Introduction
Fingerprints have fascinated people for thousands of years! They have been depicted in prehistoric cave art and used as unique identifiers in ancient Babylon. Despite the long history with fingerprints, many answers about them seem to be elusive. Why do humans have them? How do they form? Why are they unique to every human being? I was surprised that my research did not yield the answers I sought. The more research I conducted, the more questions I had. I could not have predicted that fingerprints would be the perfect topic for a unit designed to teach students how scientists ask questions to confront their ignorance. This unit is designed to teach students to think like a scientist, to formulate actionable questions, collect, graph, and analyze data. I want to teach students to formulate questions to guide their research, thinking, and curiosity. Ideally, the skills taught in this unit will transfer and serve as a springboard for their future learning endeavors.
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