Discover: Fingerprinting Yourself

Now that you know the various kinds of fingerprints, how good you are at telling them apart?  In this activity, you will get some practice taking you own fingerprints and analyzing them to determine what kind of fingerprints you have.  You can use this method to fingerprint your friends or family members to see what kind of prints they have, too.

Depending on what kind of ridge pattern you see, fingerprints will be classified as arch, loop, whorl, or composite prints.

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View Fingerprints' Hidden Secrets—BBC News to learn about new advances in fingerprinting. Here

View Smithsonian Fingerprints to learn more about the history of fingerprinting. Here

Watch the Paper Pencil Tape Method video to see how to complete the activity below.  Paper Pencil Tape Method.