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Learn the science of fingerprints and how they are used to identify people in crime investigations and conduct some family fingerprint science investigations!
What’s cooler than the magic of fingerprints? Not much at our house! My girls have been psyched about lifting prints off and finding out who in the family touched what things around the house.
I’m worried my house is going to turn into a hot mess of powder and tape after this activity, but it’s all good when it’s in the name of science!
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Why STEAM Activities?
STEAM is the abbreviation for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math.
STEAM, like STEM, is an integrated approach to learning that encourages learners to make connections between the concepts they are learning and how they apply them to real-world problems.
STEAM helps students ask questions, problem solve, think creatively, and produce innovative solutions. Many schools have adopted STEAM learning activities into their curriculum, but it’s never too early to start building critical thinking skills.
We love to learn through play at our house and have a blast doing activities for toddlers all the way to tweens!
Looking for some more hands-on activities that incorporate Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM)? Then you have to check out STEAM Kids!
This book features more than 50 hands-on activities that are organized into easy to implement categories, so you know exactly what concepts your kids are learning!
Grab your copy from Amazon todayor get instant access to this great book by purchasing a downloadable PDF!
Key Fingerprint Science Activity Terms
- Fingerprint: an individual characteristic that remains unchanged throughout the life of a person unless damaged due to permanent scars or skin diseases
- Latent print: a fingerprint that is on a surface, but cannot be seen
- Arch: ridges that begin on one side of the print and exit on the other side
- Loop: ridges that begin and end on one side of the print
- Whorl: a print that has at least one ridge that makes a complete circle
Materials Needed for Your Fingerprint Science Activities
Learning about Fingerprints Activity
- Balloon
- Ink pad
You might also like: STEAM Forensic Science Activity: The Case of the Red Lipstick
Fingerprinting the Family Activity Supplies
- Tape
- Pencils
- Ink pad
- Soap
- Towel
- Cornstarch
- 3-5 Pencil leads
- White Paper
- Black Paper
- Magnifying glass
- Ziploc plastic bag
- Various surfaces for fingerprinting (soda cans, glass containers, plate, crayon boxes, etc)
- Fingerprint the Family Worksheet (grab this at the end of the post)
Step into Sherlock’s Shoes with Fingerprint Science
Learning about Fingerprints
Roll your finger from left to right on your ink pad. Press your finger firmly onto your deflated balloon then lift your finger off without smudging the ink. If you smudge it, you can rinse off the balloon, dry it, and try again. Make sure the print is clear.
Blow up the balloon and check out the ridges of your fingerprint, which is now expanded on the balloon!
Fingerprinting the Family
Record Your Fingerprints
Use the Fingerprint Science worksheet to record your fingerprints. Roll the pad of your finger on your stamp pad and then transfer your print by rolling the pad (not the tip) of your finger from the bottom to the tip of your finger on your worksheet page.
Start with your left thumb and print your entire left hand before moving to your right hand. You can also practice on some scrap paper beforehand if you want.
Examine Your Fingerprints
Use your magnifying glass and take a peek at your fingerprints! Look at the different patterns.
Leave Some Fingerprint Evidence
Touch objects to put some latent prints on like a drinking glass, a plate, or a can of soda. If your fingers are too dry, you can rub them on your head to make them a little more oily. Can you see your fingerprint?
Pencil leads are made with graphite, which is often found in black fingerprint powders. Put your pencil leads in a ziploc bag and crush them into a fine powder.
Dust for Fingerprints
Use a paintbrush or a makeup brush to dust your latent print with your graphite powder. Can you see your print now?
Capture Some Fingerprint Evidence
Place a piece of clear tape over your print. Rub the tape to make it stick and then pull the tape off with your print and stick it onto a piece of white paper. Make sure to label your print with the surface where you found it.
Try some different surfaces. If you use a dark colored surface, you can use a fine powder like cornstarch instead of graphite. Follow the same method using tape to capture your fingerprint and then stick it to a black piece of paper.
Fingerprint your family and then test some latent fingerprints around your house. Use a magnifying glass to compare the latent prints found with the fingerprints of each family member.
<<CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FINGERPRINT SCIENCE WORKSHEET>>
Make Fingerprint Art
Use your fingerprints to make some awesome fingerprint artwork! We used ours to make some autumn tree pictures! We used several different colored stamp pads to make our art!
Connect this fingerprint science activity with other STEAM buckets
Check out these STEAM extensions!
Science
This activity is primarily science based! Forensic Scientists analyze fingerprints to identify people and understand what happened at crime scenes.
Technology
Visit the FBI Kids website to learn more about the FBI.
Engineering
Try to figure out a way to drink from a soda can or glass without leaving any fingerprints behind. Can you do it?
Art
Use your fingerprints to create artwork! We made some cute autumn trees, but you can absolutely make a million different things with fingerprints!
Math
Sort your fingerprints in order from best to worst. What surfaces gave really good prints? What do these surfaces have in common? Look for correlations between the surface you used to gather the print and the quality of the print you lifted.
Some Books to Read with Your Fingerprint Activity
We love incorporating books into our activities. Here are some great books about science to read with your activity!
- Science Stumpers: Brain-Busting Scenarios Solved with Science by Keegan Burmark and Kevin Brougher
- Case Closed?: Nine Mysteries Unlocked by Modern Science by Susan Hughes
- The Math Inspectors: Story One – The Case of the Claymore Diamond by Daniel Kenney
Similar Low-Prep STEAM Activities
- Whodunnit? Crack the Case with Chromatography!
- Crack the Code – Binary Code Challenge
31 Days of Low-Prep STEAM Activities for Kids
This activity is part of our 31 Days of Low-Prep STEAM Activities for Kids. Every activity focuses on each of the buckets of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, & Math) although these integrated projects fit in more than one bucket.
You and your kiddos are going to love all of the activities that we have in store!Visit the 31 Days of Low-Prep STEAM Activity hub and pin it, so you can come back and visit it daily!
PIN THIS IMAGE TO SHARE THIS LOW-PREP STEAM ACTIVITY!
STEAM Forensic Science Activities
Find more forensic science STEAM activities for kids!
1
STEAM Forensic Science Activity: The Case of the Red Lipstick
Learn about cheiloscopy and lip prints with a STEAM forensic science investigation for kids and figure out which suspect left the lip print!
2
Chromatography Experiment: Crack the Case STEAM Detective
Learn how forensic scientists use chromatography to solve cases with this fun low-prep STEAM detective chromatography experiment for kids!!
Meet Toni, the Maker Mom behind Our Family Code
Hey there, I’m Toni! I’m a software engineer and Maker Mom that finds my joy in unleashing my children’s curiosity by exploring STEAM concepts with my fantastic five!
When I’m not chasing toddlers or raising tweens, you can find me tearing things up and putting them back together over here atOur Family Code.
I am the owner and content creator of multiple educational websites designed to increase access to STEAM & STEM education with a focus on teaching computer science and coding to kids of all ages!
You can also find out more about me by visitingToniGardner.com!
