Activity 1.2 - Fingerprints as a way to identify persons

• Building knowledge on finger prints
• Find out how unique fingerprints are
• The role of fingerprints in identifying a criminal

• PC with internet connection, see these sources for example
  • http://www.cyberbee.com/whodunnit/fp.html
  • http://www.biometrics.gov/documents/fingerprintrec.pdf
  • http://www.exploreforensics.co.uk/Fingerprints.html
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingerprint
  • http://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html
• Information in text files (print outs from some of the sources mentioned above)

In the previous activity, students were working more intuitive. In this part, they discover the theoretical framework behind the fingerprints. They discover how powerful fingerprints are in identifying criminals. The method chosen here is an essay, where a student writes a comment on a letter in a magazine or newspaper. The activity starts with a letter from a lawyer who argues that his client is wrongly accused on the basis of fingerprints. The students have to write an answer to this letter, defending the use of fingerprints.

• Students do literature review to gather knowledge on fingerprints.
• Let the students exchange the information they find to increase their knowledge on fingerprints.
• When internet is not available, the teacher can spread hard copies of the information.
• Based on the information they find, the students write an answer to the letter in the newspaper/magazine.
• The teacher can decide in which year the essay was written. It might be at the very beginning of the use of fingerprints, or in this time where one can imagine that technology is so sophisticated that fingerprints can be falsified.
• Be sure to focus on the scientific basis of the arguments.

• How valuable (unique) are fingerprints in identify a criminal?
• Are fingerprints unique? Or do relatives have the same finger prints?
• When were finger prints used for the first time in solving a crime?
• How long and how can fingerprints be saved?
• Is it allowed to file a person’s fingerprints?