Addison Krotz reports on her experience at the Michigan Math and Science Scholars program where she is studying “Forensic Physics.” After settling in her dorm, Addison was happy to meet up with GFF students Zoya Chowdhury and Francis Bu who are also attending MMSS. She also met her roommate and explored the campus at MMSS.
“The first day was unquestionably the hardest considering the campus was still fairly unfamiliar to me. Zoya, Francis, and I made our way down to the dining hall for breakfast before our first class. The walk to my class is about a twenty-minute walk from the dining hall but I made sure to leave extra time in case I got lost,” Addison says.
“The class itself is actually very interesting. We have two three-hour classes each day with a lunch break in between. One class is from 9-12 and the other class is from 1:30-4:30. Each week we get assigned a crime scene that the class as a whole has to solve using the information we learn throughout the week. The professor and TA’s set up the crime scene using fake blood, bullets, tape to mark where the bodies would have been found, and position objects to match what happened. We get to collect evidence and fill out forms as if we are official investigators. Each day we have a lecture about how we can use physics to help determine specific aspects of the crime,” Addison explains.
“Over the course of this week, we’ve learned how to use physics to determine how a bullet would have hit something at a certain angle considering the shape and marks the gun left, the physics of the light spectrum as well as the physics of different magnifying objects such as microscopes and telescopes. We have also learned how to analyze blood samples to find a person’s blood type and how to collect and analyze fingerprints. I will say I have struggled significantly with the physics part of the class. This is my first time taking a physics class of some sort so I had no idea what to expect. The first two days I was very lost and needed the equations explained in more detail. Although as the week progressed, I started to understand and get comfortable with solving the equations the professor gave us,” Addison adds.
When not in class, Addison spent time exploring the local area and participating in fun activities with friends. “After class Zoya, Francis, and I usually walk around and do activities. We walked around downtown, went to the local mall, and went on a field trip to Cedar Point. At Cedar Point, I got forced on the ferris wheel because I hate ferris wheels so then I forced Zoya to go on a roller coaster. However, Francis decided he would rather take a walk on the beach. I also got extremely sunburnt even though I applied sunscreen. Every night we got ice cream and played a card game before having to go to our room for the night. We have shopped and spent way too much money on snacks,” Addison says.
“Overall, I am thrilled I got the opportunity to attend the University of Michigan. I have become more of an extroverted person while being here, and I’ve made friends from all around the world. I miss my family and friends at home, but I have been having so much fun here that I don’t want to leave. I’ve learned so much already and I’m ecstatic to see what I learn this upcoming week,” Addison adds.
Week Two — The Perfect Crime!
After spending time with her family, who visited over the weekend, Addison was ready to get back to work on another crime scene.
“During my second week of MMSS I became increasingly more comfortable with the people around me and getting around the campus. On Monday, the class was assigned another crime scene to investigate. Once again, we scouted the area of the crime so we could tag and take pictures of the evidence before we could fill out the form and collect it for review,” Addison reports.
“Throughout the week, we had one to two lectures a day about how we can use physics to help us with the experiments we were doing at the time. We learned about how we can use all the different lights in the light spectrum to help find more evidence outside the range of visible light. We learned about how certain types of rocks and state ID’s glow under UV light and why. We then learned how you can catch criminals who recreate famous paintings to sell them for an extreme price with UV and certain chemicals that help you find lead in the paint. Later in the week, we extracted our DNA and looked at it under a microscope. The last activity we did for our last full day was that our professor made certificates for us and played graduation music while he handed them out as if we were graduating,” Addison says.
When not in class, Addison was able to get together with Zoya Chowdhury and Francis Bu to have dinner, visit the Ann Arbor Art Fair, and watch the movie A Quiet Place, Day One at a local theater. Then, it was time for more forensic work as the course came to a close.
“On Friday we split up into two groups and we had to come up with ‘the perfect crime.’ Neither group ended up solving the other’s crime. We then watched the professor give demonstrations of the different things you can do with liquid nitrogen such as making a hockey puck appear as if it was floating. After the demonstrations, the class all worked together to make ice cream out of the liquid nitrogen. We didn’t end up having enough liquid nitrogen to completely freeze the ice cream so it was more of a milk shake. We got to put whatever toppings we wanted on and sat around talking and saying our goodbyes,” Addison says.
“Most of the students, including me, stayed after class was over for a little while to continue talking with everyone before it was really time to leave and go our separate ways. I got extremely close with everyone in my class, especially the girls. It was really hard to say goodbye because we all knew that we could end up not seeing each other again since we all are from different places around the world. There was lots of laughter and tears but we made a group chat and promised each other to keep in contact until we can meet again,” Addison adds.
We are so happy that you enjoyed your time at MMSS, learned several interesting techniques in forensic physics, and formed close connections with your classmates. Good job, Addison!
>> Read Addison Krotz’s Final Report (PDF File, 30 KB).
>> Learn about the other students’ experiences in the GFF Scholarship Program.
