Today was Dr. Wang's birthday, and a perfect day for the Junior Detectives to have some fun learning all about fingerprint evidence!
Before we got started with the fingerprinting, we took another look at our mystery seeds which are still growing in the classroom. To be a good scientist and a good detective - you need to look carefully and patiently at your evidence, and you need to take notes and to ask and answer questions!
Mystery Seedling Observations Week3:
- The seedlings look very different from each other
- The tallest are about 20 centimeters tall, that's as wide as Dr Wang's hand from pinky to thumb
- Some seedlings are still short, about 5 centimeters tall
- A few still have their "seed hats" on them.
- There is still mold on top of some of the soil
- The leaves are also different shapes and sizes
NEXT TIME QUESTION: The junior detectives want to know if the seedlings will have flowers next week? Can we begin to tell what kind of plants they are yet?
Detective Work Using Plants
We talked about how scientists can often use the patterns of seeds (as well as soil, and insects) to tell where a person, animal or object has been. For example, if you dog ran away and then came home and he had a certain kind of prickly seed on his coat, such as a chestnut seed, you would know that he had been in an area with chestnut trees! This area of detective science is called: Forensic botany
CASE3: The Case of the Fingerprint Party!
The Junior Detectives had some really colorful fun as they practiced making and identifying their own fingerprints are one of the 3 main types: ARCH, LOOP AND WHORL
THESE ARE THE MAIN FINGERPRINT TYPES:
You inherit the general shape of the print from your parents, but the exact number and angle of lines also called dermal ridges are individualized and shaped before you are born. Even identical twins do not have exactly the same shapes of prints.
At home, compare your prints with your brother and sisters' and also your parents'. Arches are the rarest of the prints, only about 5% of all people have them, Loops are the most common 65% and whorls are about 30% of all prints. There are a lot of subtypes of prints, but these are the general shapes
MAKING AND FBI-style FINGERPRINT CARD WITH DIRECT INKED PRINTS!
DO YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FBI AND SOME OF THE HISTORY OF FINGERPRINTING?
Click here FBI KIDS PAGE: TOUR OF THE FBI
Next we dusted the room for LATENT PRINTS.
These are fingerprints found at crime scenes which are usually invisible to the eye because they are made from the oils in your skin. Latent prints can be made visible by dusting the surface with a color contrasted color (white talcum powder for black tables and black charcoal for white tables, for example)FUN FACT: We learned that kid's latent prints are temporary because their sweat glands on their fingers secrete more water than oil. So if you are looking for a latent print from a baby or a child you have to get it fast or it will disappear. Adult prints have a lot more oil, so they can be lifted a long time after they are made on a surface
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| Free picture collage created with Smilebox |
What the CSI Video below to learn about latents and see who you can dust for prints:
THE JDC members created the Mystery Picture Below...
Can you tell what it is??
NEXT TIME: We will begin to work with DNA next week! What is DNA? You can learn a bit about DNA online by going to this cool CSI for families website. Ask you mom or dad first and then check out CSI's online biology lab for junior scientist. Just click on the link below to go to the CSI Biology Lab online....
CSI Biology LAB For Kids
TAKE THE CSI: The Experience Web Adventure Scavenger Hunt to test your detective skills. JUST CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW
CSI Scavenenger Hunt
POWERS OF TEN - WHERE IS DNA ON THIS?
Powers of Ten: Really far away and really really close up
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