Today in Science - Fingerprint Identification

Many students already knew that no two fingerprints are exactly alike. But few knew that scientists compare fingerprints and group them according to the similar ridge patterns they find. Most people's fingerprints look like a whorl, loop, or arch.

We practiced taking our fingerprints in the following way. We took a pencil and scribbled (a lot!) on an index card. Then we placed our index finger on the mark, and rocked it side to side, to cover as much of the finger pad as we could with graphite. Then, with clear tape, we pressed down on the finger and pulled the tape off. We attached the tape to the index card, and looked at it closely with a magnifying glass.

The children loved this so much, that they began to take prints from their friends, and trying different fingers as well. After much practice, we did a final print of our index finger. The tape was placed on a family fingerprint chart.

Each child will print this chart home and are instructed to take your prints where indicated. We will need the charts back to see if family members always have the same fingerprint type.