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Prints and Paths

Follow Vince through a garden of small clues. Compare boot and paw prints, see how soft ground keeps a dent and hard stone can carry mud, then watch a cat cross a gap in its visible trail.

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Little clues

Pages 1–2
Vince notices small paw-shaped marks beside his much broader boots.

Who walked here? Those aren't my boots.

Explore together · Comparing shapes

Vince notices small paw-shaped marks beside his much broader boots. A print can preserve parts of the shape that touched the ground. Shape is a clue; it does not identify a particular animal by itself.

Ask together: What looks different about the two kinds of marks?

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Press and lift

Pages 3–4
Vince presses a boot into soft soil and lifts it to reveal a dent.

I press my boot. I lift it. A print!

Explore together · Contact makes an impression

Vince presses a boot into soft soil and lifts it to reveal a dent. Soft ground can change shape under a foot and keep an impression after it lifts. The broad outline and tread come from contact.

Ask together: Which parts of the boot can you find in its print?

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Mud moves too

Pages 5–6
Mud sticks to Vince's boot, then some remains on a pale stone.

Mud sticks to my boot. Now some sticks to the stone.

Explore together · A transfer mark

Mud sticks to Vince's boot, then some remains on a pale stone. The mark on the stone is a thin deposit of mud. Unlike the soil impression, it does not require the stone to dent.

Ask together: How does the mark on the stone look different from the dent in the soil?

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A gap in the trail

Pages 7–8
The small prints become hard to follow where the soil meets stone.

Little prints again! Where did they go?

Explore together · Surfaces record differently

The small prints become hard to follow where the soil meets stone. A clear trail may disappear when the surface changes. A missing visible mark does not mean that its maker stopped there.

Ask together: Where would you look next?

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Watching a maker

Pages 9–10
Vince watches a cat place a paw in soft soil and leave a new print.

A cat! Paws make prints too.

Explore together · Direct observation

Vince watches a cat place a paw in soft soil and leave a new print. Seeing a foot make a mark connects the maker and this new impression. Similar older marks are still uncertain clues.

Ask together: What changes when the cat lifts its paw?

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Across the stones

Pages 11–12
The cat crosses pale stone and leaves visible prints again in soft ground.

I watch you cross. Your prints show up again.

Explore together · A gap is not a stop

The cat crosses pale stone and leaves visible prints again in soft ground. The same moving animal can leave a clear record on one surface and little visible record on another.

Ask together: What can Vince see happening that the prints alone did not show?

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Two paths home

Pages 13–14
Vince and the cat walk home with differently shaped trails behind them.

Boot prints. Paw prints. We leave a path behind.

Explore together · Comparing new evidence

Vince and the cat walk home with differently shaped trails behind them. Their newly made marks preserve different foot shapes. Here, Vince can compare the traces with the makers he is watching.

Ask together: Which trail leads to Vince, and which leads to the cat?

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Remembering the marks

Pages 15–16
Indoors, Vince quietly draws a broad boot shape and a smaller paw shape in his notebook.

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For grown-ups

Pages 17–18
Two-page grown-up guide about impressions, mud transfer, surface gaps, uncertain clues and an optional supervised print-making activity. The full text is in the transcript.

For Grown-Ups A footprint is a trace of contact. Vince begins with a question, makes a comparison, then watches new prints being made. Pressing a shape A boot can press a hollow into soft ground. Its sole may leave some of its pattern behind. A paw leaves a different shape. Ground firmness, moisture and the way a foot moves affect the result; a print is rarely a perfect copy. Carrying a mark Mud picked up by a boot can stick to a stone on the next step. That brown mark sits on the stone; it is not a dent in it. A hard surface can show transferred mud even when it does not yield under a foot. Following clues A trail can disappear from view where the ground changes. That does not mean its maker stopped. Vince sees the cat cross the stones and leave new prints in softer ground. Looking is different from guessing Vince watches this cat make new prints. The earlier similar marks are clues, not proof that this particular cat made them. Some prints are incomplete, and different animals can leave similar marks. Try noticing together With a grown-up, press a shoe into a shallow tray of damp sand or soft mud, then lift it. Compare the sole and the mark. A little mud on a washable shoe may also make a mark on a pale washable tile. Results vary with the materials; look at what actually happens. Use clean materials and a stable, non-slip place. Avoid animal droppings, wash hands afterward and clean up slippery mud. Watch animals quietly from a distance; never chase them or press their feet into a surface. Sources: NIST, Virginia Department of Forensic Science, New Mexico State University, ABQ BioPark and University of Michigan BioKIDS.

