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Monday, November 3, 2014

Forensics: Hulk Print

As part of the chapter on Fingerprints I have my students do a "Hulk Print."  They make fingerprints on balloons and then blow the balloon up and mark ridge characteristics, then deflate the balloon and keep the balloon in their notebook.

This year I found a big pack (72, 12 inch) of light colored balloons for $8. The big balloons allow students to make multiple prints on one balloon (in case of smudges).


5 comments:

  1. Hi Sandy,
    I love this idea. Just wondering what ink you use to do the fingerprints so that it doesn't smudge?
    Cheers, Ashlee

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  2. Ashlee,

    I have used several type of ink. There are some kids who have a hard time getting a clear print, and some who get a clear print first try. I suggest having them try their print on paper first. Sometimes they can get a clearer print with a particular finger, so we try them all on paper first (I usually do a finger print investigation as an introduction to our fingerprint unit). Also it is possible to do about 3 prints on the same balloon, so if they mess up first try they don't need a new balloon, they just need a new spot on the balloon.

    Thanks for reading.

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  3. Its like you read my thoughts! You seem to grasp so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with a few percent to pressure the message home a bit, but other than that, that is excellent blog. A great read. I’ll definitely be back. 60th Balloons

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  4. Did you use a special kind of ink?

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  5. What type of balloon did you use? I tried this with my students and their prints smeared even after allowing them to dry. I used sharpies for them to write on the balloons and everything smeared once the balloon was deflated. The kids had fun with this activity and I would like to do it again in the future with better results; so any helpful hits would be wonderful!

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