, from authoritative open organizations and PLTW's own public course outline.
Check yourself · commit, then reveal▸
Claim ceiling for this check: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about today's lesson. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.
An evidence log shows an item photographed at 2:15, logged at 2:20, but collected at 2:10. Is this log admissible, and why or why not?
Write an answer and pick a confidence to unlock the key.
Fast retrieval with instant answers, not the commit-then-reveal check above. Try each from memory first: write what you remember about the earlier units, then check yourself here.
Go further and get help▸
Run this before you touch the bench. It is built from the real lab procedure, so the decisions you make here are the ones you will make with the equipment in your hands. This lesson has more than one, and they cover different skills.
What today's skills lead to. These are real health-science careers this course builds toward. Tap one to see, on the US Department of Labor's O*NET site, what the job actually involves, what it pays, and how fast it is growing.
Today is individual work you can do from home: complete the same target above, then submit your Exit ticket.
Turn it inSubmit this on the class form named on this page. The form requires the student's district Microsoft sign-in. The thank-you page is the submission receipt. A physical handoff counts only when the day page names that route. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not count as submitted.
Class still runs. Complete the online activity above (it's self-guided). Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
Khan Academy: using the microscope (Cell biology)- CompleteEvery required part of the artifact is present, nothing left blank.
- AccurateThe science and the data are correct and match the evidence.
- Scientific reasoningYou explain your claim with evidence and reasoning (CER), not just an answer.
- Professional communicationClear, organized, labeled, and written the way a clinician or scientist would.
- SubmittedTurned in through the one route named under Submit here and confirmed by the form receipt or the named physical handoff. Not in Schoology: that is where the report-card grade appears later.