Forensics

Cub Scouts · Adventure, Elective

Forensics lets you be a science detective. You'll study fingerprints, shoe prints, and mystery powders, and learn how police collect clues. It's hands-on science with a mystery to solve.

Why it's worth it

Forensics lets you be a science detective. You'll study your fingerprints, make shoe prints, test mystery powders, and separate the colors hiding in ink. These are real methods forensic scientists use to help figure out what happened. Along the way, you'll learn to look closely, test your ideas, and follow the evidence wherever it leads.

Start this week

Look at your fingertips with a magnifying glass. Can you find loops, whorls, or arches?
With your adult, put small amounts of salt, sugar, baking soda, and cornstarch in labeled cups.
Find a coffee filter and a few washable markers for chromatography.
Step in damp sand or dirt and look at the print your shoe leaves.

Stay safe

Never taste the mystery powders, even if you think you know what they are. Real scientists don't taste their evidence either.

Requirements · 6

Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab).

Requirement 1
Learn what forensics is and how it helps solve crimes
Tip: Talk about how scientists use clues like prints and hair to help solve crimes.
Requirement 2
Analyze your fingerprints
Tip: Press your finger on an ink pad, then paper. Use a magnifying glass to find loops, whorls, or arches.
For example: Rub a pencil on paper, press a fingertip in the graphite, then onto clear tape, and stick it on an index card. Label each finger and look for loops, whorls, and arches.
Requirement 3
Make a shoe print
Tip: Step in damp sand or soil and study the pattern your shoe leaves behind.
For example: Press your shoe into damp sand or a tray of soil, then study the print: the pattern on the sole, the size, and any worn spots. Could someone tell it was your shoe?
Requirement 4
Analyze four substances: salt, sugar, baking soda, and cornstarch
Tip: Test each white powder with water or vinegar and watch how they act differently.
For example: Test each white powder: look at it with a magnifying glass, add a few drops of water, then a few drops of vinegar. Baking soda fizzes in vinegar, and cornstarch gets gooey in water.
Requirement 5
Learn about chromatography and how it helps solve crimes
Tip: Draw a marker dot on a coffee filter, dip the edge in water, and watch the colors separate.
For example: Draw a black marker dot near the bottom of a coffee filter strip, dip the edge in water, and watch colors climb the paper. Different markers make different patterns.
Requirement 6
Find out how officers collect evidence
Tip: Ask a police officer how they collect and protect evidence.
For example: An officer might explain how they photograph a scene, wear gloves, put each clue in its own labeled bag, and write down everyone who handled it so the evidence stays trustworthy.

Places to visit

Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.

A police station
Officers can show you the tools they use to collect and protect evidence.
How: Have your den leader call the station and ask for the community relations officer about a den visit or a speaker.

Talk about it together

What did you notice about your fingerprints that you'd never seen before?
Which test was the most fun, and why?
How did you figure out which powder was which?
Why do you think scientists need to be so careful with evidence?

Good questions to ask a police officer or crime scene technician

What kind of clue helps you the most?
How do you keep evidence from getting mixed up?
Which school subjects help you in your job?

Helpful reads

Cub Scouts: a guide for families, How Cub Scout ranks and adventures work from kindergarten through fifth grade, what an adult partner does, and how to keep it fun at meetings and at home., Families · Leaders · 4 min read

For leaders & parents

Set up a mystery for scouts to solve using all the tests.
Invite a local police officer to talk about evidence collection.

People & places that can help

Local police department — Officers can share how they collect evidence.
Public library — Kids' books on forensic science and detective work.
Scouting America: Forensics (opens in a new tab) — The official requirements and den activity ideas for each one.
NIST: Forensic Science (opens in a new tab) — How government scientists make forensic tests more accurate.
American Academy of Forensic Sciences (opens in a new tab) — The professional group for forensic scientists, with information about the field.

Bear, Rank · 7 requirements

Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.