Bradner Elementary student Tam Ngo holds a magnifying glass up to his eye and peers intently at the piece of paper before him.

The 11-year-old is scrutinizing a handwritten note located at a crime scene, comparing it to writing samples gleaned from five police suspects.

Employing his keen analytical skills and measuring the letters and spaces between words, Ngo narrows the pool of suspects and successfully identifies the culprit.

Tam and his classmates are taking part in a mock crime scene investigation as part the Science Rocks program being offered by the University of the Fraser Valley to Abbotsford’s middle schools.

The program sees UFV science degree students conduct a weekly series of hands-on science experiments with a different scientific discipline highlighted each time to get kids excited about science.

Today’s program highlight’s chemistry and crime scene investigation (CSI). Judging from the noise level in the classroom the kids are all aboard.

“We’re trying to make science fun for them,” said UFV biology major Courtenay See.

“We’re showing them all kinds of science is fun and not boring.”

Next on the agenda is dusting for finger prints.

The students rub their hands through their hair to get their fingers a little oily.

They then press their thumbs firmly down on a black piece of paper.

Sprinkling cornstarch on the paper, they carefully dust away the excess to see their prints revealed.

The kids use the magnifying glasses to determine if their prints most resemble a whirl, arch or loop.

“I’m a whirl,” says Grade 7 student Seong Ju Lee who said learning the CSI methods was “cool.

“It tells you how everybody’s fingerprints are different and why criminals use gloves not to get caught.”

The last experiment of the day is the one the kids have all been waiting for – making slime.

It will test their ability to follow instructions and measure ingredients.

Courtenay explains that combining glue and dyed water with the cleaning agent Borax will create a polymer, which “sticks stuff together”.

“What’s the rule about lab experiments?” she calls out before getting underway.

“Don’t smell it! Don’t eat it!” yell back the kids.

Tam is stirring the concoction in his paper cup furiously.

He pulls out his stir stick and a purple-brown goop dangles from it dangerously.

“I just added more glue and it’s working better,” he says adding he really likes the class.

“Making slime was cool. It looks like real brains or guts.”