Are fingerprints inherited?

Lesson 1

Are fingerprints inherited? Lesson 1

Teacher’s Guide

– Each student does this project individually;
– Explain to the students the theoretical part of the lesson;
– Then proceed to the practical part;
– Pay attention to homework;
– At the end of the lesson, let the students make a conclusion and tell what they understood from the lesson.

Theoretical part

Detecting invisible fingerprints is an important task in forensic science, a branch of science that aids criminal investigations by collecting and analyzing evidence from crime scenes. Fingerprints are the most commonly collected type of evidence. Because fingerprints are unique to an individual, they are a very reliable way to identify a suspect. Different types of fingerprints can be left:

1) a fingerprint on a soft surface such as wax or soap;
2) a fingerprint visible to the naked eye, such as fingerprints left by dirty hands;
3) latent fingerprints, which are invisible but still present.

Fingerprints are static and do not change with age, so a person will have the same fingerprints from infancy to adulthood. The drawing changes size, but not shape, as the person grows. (To get a better idea of ​​how this works, you can simulate size change by drawing your fingerprint on a balloon and then blowing up the balloon.) Because each person has unique fingerprints that don’t change over time, they can be used for identification. For example, the police use fingerprints to determine if a particular person was at the crime scene. Although the exact number, shape, and spacing of the ridges vary from person to person, fingerprints can be divided into three general categories based on pattern type: loop, arc, and whorl, as shown in the figure below.

Curls – in the pattern, the ridges usually have a rounded shape.
Waves – in the pattern, the crest enters on one side, rises in the middle, and usually protrudes from the opposite side.
Loops – In a cyclic pattern, the ridges enter, curve, and exit from both sides, or tend to exit from the entry side.

Practical part

To get started on this science project, practice taking reliable, clear fingerprints. Try this technique on yourself first, then ask a friend or family member to let you learn using his or her fingerprints.

  1. To make an ink pad variation, rub a sheet of A4 paper, parchment paper, or tracing paper several times with a pencil until an area of about 3 by 3 centimeters (cm) is completely gray or black, as shown in the picture.
  1. Thoroughly wash the index finger of the person’s right hand.
  2. Dry your finger thoroughly with a paper towel.
  3. Press and run each side of your right index finger over the pad once.
  1. Then place the tip of your gray finger on the sticky side of the piece of transparent tape. The result will look like the ribbon in the picture.
  1. Use another tissue to wipe the person’s gray finger.
  2. Cut off the piece of tape containing the fingerprint and stick it on a piece of white paper as shown.
  1. Improve your technique until the fingerprints are clear every time.
  1. When your prints start to fade, run your pencil across the parchment paper a couple of times and try again.
  1. Create a consent form for your science project. Because fingerprints can be used to identify people, their consent will be required for the removal and use of fingerprints.
  2. Collect fingerprints from yourself and 5 five classmates.
  3. Make sure they have given their consent before being fingerprinted.
  4. Use the cleaning and printing system developed in step 1 to obtain one print of each person’s right hand.
  5. Label each one with its unique code, which will tell you which pair the fingerprint belongs to and what it looks like. An example of an appropriate code would be a name next to a fingerprint.
  6. Label each one with its unique code, which will tell you which pair the fingerprint belongs to and what it looks like. An example of an appropriate code would be a name next to a fingerprint.

You can print the table (click).

Homework

After you learn how to take fingerprints, ask the people in your home to have their fingerprints taken. Try to take as many fingerprints as possible of your parents and siblings, grandparents. Compare the fingerprints of your relatives with yours. Determine which ones are similar to you or not at all. And write a report. When you fill out the table with your relatives, discuss the results with your classmates and answer the question: Are fingerprints inherited?

The table is the same, only relatives are written (click to download)

Each student shows their reports on the work done and, talks about the features, that is, what were the similarities or differences.

Conclusion

The science that studies fingerprints is called fingerprinting. You identified fingerprint features during class. Since fingerprints are transmitted from grandfather to child through heredity, such as eyes and, ears, fingerprints must match between relatives. In addition, they occur in exceptional cases, that is, some people have no fingerprints at all.

In this lesson, students learned about fingerprints and learned about here, ty and similarities between relatives. And we learned that the study of fingerprints is a completely separate science.

Evaluation

PBL grading criterion project-based

Project based learning is a learning method in which students acquire knowledge and skills by working on a single project to explore and answer a genuine, interesting, and complex question, problem, or challenge.

Back to Course