Fingers…

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Our science experiment today was about fingers:  Why do fingertips have ridges?

Here’s our list of materials:

• Dime
• Transparent tape
• Pencil
• Paper
• Magnifying Lens

First, we laid the dime on the table.  Esmé demonstrated that she could pick it up with no problem.

Then, we put tape on her thumb and index finger.  Now the fingers were smooth, and she was unable to pick up the dime.  (She solved the problem by using her untaped middle finger to pick it up… :)



Fingertips have ridges to help grip and make it easier to pick things up…



Then we examined our fingerprints. 

We scribbled an area of our paper with the pencil and then rubbed a fingertip across the pencil scribble. 


We rolled the fingertip onto the sticky side of a piece of transparent tape to capture a fingerprint, then stuck the tape onto a clean section of the paper.  The last part of our experiment was to examine the fingerprints with magnifying glass.


Fingerprints are unique.  Basic fingerprint patterns include whorls, loops, and arches.

Thanks for joining us in our science experiment!  We were motivated by a thrift store discovery:  Janice VanCleave’s Play and Find Out about the Human Body:  Easy Experiments for Young Children.  It’s a bit basic in terms of vocabulary and principles, but it is hands-on and uses materials we already have – exactly what I need right now – something I can grab off the shelf and use at a moment’s notice.  Definitely a fun way to incorporate science into our hectic schedule.