How to Teach Fingerprinting
Teaching children about fingerprinting is a great way to introduce them to forensic science and how criminals can be caught using fingerprints. Each person has a unique set of fingerprints, even identical twins. There are many general classifications of fingerprints, and although almost everybody will fall into one of these categories, their fingerprints are still unique in some way. There are many different ways that you can teach fingerprinting to children, but the most basic method involves setting up a scenario whereby you have recovered fingerprints from a "crime scene" and the children have to work out whose they are.
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Instructions
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Teach the children about fingerprints. Explain that everybody has a unique fingerprint, and police can study fingerprints found at a crime scene to catch the perpetrator of the crime. Fingerprints are easier to find if the person has dirty fingers, but they can also be found when there is no dirt present. Everybody's fingers have oils on them which transfer to materials they touch. Police call these fingerprints a "latent" fingerprint.
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Explain that fingerprints fall into several general categories. There is the loop, which is a single, looped pattern generally oriented toward one side of the print, and the double loop, which is a combination of two loop patterns. There is also the central pocket loop, the tented arch, the plain arch, the plain whorl and the accidental. Illustrations of the different types are available on the FBI's website, under the "About the FBI" heading. Click "Next" until you reach the relevant page.
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Ask the children to shade a small patch on their paper using their pencil. Make sure there is plenty of graphite on the page by getting them to shade the patch thoroughly so it is relatively deep in color. Tell the children to press their index fingers into the patch of shading. Cut several strips of sticky tape out for the children while they are making their graphite patches.
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Give each child a piece of sticky tape. Ask the children to press their index fingers onto the sticky side of the tape to pick up their fingerprint. Have them carefully remove their pieces of tape and stick them onto the "Fingered Felons Work Sheet." Their fingerprints should be visible against the white background. Ask the children to create two sets of prints, one under the "Fingerprint Record" section and one under the "Sample" section.
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Split the children into groups of four or five, and collect all of the "Sample" sections of the worksheet. Choose one sample set of prints from each group to become the "culprit," and then explain to them that several crimes have been committed around the school. Say several sets of prints have been found and that they may be able to help identify the culprits with the collections of fingerprints they have.
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Hand out each of the sets of "culprit" prints to the relevant groups, and ask the children to see if they can identify whose fingerprints they are. Ask the children if they are also able to identify the patterns present in the set of "culprit" fingerprints. Congratulate them on a job well done when they identify the prints, and explain that the "guilty" children didn't really commit a crime.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Fingerprint button image by Warren Millar from Fotolia.com
