☰ Year plan · Science

Inheriting characteristics

Week 19 · Unit 4 · 4.3 · 3 lessons
3

Fingerprints

Workbook 2: Topic 4.3, pp. 51–52
GoalSay that everyone has their own fingerprints, name the three main patterns, and sort fingerprints by pattern.
New words
fingerprint · the pattern of tiny lines on the tip of your fingerloop · a fingerprint pattern where lines go in and curve back out, like a hairpinwhorl · a fingerprint pattern of circles or spiralsarch · a fingerprint pattern where lines rise up like a small hill
Explanation

Look closely at the tip of your finger. The tiny lines make your fingerprint. There are three main patterns. In a loop, the lines go in and curve back out. A whorl looks like a circle or a spiral. An arch looks like a small hill. Every person has their own fingerprints, even identical twins. No two people have the same ones.

loopwhorlarch
Worked examples
pencil patchpress fingerfingerprint
Lola rubs a soft pencil on paper to make a grey patch. She presses her finger on the patch, then sticks a piece of clear tape on her finger. She sticks the tape on white paper and sees her own fingerprint.
Lola’s print
Lola looks at her fingerprint with a magnifier. She sees a spiral. It is a whorl.
AliAmir
Ali and his twin brother Amir are identical twins. They look the same, but their fingerprints are not the same.
Class activity

Fingerprint detectives (with an adult): rub a soft pencil on a piece of paper to make a dark patch. Press your finger on it, then press a piece of clear tape over the finger and stick it on white paper. Do this for two fingers and for a friend or grown-up. Look with a magnifier. Is each pattern a loop, a whorl or an arch? Are any two the same? Wash your hands afterwards.

Practice
1
Name the three main fingerprint patterns.
2
Which pattern is each fingerprint: loop, whorl or arch?
abc
3
Look at the table. How many children have a loop?
childAliMiaOmarAnaLina
patternloopwhorllooparchloop
4
Could someone in your class have exactly the same fingerprints as you? Why?