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Sources and evidence

  1. Foot contact can leave an impression in suitable soft ground.

    NIST: Pattern and Impression Evidence

    Virginia Department of Forensic Science: Impressions

    The clarity of an impression depends on the ground, moisture and contact; some marks are incomplete.

  2. An impression can preserve broad features of the contacting sole or paw.

    Virginia Department of Forensic Science: Impressions

    New Mexico State University Circular 561: Identifying and Preserving Wildlife Tracks

    A broad shape may be recognizable without identifying a particular individual.

  3. Mud carried on a boot can transfer to a hard stone as a surface mark.

    NIST OSAC Lexicon: Transfer Impression

    Mud transfer depends on how much mud adheres to the foot and whether it transfers to the next surface.

  4. A visible trail may have gaps because surfaces differ in how well they record and reveal marks.

    ABQ BioPark: Animal Tracks

    New Mexico State University Circular 561: Identifying and Preserving Wildlife Tracks

    Hard surfaces can sometimes carry transfer marks; they do not always leave a completely blank record.

  5. Watching a new print form provides direct evidence about its maker; an older similar print remains a clue.

    NIST: Pattern and Impression Evidence

    New Mexico State University Circular 561: Identifying and Preserving Wildlife Tracks

    Watching this cat make new prints does not prove that it made the older similar marks.

  6. A walking domestic cat can leave tracks with four toe impressions and a larger pad.

    University of Michigan BioKIDS: Smaller, four front and four back

    Ordinary clear domestic-cat prints show four toe impressions and a main pad; incomplete marks and other animals can look similar.

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Water and Wind

Water and Wind, pages 1–2: Wind moves the pinwheel.

Spread 1 / 12

Wind tickles my cheek. Round goes my pinwheel.

Explore the science

Wind & forcesPages 1–2

Wind moves the pinwheel. Wind is moving air. Vince feels it on his cheek and sees it push the pinwheel's angled blades.

Ask together: What tells you that the air is moving?

Currents & eddiesPages 3–4

Water passes the rock. A leaf circles behind it. Most water passes the rock; some circles back in an eddy. Laminar flow is orderly; turbulence is irregular, mixing motion. A swirl alone cannot distinguish them.

Ask together: How does the leaf move compared with the water passing the rock?

Waves & energyPages 5–6

Waves spread from the stream. The duck bobs. The falling stream makes waves that carry energy outward and make the toys bob. The stream's current also carries toys along. Bobbing and drifting are different motions.

Ask together: What moves up and down? What moves along the pond?

BuoyancyPages 7–8

A duck floats. A pebble sinks. Water pushes upward on both objects. This buoyancy balances the duck's weight, but not the pebble's. The pebble's splash makes the rings on the next spread.

Ask together: Where is each object compared with the surface?

When waves meetPages 9–10

Two wave patterns approach one another. When gentle waves overlap, their heights add, briefly raising or lowering the surface. This interference does not erase the waves; they continue through one another.

Ask together: What might happen where the two patterns meet?

Surface tensionPages 11–12

Tiny dents appear beneath the strider’s legs. Surface tension helps support the strider where its water-repellent legs dent the water. The duck floats mainly by displacing water.

Ask together: What do you notice where its legs meet the water?

Suction & pressurePages 13–14

The duck bubbles, fills and squirts. Squeeze underwater: air bubbles out. Release with the opening submerged: the elastic duck springs back, lowering pressure inside. The surrounding water pressure pushes water in. Squeeze above water: water exits through that same opening.

Ask together: What changes when Vince squeezes and then lets go?

Lift & gravityPages 15–16

A paper plane glides forward and down. The throw starts the plane moving. Airflow around its wings produces lift and turns air downward. Gravity pulls down; drag resists motion. In still air, the plane glides forward and gradually descends.

Ask together: Where might the plane go next?

ViscosityPages 17–18

Milk runs. Honey stretches into a thread. Honey's greater viscosity means greater resistance to flow. It makes a slow thread while milk runs readily. Temperature and pouring method also matter; this snack is an observation, not a controlled test.

Ask together: How do the milk and honey move differently?

Draining & swirlingPages 19–20

Foam curves inward toward the drain. Gravity drives water through the drain. Existing turning motion can become a curved inward flow, traced by foam. Here water travels to the outlet, unlike waves crossing the pond. Not every drain swirls.

Ask together: Can you follow the foam toward the drain?

Scientific observationPages 21–22

Vince sketches what he noticed. Vince records something he noticed. Drawings, marks or words let him return to an observation. He does not need all the answers.

Ask together: Which earlier picture matches one of his drawings?

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