What it shows
Every person has a different pattern of ridges on their fingertips. The patterns fall into a few main types: loops, whorls and arches.
The science
Skin on our fingertips has tiny raised lines called ridges. They form before birth and stay for life, and no two people have the same prints, not even twins. The ridges help us grip things. Scientists group prints into arches, loops and whorls.
Materials
Cost: under Rs 50. Many items come from home or from waste; spare parts such as LEDs, motors and wire are in the store.
- A washable ink pad or a soft pencil and sticky tape (under Rs 50)
- White paper
- A magnifying glass if you have one
- Pencil and notebook
- Wet tissue for cleaning fingers
Safety
For this project: Use only washable, non-toxic ink. An adult must help and keep ink away from the eyes and mouth.
Never use mains electricity: power models with cells, batteries or a low-voltage adapter. Sharp and hot tools, flames and lab chemicals need an adult or your teacher beside you. Keep magnets, button cells and small parts away from young children, and wash your hands after making.
All the safety rulesStep by step
8 steps. Do them in order, and test each part before you go on to the next. Write what you notice in a notebook as you go.
Press your thumb gently on the ink pad and roll it a little.
Roll your thumb on the paper from one side to the other to make a print.
Clean your finger with a wet tissue.
Make prints for your other fingers in a row and write which finger each is.
Look at each print with a magnifying glass.
Decide if each print is an arch (a hill), a loop (a hairpin) or a whorl (a circle).
Write the type under each print.
Ask a family member to make prints and compare them with yours.
What you should see
You have ten labelled fingerprints with their type, and you can see that your prints differ from your family’s.
Viva questions
A teacher or a judge will ask how it works. Try to answer each question before you open it, then compare.
1What are the lines on your fingertips called?
Ridges.
2Name the three main fingerprint types.
Arch, loop and whorl.
3Are two people’s fingerprints the same?
No, each person has their own.
4What do ridges help us do?
Grip things.
Take it further
Lift a print from a glass using pencil dust and clear tape.
Change one thing, measure what happens, and add a table or chart of your readings: that is what turns a model into your own investigation.
Free ebooks for this project
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