Materials per individual: six (6) 3" x 3" squares of paper, folded in half, chapstick or lip gloss or lipstick. You also may use a hand lens.
Directions:
1. Fold each square of paper in half.
2. Apply color agent to your lips evenly.
3. Place folded edge of paper in mouth, press down in a biting motion without using teeth, and immediately lift lips up.
4. Look at the patterns on your lips, using a hand lens if you have one.
5. Hypothesize how similar or different your lips are from everyone else's lips.
6. Find 5-10 people willing to do steps 1-3 (including at least one relative) and analyze their prints.
7. Does your hypothesis hold up? Why or why not? Will testing more people change your overall results? Are lip prints as unique as fingerprints?
8. Find and document one court case using lip prints as evidence.
9. Submit hypothesis, answers, and documentation for credit.