Crimebusters

Division: B – Middle School

NC Essential Standards Alignment: 6.P.2, 8.P.1, Science as Inquiry

Event Rules: See the National Rules Manual

National Event Page: Here

Description:

Given a scenario, a collection of evidence and possible suspects, students will perform a series of tests. Test results along with other evidence will be used to solve a crime and answer questions.

Clarifications & FAQs:

11/10/25: Students should always be prepared for all qualitative analyses (powders, metals, liquids), all polymers, and chromatography as these are required sections.

For crime scene physical evidence, we’ve narrowed it down to spatter and fingerprints for the regional test. We will add one more for the state exam (TBD).

Materials:

Each participant may bring one unique 8.5×11″ sheet of paper, which may be in a sheet protector sealed by tape or laminated, that may contain information on both sides in any form and from any source and one stand-alone, non-programmable, non-graphing calculator. Each team may bring any or all of the items listed on the Division B Chemistry Events Lab Equipment List included in the Official Rules Manual. Participants must wear goggles, an apron, or a lab coat and have skin covered from the neck to the wrist and toes. Gloves are optional. Hair must be tied back. The Event Leader will provide Iodine reagent, HCl, Chromatography materials plus containers, waste containers, wash bottles with distilled water, and other equipment.

Scoring:

High score wins. Time will not be used for scoring. Tiebreakers are first determined by the score from part 3.g, second by 3.c, and lastly by 3.d.

Common Mistakes:

– Be sure to follow all safety requirements! Safety issues will NOT be arbitrated.

– Event leaders will not answer questions on testing procedures (for example- how to perform a burn test on fibers) nor will they provide a copy of the rules or a list of the possible unknowns. Teams should already know procedure, and should include a list of the possible unknowns in their allowed notes if they cannot remember. Event leaders WILL answer safety questions, and stop students from performing a test in an unsafe manner.

FAQs:

Coming Soon

Event Resources:

Powder Analysis blank chart
Sample Forensics Flowchart

General sites on Forensics and Crime Busters
Real World—Articles on aspects of crime scene data collection
Links to forensic activities for students
Recommended Lab Equipment List
American Chemistry Council – Plastics 101
Spinning the Elements: Wallace Carothers and the Nylon Legacy
Crime Busters Resources from MY SO
STEM Session Video with tips from previous competitors!

Polymers and Fibers:
Microscopic Images of Fibers—search for the types of fibers and select the kind of microscopic technique for the image you want.
Animal Hair Images

Previous Year’s Topics:
Crimebusters 2018 Coaches Clinic Presentation (2019 Rules)

Chromatography:
Intro to Chromatography
Tutorial on Interpreting Mass Spectra
Mass Spectrometry
Basic info Mass spectroscopy