"CSI" fans know that solving a crime relies on finding evidence — much of it hidden.

All that swabbing and cool stuff they do in the crime lab really starts with a pair of keen eyes and a lot of curiosity.

Forensic Science-Technology, a summer-school class at La Pietra, Hawaii School for Girls, teaches students how to solve crimes using exactly these skills combined with analysis and technology — just like the real crime-scene investigation team, but without the body.

"Really, what this is about is solving puzzles and the challenges they create," said La Pietra science teacher Jessica Carew.

"There's such a high level of interest now in 'CSI,' and it lends itself to a different and exciting way to teach science. It's a good fit for this age group; we really get the students to develop their observation and critical thinking skills."

In La Pietra's "crime lab," seventh- and eighth-graders were at work on a case filed as the "Bathroom Bully" — a special "crime scene" developed for the course.

By the second week, students had surveyed the damage to the bathroom, made observations, drawn the scene to scale and collected evidence for analysis. The morning task was fingerprinting. By the end of the four-week course, they will have built up a complete picture of the Bathroom Bully crime.

The class uses FACES software to make a face of a suspect, and Adobe Photoshop to visually examine and evaluate fingerprints. Students also analyze footprints, handwriting, hair, cloth and blood samples — all using computer software, a digital camera and a high-definition video camera.

Carew led the class through the delicate process of lifting three different kinds of fingerprints: latent (left behind by natural oils on the human skin), patent (left behind in a liquid, such as blood — fake but realistic!) and plastic, left behind in a softer medium such as clay.

Students quickly found that obtaining a latent print using the old-fashioned powder method was harder than it looked.

But the first challenge was putting on the disposable gloves required to lift prints from the paper and glass container.

Black powder puffed up from lab benches onto noses and eyebrows. Elbows were covered. Giggles and shrieks followed. "The powder is harmless, so don't worry," Carew said. Concentration took over.

Lisa Kuroda, 12, a student at Sacred Hearts, deftly settled her prints on a white card labeled with her name. What made her sign up for this class? "I like science, and this is really hands-on," she said. "It's different to anything else I saw offered this summer. I didn't know there were three types of fingerprints you can get; it's messy, but it's fun ... and I really like that we get to use Apple computers."

"Forensics is cool," said Emily Confalone, 11, who attends Punahou School. "I like the puzzles we get to do and the fingerprinting, and how we can look at them (on the computer) so closely."

The messy hands-on element was a big attractor factor. "Mostly, you don't get to touch stuff in other classes," said Meleana Hong-Robinson, who will enter seventh grade at La Pietra next school year. "I love doing experiments; science is really, really fun."

"Our overall goal for this class, what we really want is for them to be excited about science," said Carew, who's taught forensics as a high school elective at La Pietra for the past five years.

"We also want students to realize how naturally observant they are, that they already have some of these skills, which are important in any science field such as looking for characteristics and classifying information. And because they work with a different partner every day, they also learn the value of teamwork and cooperation," she said. "That builds their confidence so they can jump in with questions and compete in science events and really understand the scientific method."

At the end of the session, the class reviewed its evidence just as a real CSI team would in its situation room.

The next day, they would scan fingerprints into the computer for a high-resolution look-see.

Solving crimes can also be creative: In addition to completing a digital portfolio, students also create a lighter-side comic strip, "Bathroom Bully," using the computer program Comic Life.

In the adjoining computer lab, Ashlee Macduff, La Pietra's computer instructor, demonstrated a Comic Life storyboard idea on the computer screen.

"This enables students to capture everything they've learned in a digital format using their own observations and drawings, fun graphics and voice bubbles," Macduff said. "... but they have to stay within the parameters of the evidence they collect."

SOME FACTS

Did you know?

1. Between 60 percent and 70 percent of the human population have loop-pattern fingerprints; 25 percent to 35 percent have whorls; only 5 percent have arches.

2. The ridge patterns or minutiae of fingerprints have names like fork, bridge and delta.

3. If a person's hand is exposed to acid and the fingerprints burned off, they will grow back.

4. Human hair grows approximately 0.44 millimeter each day.

5. The word "forensic" comes from the Latin word forensis, pertaining to a forum. In

ancient Rome, the forum was the place to conduct business. Today, "forensic" relates to the use of science or technology in the investigation and establishment of facts or evidence in a court of law.

Learn more: www.lapietra.edu