Fingerprint Detectives at Different Ages
Websites for Kids
Books for Kids
- Dusted and Busted: The Science of Fingerprinting
- Eyewitness Crime & Detection
Contact Us
June 2009: Fingerprint Detectives
Fingerprint Detectives
Today’s media is packed with crime dramas depicting scientists in forensic labs examining evidence collected at crime scenes, but what do these scientists actually do?
In the Fingerprint Detectives activity, children learn how to take their own fingerprints, and are encouraged to use different tools (i.e. magnifying glass or microscope) to examine their own fingerprints as well as the fingerprints of others.
Kids can compare their fingerprints to a chart of the most common fingerprint patters and decide which patterns their own fingers have.
Children also have the opportunity to become forensic detectives and help solve a ‘crime’. They can examine the ‘evidence’ (i.e. fingerprints left behind) and figure out which ‘suspect’ the fingerprints belong to.
Visitors of all ages are encouraged to take multiple fingerprints and examine the unique properties that fingerprints have!
Fingerprint Detectives at Home
You can continue your Fingerprint explorations at home by
Taking Your Fingerprints at Home
Fingerprints are made of lots of small ridges of skin - these ridges provide traction to help us grab things. Without fingerprints, we'd have trouble grabbing and holding things in our hands. There are several basic "patterns" a fingerprint can have. When observed quickly, some of your prints may look the same as a friends' fingerprints, but when observed very closely, the patterns found on fingerprints are unique to one person only.
Materials List
Taking your fingerprints!
1. Gather all of your materials together.
2. Rub your finger on some charcoal so there is a light layer of black covering your finger - an easy way to do this is to scribble on a piece of paper with the charcoal, and then run rub your finger across the paper. (Note: If you have too much charcoal on your finger, you will not be able to see your fingerprint!)
3. Take a piece of clear tape, and press your charcoaled finger on the sticky side.
4. Remove the tape, and stick it to a piece of white paper or an index card to reveal your fingerprint!
Exploring Forensic Science!
A ‘forensic scientist’, a scientist who helps solve crimes, analyzes evidence collected at a crime scene and works to discover clues left behind by a perpetrator. A forensic scientist’s main job is to make connections and compare evidence from the crime scene.
There are many types of evidence a forensic scientist looks at, including hair, clothing fibers, and fingerprints to try to identify the perpetrator. When a forensic scientist finds a fingerprint at a crime scene, they quickly identify the fingerprint's patterns and characteristics, and compare this to fingerprints they take from suspects. Fingerprinting is a great way for forensic scientists to identify a person because everyone’s fingerprints are unique and one of a kind. The fingerprints may have similar patterns, but if you look at them closely under a microscope you will see that there are subtle differences that distinguish one person’s fingerprints from another.
Questions to think about?