What is a fingerprint?

 

Your fingerprint refers to the lines and ridges that run up, down, and around each of your fingers – you’ll be able to see them if you look closely at the bottom side of any of your fingers! One of the coolest things about your fingerprint is that no two people in the entire world have the same fingerprint – even identical twins have different fingerprints from each other!!     

Because of this, fingerprints are sometimes used to help identify people and tell them apart from one another. Your fingerprint stays the same your whole life and it cannot be changed, so by using a fingerprint, only you can be identified as you!      

It’s very easy to make your own fingerprints at home, and there are a few different ways you can try it!

One way is to get some special ink that is safe for using on your hands, and to roll your fingers across the ink pad and then onto a piece of paper. 

Or, if you don’t have the right kind of ink, you can also use a graphite pencil and some regular clear scotch tape! Use the pencil to color a solid block onto a piece of paper. Roll you finger over this solid block of color so that your finger picks up some of the graphite’s color. Then, stick the clear tape to the finger you rolled in graphite and pull away gently – viola! Your fingerprint will be stuck to the sticky side of the tape! To make your prints really show up, stick the fingerprinted tape to a piece of light-colored paper.

What do your fingerprints look like? Compare them to one of your friend’s fingerprints. Do you have tall loops and lines or shorter, arched edges?